standing, daintily opposed to progress, in the
bag-wigs and embroidered coats of another
generation, you may learn from the weaver in
his shirt and trousers!

There, we leave him in the dark, about to
kindle at the poor fire the lamp that hangs
upon his loom, to help him on his labouring
way into the night. The sun has gone down,
the reflection has vanished from the floor.
There is nothing in the gloom but his eager
eyes, made hungrier by the sight of our small
present; the dark shapes of his fellow-
workers mingling with their stopped looms;
the mute bird in its little cage, duskily
expressed against the window; and the
watery-headed baby crooning in a corner God
knows where.

We are again in the streets.

"The fluctuations in the silk trade, and,
consequently, in the condition of the Spitalfields
weaver," says our friend, " are sudden and
unforeseen; for they depend upon a variety
of uncontrollable causes. Let us take, for
example, the past four or five years."

"But does that period afford a fair average
of the condition of the trade?  Were not the
fluctuations extreme?"

"They were. In 1846 the price of raw silk
was very low. The manufacturers bought
all they could, and worked up all they bought.
Not a hand was idle, not a loom at rest.
Enormous stocks soon accumulated, silk became
dearer; but in May, 1847, there came a sudden
stop."

"Was it not, then, that the last loud cry
of distress arose from Spitalfields, and that
public meetings were held for finding means
of 'redress? '"

"It was. The stagnation was prolonged by
a dispute, in which the silk manufacturers
and wholesale dealers were involved with the
large retail houses. It got the name of the
' short measure question.' The retailers
wanted us to give them thirty-seven inches to
every yard. The autumn trade was
completely crippled by this discussion; which
did not end till the breaking out of the
French Revolution in February 1848. West-
end and wholesale buyers rushed over to Paris
and Lyons, in regiments, and with unlimited
capital. They bought for almost any price
they chose to offer. This cut two ways;
although wholesale and retail houses brought
home great parcels of manufactured articles,
we also bought raw silk, in France, from
fifteen to twenty per cent. below the lowest
price I ever knew it. What do you think,
sir, of the finest French organzine for a
guinea a pound?"

We answered by an exclamation of vague
surprise.

"Such a price as this enabled us to set
some of our looms at work for stock, and,
during 1849, the French goods being
exhausted, ours came into play. Indeed, during
that year the British manufacturer was in a
position to defy competition."

"The French had not recovered
themselves?"

"Not only that—but we had bought nearly
all their raw silk, and they were actually
obliged to buy it back from us at advances of
from twenty to fifty per cent.! From that
time prices advanced here, and work kept on
increasing, so that, during most of last year,
Spitalfields was busy."

"A glut of stock has been again the
consequence."

"Yes; and what with that and the advancing
price of raw silk,* I have within the last
fortnight been compelled to discharge one
hundred hands."

* The price of " organzine " during the month of March
was:—French, 32s.; Piedmont, 26s.; China, 22s.

Spitalfields, however, has its bright side. As
yet machinery has not been taught to turn
artist, or to guide the shuttle through the
intricate niceties of the Jacquard loom, so as to
execute designs. Figured and brocaded silks
must still be done by hands, and those hands
must be skilful.

"Our silks," Mr. Broadelle tells us, " have
never been inferior, in quality, to those of
our foreign rivals; but, we have always
been beaten in taste. In the stolid assiduous
pains-taking motion of the hand and treadle,
the English weaver is unsurpassed; but, he
has seldom exercised his fancy. Until lately,
therefore, few designs originated in this
country. We silk-manufacturers, like the
Dramatic Authors' Society, have been content
to take our novelties from the French."

"You say, ' until lately.' Has the English
manufacturer improved in that respect?"

"Decidedly. Schools of Design have done
something: the encouragement given by
masters to those who make available patterns,
has done something too; but, the great
improver of the English silk trade was the
last French revolution."

"How?"

"That political disaster brought the
manufacturers of France to a dead-lock. During
the whole of 1849, the English markets
were stocked with the most splendid fashions
that ever came into it. As we could not
sell a yard of our manufacture, we had
plenty of leisure to examine the different
foreign goods minutely. So rich a variety
had never fallen under our observation, and
never before had such a flood of light been
thrown on the manufactures of our greatest
rivals. We profited by it. More important
improvements have been effected in the fabric
of fancy silk goods since 1848, than were
made, down to that time, since the days of
Jacquard."

"This shows the value of national
intercourse, Mr. Broadelle. Will the Great
Exhibition do much service in this way?"

"I have no doubt it will. But, we are now
at the door of a figure-weaver; and you will
compare this visit with our last."