Page:Australian views of England.djvu/88

  yet these sufferers patiently enduring to the death, without a sign of riot, almost without an audible murmur! The power of endurance and the courage on the battle-field seem to me nothing to this. Nor is Lancashire the only district where extreme suffering is to be seen, the ruin fast engulfing the masters as well as the men. Coventry and the neighbouring towns are struggling against an equal load of distress. These latter towns are, however, struggling with a marvellous resolution. Worn out with waiting for a return of prosperity in their staple trade, but still with hope and patience unexhausted, men are striving to introduce new manufactures. The ribbon loom is employed on novel and ingenious woollen fabrics, elastic band manufactories have been opened, and two large cotton mills have been built But the period of adversity has not only starved the operative out of their once comfortable homes, but it has absolutely ruined one-half of the employers of three years ago. I lately passed through Coventry, and I collected some statistics from a gentleman than whom few have a better knowledge of the city. During the last three years real property has been depreciated fifty per cent, and