Some sections of the community have decidedly manifested a beneficial influence from the discipline they have undergone; the upper very much more than the middle classes. These degrees of development are in strict accordance with the right laws of progression, which give the first place to superior intelligence; and the precedence is very marked. What the industrial impulse did for intellectual female circles in Ireland was more than a restoration to fortune. It assured them of a resource for their needs far above the accidents of transitory things, drew out their powers, and enabled them to test the value of their cultivation.

"Sweet were the uses of this adversity."

Acquaintance with these circles could alone convey an idea of the extent to which the problems of domestic economy were daily solved by their members. Irishwomen lay no claim to the quality called "thrift "they freely yield the palm for it to their neighboring relatives; but for discretion of expense, the educated among them may challenge any country. Unhappily, they form a very small body in comparison with those that represent the feminine capabilities of the nation to superficial observers. But they are a weighty and an important minority. We have a well-developed female power which, without the accessory of wealth, is able to maintain status and occupy position with effect. Its expression is becoming audible, and its strength apparent. It is leading the van of modern concern for its sex, and seeking to be permitted to assist in its elevation. Individually, the members of this body have made numerous efforts to promote this object, and now it is time they should associate and systematize their schemes. In order to assist in such a movement, it will be well to look at some of their actions, and form an idea of their bearing on the country.

When famine ravaged Ireland in 1847, women were found inspired by an energy to work that was truly surprising. Wherever there was a female hand, it seized a needle and wielded it

vigorously for bread. The eagerness to obtain means of support was so pressing, that a perfect clamor for employment arose. To satisfy this, a most remarkable occurrence took place. Women of the upper ranks developed an extraordinary skill in needlework, and great commercial aptitude to turn it to a profitable account. The repose of aristocratic society, and the leisure of the cloister, were disturbed. Ladies burst the bonds of conventionalities, and went regularly into business to procure remunerative occupation for the destitute of their own sex. The female children of the poor became, all over the land, subjects of instruction in the making up of various sorts of articles for sale, at first with indefinite purpose of supply; but their productions were kindly welcomed, and great demand promoted the industrial effort. Then came systematic attempts to consolidate it: schools for embroidery,

VOL. IX.

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crochet, knitting, netting, and tatting, &c., were established. The Census of 1851 returned 902 pupils in them; but this figure did not represent the extent of the exertion to diffuse the knowledge of needlework. The rapidity with which it spread was something electric; successive multitudes of girls passed through the initiatory process, and were soon reckoned as "workers," under some of the anxiously active employers. About this time, every feminine handicraft was endeavoring to assist itself, and the women of Ireland united in grand bond against a common foe. "Nor did the slightest taint of sectarian jealousy sully the sublime charity of the hour,-the voice of nature crying out in her misery was alone heard and responded to; and in the desire to do good, and to succour a common humanity, people were brought together, felt together, and acted together, who had been estranged all their lives:" wrote J. F. Maguire, M.P., in his “Irish Industrial Movement" (p. 184). And he adds (p. 225): "These ladies were all of a different religious persuasion from those whom they have assisted to elevate in a moral as well as material sense; and yet they have never in the slightest degree attempted or desired to take advantage of the singular influence of such a position as theirs, to interfere with the religious belief of their pupils, a fact which I deem too much to the credit of the purity of their motives not to record."

At the National Exhibition held in Cork, in 1852, a large number of samples of work done by the female poor appeared. Thirty-four of the exhibitors were ladies, patronesses of schools, and a few were men of business beginning to deal with them for their productions. The following year, in Dublin, forty-six schools exhibited, and an increased number of tradesmen. The goods offered were sewed muslin and crochet lace; the first an old acquaintance in the market, the other an entirely new creation. The origin of this latter fabric was peculiar, and the course of its development interesting. The phenomena connected with it, as an experiment in industry, are worth recalling for observation, and may be useful in promoting other schemes for social improvement. The operations of this period in our history affected the community so considerably, that their results are now easily discernible; but there is no definite idea popularly entertained as to how much of the evil or the good of our condition is referable to them. Some account of that which was really evolved by the action of the crisis will assist this matter, and is now imperatively called for, by the fact, that the most marked feature of our day is the discussion of the wants of the class that was then subject to the treatment of the agencies we refer to.

After the Exhibitions, vast numbers of females found employment in the two trades prominently exposed. Manufacturers of sewed muslin took extensive advantage of the cheap labor, and speculated largely in that sort of work. But the novel lace entered into com

petition with them, and importantly raised the wages of women's work. It resisted an effort to introduce the making of foreign pillow laces, by paying the hands much more than they could realize by such occupation. The weekly earnings at crochet were from 6s. to 10s. and 15s.; they held up steadily for about three years, and attained their highest scale of remuneration in 1857. The early specimens of it were beautiful pieces of workmanship comparable to medieval "guipures" and "points," of continental celebrity, and were, in fact, imitations of them. The attempt to resuscitate their styles, and rival their repute, were by no means contemptible. Great aptitude for this revival was displayed. The art was easily acquired, the materials inexpensive, and the market ready. It freely propagated itself, and after the manner of lace, showed adherence to habitat, and tenacity of type. It settled into several centres, Cork and Clones becoming the most important of them, and these maintained their distinctive characteristics most determinedly all through, and the recognition of the products of the different districts is well established in the trade.

The foundresses of the schools were the first merchants of this commodity. Some of them did large wholesale business, and others confined themselves to private sale. The transactions of the former were from £100 to £500 a month with warehouses; and the latter sent £20 and £30 worth of work a week to friends in more favored lands, to dispose of for them. In this way, England, France, America, and our colonies received a quantity of the production. Crochet became the fashion. Sympathy poured in heartily, and lightened the labor of charity. Consumers increased and multiplied, and no effort was spared to secure their approbation and merit their favor, and with such success, that even royal garments did not disdain to be adorned by "Irish point." The simple agency by which our wide-spread trade was carried on, was the sending out of a little pattern by post, and a request for orders. The reply to the humble message was most cordial, and men of business especially came forward to help the enterprise to maturity. By these early customers the matter was wisely and kindly taken into consideration. Every facility was offered to ladies to enter into correspondence with them, and commercial arrangements were made easy to their inexperience. In this commencement of the trade, before speculators entered the field, there were men found to deal in it with a truer human interest than pecuniary proceedings usually develop. The position of the unprepared, disinterested, gratuitous tradeswomen was well understood by them; and they assisted them to maintain their difficult undertakings in a manner that claims a very grateful acknowledgment.

The women who made this exertion did a good deed for their sex; they dealt practically with the subject of commercial employment for educated females; tested its difficulties by personal experience, and under circumstances which renders their example very

suitable to the cases of those whose early training did not contemplate such duties. This class was to some extent brought under the influence of the movement. Many members of it were engaged as assistant teachers in the schools, and not a few worked side by side with their humbler fellow-sufferers. A system was introduced to encourage them to become employers on a small scale, and deal directly with the market for their own benefit. A society was established in Cork for the purpose of enabling such persons to avail themselves of the lace trade. Mr. Maguire took notice of this circumstance, (“Irish Industrial Movement," p. 222,) and says: "Of the many schools which have been brought under my observation, I do not know any one which presents more interesting features than the Adelaide School. At its first commencement it differed in no way from the ordinary industrial school, in which young persons are employed during the day; but since then its whole character has changed, and it may now be described as a central depôt for the reception of work and the transaction of business. It employs young persons of limited means, or reduced circumstances, who are now but too happy to apply their talents to a useful and practical purpose, and in most instances with the purest of human motives,—the wish to confer even modest comforts on relations who have fallen victims to the great calamity of this country, which has brought down to the dust so many lofty heads and proud names. The number engaged in connexion with the Adelaide School amounts to 120. . . . The weekly payments are now about £14 a week, with prospect of considerable increase.”

This undertaking rapidly extended. No gratuitous assistance was offered, and the numbers of ladies applying for admission to it was very great. Every variety of capacity and qualification was presented by the candidates, but the abilities requisite for the attainment of the object proposed were rare. The educational condition of the class was found peculiarly deficient. Superficial accomplishments" were unavailable in the case, and they were plenty enough; but the knowledge of accounts, power of expression in writing, together with that cultivation of intelligence which can alone be accepted as proof of title to the adjective “educated,” were so remarkably absent, as to impede the successful introduction of artistic information amongst them. As the business of the Adelaide School progressed, the failures of its clients from this cause was its principal feature. The difficulty of inducing persons to submit to the discipline and training necessary for the undertaking was extreme. Prejudice against business life, and the distinctions of social grades, stood mightily in their way. Even want did not always conquer these obstacles, and the numbers who succeeded in securing any advantage from it were in great disproportion to those who applied during its course; at a rough estimate, they were as one to ten, and that at a time when the School had business for a far greater number of hands than it could

obtain. This continued up to 1857, when the trade began to decline. Twenty-two ladies were engaged in connexion with the School, and the average payment for labor amounted to £100 a week; and while they held their ground, the character of Cork crochet was tolerably well sustained in the market. This lace never was of the highest class, although Cork was said to be the "hot-bed" of the work; but before the competition for the article was so strong, it was approaching something respectable.

A great many benevolent ladies in the district were promoting the art. To Lady Deane's School, and those of the Blackrock, Youghal, and Kinsale convents, as well as to Mrs. Meredith's, (the Adelaide School,) it was indebted for patterns, stitches, &c. Local speculators, however, contended for the trade, and it had to be surrendered to them. The Adelaide School was the latest to give up, but in 1859 it succumbed to the pressure. Four of its superintendents continue to produce a small quantity of very fine goods, and are working separately for their own support, but with very adverse conditions. Almost all the hands in the neighborhood turned to the inferior sorts of the lace, and the production of any of the better kinds is now attended with an expense that absorbs the profits. Even at a premium, it is difficult to induce them to take the necessary trouble-the habit of working carelessly is so confirmed. This ignorant line of conduct wrought its own injury. The material rapidly deteriorated, and the position of the worker is becoming increasingly disadvantageous. It is to be feared that this generation of them will not retrieve the error into which they have been betrayed. The grotesque-looking coarse fabric, with which they supply the fluctuating demand of the day, will soon terminate its own existence; and unless some aid is extended to the Irish lace trade, it will come to its end speedily.

"Irish point," the highest development of crochet lace, is a very suggestive production, and there exists no reason that it should be as evanescent as the crisis that gave it birth. It is the insignia of a power created to endure, and to become an agent in preventing similar piteous catastrophes. The difficulties of its culture are not internal, but external. It is peculiarly controllable, and that which opposed its management, and rendered it a disorderly troublesome manufacture, was not a quality of the work, but of the workers. The first teachers could not impart their power to the pupils. Acquaintance with the principles of beauty and gracefulness, familiarity with antique laces, and works of fine art, do not come with the use of the hooked needle; and it is much to be regretted that at an early stage no training in these matters was procurable. But "better late than never." We hope, as we advance in social science, it will be recognised that all such offspring from the parent stock of industry demand the fostering care of the State, that they may arrive at a healthy maturity, and increase and strengthen the resources of our country.