Her sentiments do her credit, but the irony is that the machine lace (and fabrics) that replaced the hand industries didn't improve the lot of the workers. If anything, it made it worse. The factories were dangerous in many ways, and the labor was brutal and constant. And I'm reminded of William Cobbett's description of the decimation of the lacemaking villages of England, after the introduction of the machines. The livelihood of many was ruined by the machines.
Not sure in the end that machinery was any improvement in any way -- except perhaps that a wider range of socio-economic classes could have access to lace after the machines became the norm. Just my 2 cents worth, thank you for the interesting quote, Su. Carolyn Carolyn Hastings Stow, MA USA > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf > Of Su Carter > Sent: Wednesday, May 21, 2008 6:53 PM > To: Lace Arachne > Subject: > > Hi all, > > I chanced upon a lovely comment about lace by Fanny Kemble that I > thought you'd enjoy. > > > I was much interested by the lace-works at Brussels and > Mechlin, and very painfully so. It is beginning to be > time, I think, in Christian countries, for manufactures of > mere luxury to be done away with, when proficiency in > the merest mechanical drudgery involved in them demands > a lifetime, and the sight and health of women, > who begin this twilight work at five and six years old, are > often sacrificed long before their natural term to this > costly and unhealthy industry. > > I hope to see all such manufactures done away with, > for they are bad things, and a whole moral and intelligent > being, turned into ten fingers' ends for such purposes, is > a sad spectacle. I (a lace-worshipper, if ever woman was) > say this advisedly; I am sorry there is still Mechlin and > Brussels lace made, and glad there is no more India > muslin, and rejoice in the disuse of every minute manual > labor which tends to make a mere machine of God's > likeness. But oh, for all that, how incomparably inferior > is the finest, faultless, machine-made lace and muslin to > the exquisite irregularity of the human fabric!... > > Frances Ann Kemble, 1841 > > > Su Carter, enjoying a lovely day in > Williamsburg, VA, USA > > - > To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: > unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
