—condition of men's abodes, their persons were
worthy of their dwellings—powder, pomatum,
wigs, and other unnatural devices, rendering a
pure state of skin impossible.

It was a great day when a Frenchman,
bethought himself that, instead of hangings of
wrought carpeting, or of velvet-flock, or stuff,
a covering for walls might be made of figured
paper—cheaper, lighter, cleaner—preferable
in every way. It is said that this invention
was made known in 1632, and that the first
blocks used in making paper hangings are
preserved in Paris. England followed so soon
that there was some dispute as to which
ought to have the credit of the invention, but
it was doubtless due to France. James the
First had lately given two thousand pounds—
a large sum in those days—to encourage a
manufacture of fine tapestry at Mortlake;
but it was in a drawing-room of the Royal
Palace at Kensington that the first specimen
of English paper-hanging was seen. If
anybody is curious to know whether that paper
was like any that we see now, we can tell
nothing more than that it was an imitation
of the "velvet-flock" then in common
use.

The " flock " order of paper seems to be:
coming into fashion, more and more, after a
long interval. Perhaps the truth is, that the
reduction of the duty on paper hangings puts
a higher class of papers within reach of a
greater number of householders. Sir Robert
Peel took off tenpence out of the shilling a
yard duty on French paper hangings, which,
before 1842, kept good decorations out of the
reach of all but the wealthy. We remember
the time—somewhere about 1818—when
stencilling came into fashion, and was thought a
great, popular boon. Stencilling was done by
splashing walls with colour through the
interstices of tin patterns. The result was, a very
coarse and untidy decoration of white-washed
walls; the colours being bad, and the pattern
never accurately made out for many consecutive
feet of wall. But the work was so much
cheaper than paper hangings, that people of
small means were very glad of it; and, even in
gentlemens' houses, the attics and servants'
rooms were often thus coloured. Now, we
seldom hear of stencilling; for papers of a
tolerable quality and really good pattern may
be had for less than a penny a yard, so
that the abodes of the humble present a
very different appearance now from any
thing that could be seen even ten years
ago. As for the taking off the duty, the
story is the same that Free-traders are
almost tired of telling about other articles.
There were dismal prophecies that the French,
who much excel us in the designs and
preparations of paper hangings, would destroy
the manufacture in England: and the wealthy
did supply themselves—and perhaps do so
still—almost exclusively from Paris; but, so
much more extensively are paper hangings
used, and so great is the improvement
continually taking place through the emulation
of the French by our manufacturers, that the
manufacture is largely and steadily increasing.
It only remains now to get the duty removed
from the raw material, the paper, to give
every body a fair chance of a neat set of
walls to his dwelling-rooms, decorated according
to his means.

Perhaps there are no gayer walls to be seen
anywhere—in our country at least—than
those we saw yesterday, on the premises of
Her Majesty's Paper-stainer for Scotland,
Mr. Wm. McCrie. This gentleman's walls—
even the rough walls in the yards and
passages—are as good as a rainbow for colours.
The boys empty their brushes on the space
next at hand, to save the trouble of washing
them; and the result is a show which would
make a little child—with its love of brilliant
colours—scream for joy. There are things
to be seen at Mr. McCrie's, which may please
elderly people as much as rainbow hues can
gratify a child. By means of studying there
the process of paper-staining from beginning
to end, glimpses are obtained into all classes
of homes, from the Queen's palace, and the
student's library, and aristocratic club-houses,
down to the humble abode of two or three
rooms in town or country.

The paper used in this manufacture is
made in Scotland, whence it is sent to
England and Ireland, where more of the staining
goes on than in Scotland. Mr. McCrie's
establishment near Edinburgh, and one in
Glasgow, are the only ones north of the
Tweed. For ordinary patterns, the Scotch
paper is about two feet wide. The French
are narrower—a circumstance which should
be remembered, when the cost of hangings is
reckoned by the piece. Some of the granite
papers for halls and staircases, and panel
papers are of greater and various width.
The pieces, of twelve yards, are tied up in
bundles of ten; so that a bundle contains one
hundred and twenty yards. The first thing
that is done with the contents of a bundle,
when it is untied, is to fit it for receiving a
pattern by covering it smoothly and  evenly
with a coat of Paris white, or tint, for the
ground, made of sulphate of lime and water,
with size, which forms in fact a cement, and
sets the pattern. This Paris white arrives
from Hull and Leith: the size is made on the
premises, as the observer's nose informs him;
and in the yard, he sees the bundles of
buffalo skins from which it is made, and the
cauldron in which they are boiled. No part
of the business is more serious than that of
the preparation of the size—both for making
the pattern on the paper, and for attaching
the hanging to the wall. The size made in
hot weather is never good; it runs, and the
pattern is blotchy in places; and for this
mischief there is no remedy. If the production
must go on, without waiting for cooler
weather, the patterns must suffer, and the sellers
must have patience. A much more serious