to devote himself and his children to the great
cause. There is no room now for such a
meeting on Newhall Hill. Within these
twenty years, buildings have sprung up, over
nearly the whole surface; and the roaring of
the furnace and the din of the hammer are
heard where the hymn and the solemn oath
resounded in a less peaceful time.

Among those buildings, at the bottom of
the hill, are the large premises of Messrs.
Elkington, Mason, and Co.—the firm celebrated
for their electro-gilding and plating.
They have actually enclosed the canal within
their premises—built over it—and their
workshops are still extending. There may be seen
nearly four hundred men and boys employed,
diligently and constantly, upon work of so
high an order, that the wonder is how, in the
imperfect state of our popular education, so
many can be found to manage such processes.
As, for the diligence—arts of so high an order
as these cannot be served by halves. Here
must be no Monday laziness after Sunday's
rest; no caprice as to going to work or staying
away. Like time and tide—like brewing
and dyeing—the work at Messrs. Elkington's
cannot wait for men's humours. Any one
who engages himself here must go through
with what he undertakes. He is told, on
being engaged, "We find you six days' work,
and you are to find six days' labour." And
the wages given are such as to justify this
compact being made stringent. They rise
from twenty-five shillings to three pounds
a week, according to the nature and quality
of the work.

Any one who has seen the contributions to
the Exhibition from this house, will understand
that a special education is required for
almost every department of this manufacture.
The fruit-baskets, twined with the convolvulus
and the vine, are graceful enough; but
the inkstands, with their groups—Rebecca at
the Well; the Milkmaid and her Goats; and
the race-cups and the statuettes—are productions
which require artistic heads and hands
at almost every stage. And, as yet, this order
of art is new in England, and so is the process
of manufacture. Formerly, we bought our
plated candlesticks, and table-forks, and
mustard-pots, and inkstands from Sheffield.
There was a small choice of patterns; very
rarely anything new—seldom anything remarkably
beautiful. The few who could
spend money largely—princes and peers, and
half-a-dozen wealthy commoners—might go
to Rundell and Bridge, and indulge their taste
for works of art in gold and silver; but in
plated goods there was little beauty, little
variety, and very poor wear. Preparation
was making, half a century ago, for the
day which has arrived. Mr. Rundell was
bringing over works of art—seizing every
interval of continental truce to import pictures,
statues, and gems, and paying Flaxman
six hundred and twenty pounds for his model
and drawing of the Shield of Achilles—of
which four casts only were made—for two
royal princes and two peers: but meantime,
the middle classes were served with patterns
almost as hackneyed as the willow pattern in
our dinner-plates. Preparation was making,
unawares, for the other grand improvement,
by Mr. Spencer, of Liverpool, and Mr. Smea,
of the Bank of England, having applied the
process of electro-plating to taking copies of
embossed surfaces. Where the discovery
originated, is not yet settled. Russia claims
it. Italy claims it. But while it was used
only for taking copies of gems and coins, we
of the middle classes, who cannot afford to
buy silver plate, were annoyed by seeing the
copper peeping through the edges and prominences
of our plated candlesticks, forks, and
sugar-basins; and, too often, a bend or a dent
here and there, showing that there was as
little wear in the metal and its solder in one
way, as in its silver covering in another.

Mr. Elkington was one of those who first
saw how the process of electro-plating might
be extended to the supply of our needs. He
saw that by the agency of electricity, the gold
or silver plating might become one substance
with the material on which it is deposited,
instead of being a mere covering, liable to be
rubbed off by use. He saw that a whiter and
harder metal than copper might be used as a
base, and employed German silver for the
purpose. He saw that the most various and
elaborate designs and ornaments could be produced
by this method, in place of the few old
forms; and that it would be an inestimable
advantage to do the plating last, after all the
repairs and finishings, instead of the clumsy
old method of smoothing, and finishing and
burnishing, after the frail coating of silver had
been laid on. Seeing all this, he took out a
patent for his process in 1840. About thirty
other manufacturers in England are licensed
by him to use his process; and there are not
more than two houses now which maintain the
old Sheffield method of laying silver on copper,
and using the old soft tin solder. That any
such houses remain, may be very well, because
they turn out their work cheap, and keep
down the price of the superior article. By
the time they also have recourse to the new
method, the patent will have expired, and
competition will keep prices reasonable. The
process has also spread widely over the Continent;
so that society may consider that it
has the discovery safe for general use. What
remains to be wished is, that our Schools of
Design should be extended and improved;
and that a Museum of practical work, in
various departments of manufacture, should
be attached to them. We have not enough
of fresh and beautiful designs actually offered;
but, few as they are, they are more than can
be used, from the designers' want of knowledge
of the practical business of the manufacture.
While we are complaining of the dearth
of employment for educated women, here is
one, remarkably suited to the female faculties,