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affords, before it comes into the market, is a very curious and interesting occupation. Beginning, then, with the first commercial operations; the cotton used in the manufacture of tapes, having been warehoused in Liverpool, is sold on account of the importer, and bought to the order of the manufacturer by cotton-brokers. It is conveyed by canal or railway to Manchester; and when delivered at the works of the purchaser, is weighed, assorted, mixed, and spread, with a view to obtain equality in the staple. It is then taken to the willowing machine to be opened and rendered feculent; thence it is transferred to the blowing machine, which cleans it from dust, and makes it feathery. Attached to the blower is a lapping apparatus, by which the cotton is taken up and laid in a continuous fleece upon a roller, in order that it may be conveniently carried to the carding engine, there to be made into a fleece of the most equable texture possible; hence it is handed to the drawing-frame, where it is blended with the production of all the carding engines, connected with the particular set or system to which it belongs. It is next passed through the slubbingframe, afterwards through the jack, or rovingframe, and then through the throstle, or spinningframe, upon which it is made into yarn or twist. From the throstle, the yarn, if intended for warp, is forwarded to the winding-frame, but if intended for weft, to the reeler; afterwards, that which is wound, is delivered to the warper, that which is reeled, to the pin-winder. The weaver next operates

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upon it, passes it through the loom, rubs up the tape, and consigns it to the taker-in, who examines the fabric, and transfers it to the putter-out, who sends it to the bleacher. When bleached, it is handed to the scraper, whose business it is to take out the creases, and open the tape, by running it under and over iron scrapers. This having been done, the piece is put through the calender, where it is pressed between hot bowls, and rendered smooth and glossy. It is next taken to the lapping department, where it is neatly folded by young women, after which, the maker-up forms the piece into parcels, containing the required quantity, and places them in a powerful press to make them compact. He next papers them, and sends them to the warehouse, for sale. Thus, in its progress from the raw material, a piece of tape has afforded employment to the broker of the manufacturer, to the carrier, to the mixer of the cotton, to the tenders of the willow, of the blower, of the carding engine, of the drawing-frame, slubbing-frame, roving-frame, and throstle; to the doffer, bobbin-winder, reeler, warper, pin-winder, weaver, taker-in, putter-out, bleacher, scraper, calender-man, lapper, maker-up, and salesman; or, to at least twenty-five persons, before it leaves the warehouse of the manufacturer, where 12 pieces, of 18 yards each, or 216 yards of cottontape, of nearly half an inch in width, and containing 9,170 yards of yarn, are sold for eighteen pence; or 12 yards of finished tape, containing 509 yards of yarn, for the small sum of one penny,

Some idea of the extent to which this manufacture is carried on in Manchester, may be formed from the fact, that, at the works of Messrs. Wood and Westheads, upwards of 1,240,000 yards of goods, not exceeding three inches in width, and composed partly or entirely of cotton, linen, silk, or worsted, are woven in one week, or upwards of 35,227 miles in one year.

MANCHESTER AS IT IS.

LESSON XXIII.

THE DYING CHRISTIAN TO HIS SOUL.

VITAL spark of heavenly flame!
Quit, oh quit this mortal frame:
Trembling, hoping, lingering, flying,
Oh the pain, the bliss of dying!
Cease, fond nature, cease thy strife,
And let me languish into life!
Hark! they whisper-angels say,
"Sister spirit, come away!"
What is this absorbs me quite ?
Steals my senses, shuts my sight,
Drowns my spirits, draws my breath?
Tell me, my soul, can this be death?
The world recedes! it disappears!
Heaven opens to my eyes!-my ears
With sounds seraphic ring!

Lend, lend your wings! I mount! I fly!
O grave! where is thy victory?

O Death! where is thy sting?

POPE.

LESSON XXIV.

HYMN TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN.

AVE MARIA! maiden mild!

Listen to a maiden's prayer;

Thou canst hear, though from the wild,
Thou canst save amid despair.
Safe may we sleep beneath thy care,
Though banished, outcast, and reviled-
Maiden! hear a maiden's prayer;

Mother, hear a suppliant child!

Ave Maria! undefiled!

AVE MARIA !

The flinty couch we now must share, Shall seem with down of eider piled,

If thy protection hover there.

The murky cavern's heavy air

Shall breathe of balm, if thou hast smiled Then, Maiden! hear a maiden's prayer, Mother, list a suppliant child.

AVE MARIA !

Ave Maria! stainless styled!

Foul demons of the earth and air, From this their wonted haunt exiled, Shall flee before thy presence fair. We bow us to our lot of care,

Beneath thy guidance reconciled; Hear for a maid a maiden's prayer, And for a father hear a child!

AVE MARIA !

SCOTT.

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THE figure of the earth is nearly that of a sphere or globe, about 7,912 English miles in diameter, and 24,856 miles in circumference. Its surface, which is divided into land and water, is 198 millions of square miles in extent. The land is divided into two great continents, the eastern and western, situated principally in opposite hemispheres, and occupying something less than onethird of the earth's surface. The eastern continent is 31 millions of square miles in extent, and is said to contain 760 millions of inhabitants. comprises Europe, Asia, and Africa, and is called the Old World. The western continent contains 17 millions of square miles, and a population of about 40 millions. It is divided into North and South America, and, because discovered at a comparatively late period, is called the New World. To these grand divisions, another has been added,

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