by which it is cleared of sand and dirt, and the fibres are loosened, which have been matted together in packing; it is then-4, batted, that is, beaten, to disentangle it and make it still cleaner; 5, the next process is called lapping, by which the wool is formed into filmy strips of uniform thickness, called laps; 6, it is carded, or combed out, and then formed into fresh laps; 7, these new laps are doubled and drawn out; 8, the laps are now formed into rovings, which is done by drawing them still further out, and at the same time giving them a slight twist.

All these operations must be performed by machinery, in order to supply the quantity of rovings, which our spinning machines are ready to convert into yarn. The amount of yarn produced led also to the construction of machines for weaving, which would have been of no use even had they been invented, so long as the supply of yarn was limited to the quantity that could be produced by hand. Thus one machine is the cause of the invention of another: besides this, we have machines to make machines; carding, for instance, was originally done by hand; then there was a carding-machine; and now there is a most ingenious machine by which the cards are made.

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The great demand for cotton, consequent upon the invention of spinning-machines, led to the invention of a machine in America, by which the wool is cleared from the husks and seeds of the plant: this has saved a great deal of expense, and enabled the planters to supply common cotton at a very cheap rate.

A cotton card is a sort of brush containing wires instead of bristles: the cards are made of bands of leather pierced with holes, in which are fixed bent pieces of iron wire, called teeth.

Upon hearing of the wonderful results of machinery, our first thought would naturally be of the benefit conferred upon mankind by the rapid and cheap production of so many articles in common use. Every machine by which labour and expense are saved enables the poor man to purchase such articles at a less cost, and so increases the comforts of the people at large; but our second thought will very probably be "Does not this saving of labour rob the poor man of his employment?" The labourer and the artisan will of course be the first persons to take this view of the subject; and we find that the first introduction of machinery in any department of labour has been attended with great opposition from the labouring classes, who have fancied themselves about to be deprived of their employment. One of the first inventors of a printing machine was a compositor in the Times office, named Thomas Martyn. The proprietor, Mr. Walter, finding great difficulty in supplying the public with copies of the newspaper, gladly supplied Martyn with money to complete the work. But the news got abroad amongst the printers, that Martyn had invented a machine which would work itself; and the pressmen, fearing that it would take away their employment, vowed vengeance against him in truth he went in danger of his life; he was obliged to wear all sorts of strange disguises that he might escape their notice and fury. As for the machinery, he was forced to introduce it bit by bit into the printing office, at night or by day, pretending it was something else, for the pressmen only wanted the opportunity to break his contrivance.

This is but one instance of many similar attempts

made by short-sighted workmen to obstruct the pro-
gress
of an invention which has been of the utmost
benefit to all connected with the printing trade. The
benefit arising from machine-printing is incalculable.
The machine has relieved men of hard toil, which
was often hurtful to health, sheets of a greatly-in-
creased size can now be printed-the cost of printing
has been much reduced, and (observe this) the em-
ployment of printers greatly increased. The result
has been an extraordinary diffusion of all kinds of
knowledge, and a great advance in the civilization of
the world.

When we remember the number of people who found employment at the spinning-wheel, we cannot be surprised at the alarm which many felt at the news that machinery was to take away all this occupation. When Hargreaves first invented a spinningmachine, he kept the secret to himself for some time, employing it to prepare his own yarn; but when by an accident the invention was noised abroad, it excited so much ill-will among the spinners, that they broke into the poor man's cottage, destroyed the machine and most of his furniture by fire, and even threatened violence to Hargreaves himself, and he was obliged to leave his native place, and to settle elsewhere in consequence.

This took place not quite ninety years ago. Who can sum up the advantages which have accrued to our country from this and similar inventions by which it has been followed up? The peasant, who can purchase his clothing for a tenth of the sum which it cost his forefathers, and who can clothe his children comfortably from head to foot instead of leaving

them barefoot and half-clad, is reaping every day the benefit of these wonderful, inventions; and without enlarging upon the extension of our commerce, and the increase of our national wealth, it will be enough to remark, that it is calculated that the cotton manufacture supplies employment to three millions and a half of people, which is an eighth part of the entire population of Great Britain.

These instances may read us a valuable lesson. Many of us can remember the agitation caused in the agricultural districts a few years back by the introduction of the threshing-machine. Ignorant men were excited by this to acts both lawless and wicked. Experience has shown that the common use of the threshing-machine has relieved the labourer of very toilsome work, and not diminished the number of persons employed in the cultivation of the land. Other machines are now coming into use, and we need not be afraid that they will injure the industrious poor.

It must be ever borne in mind that machinery is in truth as much the gift of God to man as the fruits of the earth; for God gives to man the faculty of finding out excellent inventions, and blesses the endeavours of ingenious men with success. It is by the exercise of the talents which God has given him, that man is enabled to profit by all which the earth contains; not only does he make use of the labour of the beasts over which he has dominion, but wind, water, fire, and steam, become subservient to his will each of these in turn provide fresh benefits for man; but the God who made them and us is the giver of them all.

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LESSON 90.

HUMAN FRAILTY.

WEAK and irresolute is man;

The purpose of to-day,
Woven with pains into his plan,
To-morrow rends away.

The bow well bent, and smart the spring,
Vice seems already slain;

But Passion rudely snaps the string,
And it revives again.

Some foe to his upright intent

Finds out his weaker part;
Virtue engages his assent,

But Pleasure wins his heart.

'Tis here the folly of the wise
Through all his art we view;

And, while his tongue the charge denies,
His conscience owns it true.

Bound on a voyage of awful length
And dangers little known,
A stranger to superior strength,
Man vainly trusts his own.

But oars alone can ne'er prevail

To reach the distant coast;

The breath of Heaven must swell the sail,
Or all the toil is lost.-CowPER.

LESSON 91.

COMPARISON AND METAPHORS.

NOTHING is more common, whether in speaking or writing, than to give expression to our ideas by comparing one thing with another.

In poetry, comparison is continually introduced by