to increase, the rate of profit, and, consequently, of wages, was on the decline, owing principally to the intense competition prevalent in the market.

In the latter end of 1807, the war was prosecuted with great vigour, and recruiting for the army, as well as for the militia of various counties, seemed almost the briskest business carried on. A public meeting of the friends of peace, held on Oldham edge, on the 25th December, 1807, resolved to petition parliament for a cessation of hostilities. Such a petition was, however, unavailing; and shortly afterwards, the distressed condition of the weavers led to the holding of meetings of that body, and ultimately to turnouts, in Manchester and the surrounding towns, for the purpose of obtaining an advance of wages. On the 30th of May, 1808, intelligence reaching Oldham that a serious riot of the weavers had just occurred at Rochdale, the Oldham Volunteers speedily assembled, and were on their way to render assistance to the authorities of the disturbed locality, when they were suddenly attacked by a large crowd on the Rochdale road, and severely pelted with mud and stones. In the course of the day, the windows of several parties in Oldham, obnoxious to the populace, were broken. Two days afterwards, on the lst of June, a large meeting of weavers and others was held on Oldham edge, and, at its conclusion, a strong party of the crowd paraded the streets of the town, demolished the windows of Mr. Lees, in Church lane, and terminated their feats for the day, by prevailing on several manufacturers, whilst under feelings of alarm, to subscribe a document, pledging them to an advance of the prices paid for weaving. In the course of a few hours, a troop of the Sixth Dragoon Guards, and a few companies of the Herefordshire Militia, were quartered in the district, and remained for some time.

The employment of females in the hatting trade occasioned considerable opposition on the part of the

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