himself in the presence of such high personages, the youth did not immediately reply. But Bonaparte, with that suavity he could so well assume, having asked Jacquard a few trivial questions, led him by degrees into an animated conversation, and one which might be considered the foundation of his after-success in life.

Jacquard was at once installed in the Conservatory; all the secrets of mechanics, which till then he had been unable to study, were laid open to his inspection. In the midst of these and other wonders of industry, all difficulties seemed to vanish as he thought on his long-cherished idea of constructing a loom which would meliorate the condition of the canuts of his native town. The first task to which he was put to work, was the constructing a full-sized machine after the model that had been of such service to him, and which, when completed, gave general satisfaction. A magnificent shawl, destined for Josephine, the wife of Bonaparte, wrought in a loom that had cost more than twenty thousand francs, made him form the idea of applying to these works of luxury a less complicated, and at the same time a much less expensive machinery, in which he succeeded beyond his most sanguine expectations.

While thus employed for the emperor, he had steadily persevered in his endeavours to perfect the machine which had engrossed his thoughts from boyhood, and in 1801 completed the one known as the "Jacquard-Loom," which was exhibited at the Exposition of Arts in Paris the same year.

VI.

We shall now see how the Jacquard-loom was received by those for whose benefit it was expressly intended. Having received from the French government a pension of a thousand crowns for his discovery, Jacquard expected that, with such testimonials of its value, he should have no difficulty in establishing the loom in his native city. Filled, therefore, with the hope of meliorating the condition of his fellow-townsmen, Jacquard returned to Lyons. Alas! these hopes were quickly dispelled. Having, at his own expense, constructed one of the machines, the Conseil des Prud'hommes* were invited to inspect it, and give their opinions. Great was Jacquard's dismay when he found that they not only opposed the introduction of his loom, but gave orders that it should be publicly destroyed; which was accordingly done in the Place, amidst the shouts and rejoicings of the populace; and his invention excited such an enmity against him amongst the weavers, that he three times narrowly escaped with his life.

A few years elapsed, during which the English had made

* A body appointed to watch over the interests of the Lyonese trade.

rapid strides in the manufacture of gold and silver tissues, and it was only when the French began to feel the effects of foreign competition that their prejudices gave way; and in self-defence, they adopted the loom which they had previously rejected and despised. The inventor, altogether forgetting the ignominious treatment he had received, gladly came forward, and under his superintendence looms were rapidly constructed, and were soon employed in most of the silk manufacturing districts of France.

Many improvements were made from time to time by him; yet though the recompense was scarcely commensurate with the services rendered, Jacquard, happy in the thought of being instrumental not only in adding to the comforts of the workmen, but also in furthering the interests of the employers, lived modestly and retired, without desiring anything more. His disinterestedness was only equalled by the uprightness of his heart. Many magnificent offers were made to him by strangers; but with firmness, devoid of pride, he refused them all, and preferred engaging himself, at a moderate annuity given by the municipal council of Lyons, "to consecrate all his time and abilities to the service of the town, and to perfect, as far as lay in his power, his former inventions."

In a great measure owing to this machine, the canuts have acquired almost a new existence. If the work is not always plenty, at least it does not kill them. In the schools and in the workshops, instead of the pale and emaciated beings who formerly earned a scanty subsistence with their very life-blood, are to be seen well-dressed and ruddy-looking children; and men, no longer wearing that heartbroken and timid look which was then a characteristic feature of their profession, appear at the present day the most healthy and well-disposed class of artisans in Lyons.

The fabrication of the stuffs has also wonderfully increased. In 1788 there were but two hundred and forty looms in Lyons for the manufacture of stuffs; in 1801, at the time of Jacquard's discovery, there were two thousand eight hundred; at the present day there are thirty-two thousand looms at work, of which number the ingenious machines invented by Jacquard count nearly one-third.

After the Exposition of Arts in 1819, he received the decoration of the Legion of Honour; a recompense justly due to the humble workman through whose instrumentality a suffering and unhappy population had been regenerated.

Towards the close of his life, Jacquard, wishing to enjoy the society of his sister and her children, retired to a small villa at Duillons, a few leagues from Lyons, where M. Brechet had established a factory. Here he was visited by many illustrions foreigners, anxious to converse with the man whose name had spread over all Europe, and frequent were the expressions of surprise at finding in so modest à retreat one who had diffused so much opulence around him.

"The manufacturers, through you, have all grown rich," remarked a visitor.

"So much the better," replied Jacquard. "I have retired on a moderate competency, and I have no cause to complain; it is sufficient for me that I have been of service to my fellowcitizens."

"Your townsmen," said a stranger of distinction, "have not treated you with proper respect."

"I have received more than I sought," replied Jacquard; "and I desire no further."

This useful man, born of obscure parents, and who were not forgotten by him in his prosperity, ended his days peaceably at Duillons, in August 1834, and was interred in the village cemetery. A subscription was opened by the Conseil des Prud'hommes of Lyons, for the purpose of raising a monument suitable to the memory of him who had justly merited the appellation of the benefactor of mankind.

Lyons continues to be one of the principal seats of the silk manufacture in France. Unfortunately, however, the Jacquardloom, though benefiting the workmen in various ways, has not prevented differences as to wages. In recent times there have been various unions and strikes among the weavers, which have led to insurrections of a serious nature (See Tract, No. 38). The last of these outbreaks was quelled only after much blood was shed, and great damage done to the town. To guard against a recurrence of these disasters, the town is now overawed by fortifications, whose cannon are seen bristling on the different heights around. Thus subdued, the operative silk-weavers confess the hopelessness of bettering themselves by violence, and look for an improvement in circumstances to other means than intimidating their employers. With this unhappy tendency to quarrel with the ordinary routine of labour, many of the silk-weavers of Lyons are a superior class of men. Among them there is a class called chefs d'atelier, or chiefs of the workshop. In the private residences of these men the weaving is carried on. The chef receives the work from the manufacturer, puts it into the loom, and superintends the weaving, besides working on a loom himself. Lyons is built like Edinburgh. A building consists of several floors, each inhabited by a separate family, and the families reach their respective dwellings by a common stone stair. In the summer of 1844 we had the pleasure of visiting the establishment of one of these chefs. It was situated on the fourth floor of a tall building. On being conducted into the weaving apartment, the scene was curious. We had never seen any mechanism half so intricate, and apparently unintelligible.

The process was by Jacquard cards, but the patterns to be wrought embraced such variety of detail, that the apparatus was an inextricable maze of bobbins, strings, and other parts incomprehensible to a stranger. The chef, doffing his cap, received us with great politeness, and took pains to explain-vain thought -the mechanique of the looms under his charge, three in number. Lifting up a piece of paper carefully pinned over the parts woven of the fabrics in hand, he showed the beauty of their designs. One of the pieces was magnificent. It was a gorgeous assemblage of colours finely harmonised in tone, with gold and silver thread in different combinations, and was intended, he said, for church banners. Another piece, the groundwork of which was white satin, interwoven also with gold and silver, was designed for priests' vestments in the church service. The chef mentioned, that such was the complexity of one of these pieces, that he was occupied three months in arranging it in the loom, and that the workman employed upon it could not weave more than a yard in the week. The price which it would cost the manufacturer was to be a hundred francs per yard. The operatives engaged in weaving such articles realise from twelve to fifteen francs for their weekly labour. That they do not earn much less, is clearly owing to the introduction of the Jacquard-loom.

FIRESIDE EDUCATION.

HUMAN Society is composed of families. A family consists of husband, wife, children. This is not an accidental or arbitrary arrangement. The family compact originates in the necessities of our nature; has existed from the creation; and, by the good providence of God, will continue till the end of time. Accordingly, all attempts to encroach on the obligations, as well as the privileges, of the family relationship, have proved less or more nugatory, and must ever inevitably do so. It may be a matter for consideration whether the government of a nation should be a monarchy or a democracy, or, as in England, a mixture of both; but there is no need for considering on what principles human beings shall be cared for in the domestic_government; these principles have been settled long ago by the Creator, when he made man, and any cavil on the subject would be altogether worthless. What is the fundamental object of the family compact, is extremely evident: a due provision for the affections, and for the nurture and education of children-the latter insured by the permanence of the matrimonial engagement. Thus, by what we must call a primary ordination, father, mother, children, compose a community distinct in its character, and which all must recognise as essential to the subsistence and wellbeing of civil society. We have considered it necessary to state thus broadly at the outset what appears to be the primary principles of human relationship; for there are not wanting parties who would endeavour to rear systems of society in which the family compact is to have no place, and parental care is to be absolved from its duties-a dream of the imagination, which the common sense of mankind will ever reject as visionary, and consider, for all good purposes, to be impracticable.

Whatever be the benevolence of plans propounded for the rearing of children apart from the parental roof, it cannot escape notice that they proceed on a misconception of what education really is. In the treatment which nature dictates, the child is to be cared for in various ways, and for these various ways education to a certain extent, under the immediate direction of parents, is indispensable; in a word, FIRESIDE EDUCATION is necessary to form the perfect being.

Fireside education is thus a wide and comprehensive thing: its enlightened object is to transform a weak uninstructed child into a healthy and accomplished man or woman. What a variety of considerations are necessarily engaged in this onerous duty! The child is to be cared for physically; that is, as regards food, warmth, clothing, exercise, and, it may be, medical attendance. He is to be cared for morally; in which is involved the suppres