London to John O' Groat's. 285 



the whole valley of the shadow of death ! It was an 

 impressive sight truly. If there were other establish- 

 ments doing the same thing, Nottingham must turn 

 out weeds of grief enough for several millions of 

 mourning widows, mothers, sisters and daughters in a 

 year. I ascended into the dressing-room, I think they 

 called it, in the upper story, where there was a peice 

 containing one twenty-fifth of an acre of lace under- 

 going a fearful operation for a human constitution to 

 sustain. It was necessary that the heat of the apart- 

 ment should be kept at one hundred and twenty degrees ! 

 There was a large number of women and girls, and a 

 few men and boys working under this melting ordeal. 

 And one of the proprietors was at their head, in a 

 rather summer dress, and with a seethed and crimson 

 face beaded with hot perspiration. It was a very 

 delicate and important operation which he had not 

 only to watch with his own eyes, but to work at with 

 his own hands. I was glad to learn that he was a 

 staunch Protestant, and did not believe in purgatory ; 

 but those poor girls ! could they be expected to hold 

 to the same belief under such a test ? 



I was told that they get up lace so cheap that the 

 people of the town frequently cover their gooseberry 

 bushes with it to keep off the insects. Spider-webbing 

 is a scarcely more gossamer-like fabric. Sixteen square 



