FIGURED SILK.

weaver at Lyons, and was born in 1752. He appears to have early exhibited a strong taste for mechanics;but he was not encouraged in this, as he was apprenticed first to a bookbinder, and afterwards to a type-founder. It was only when, on the death of his parents, he became possessed of some little property, thathe took up his father’s trade of silk-weaving; and having purchased and set up several looms, started asa chef d’atelier. Being, however, a man of contemplative rather than of business habits, he was not successful.Jacquard has not left us any record of this part of his life; but it would appear that his attention wasearly drawn to the pattern weaving-loom with a view to effecting, by mechanical means, the work which wasdone by the weaver’s assistant in moving what is called the harness, so as to produce the pattern required.After labouring at this idea for some years under the most disadvantageous circumstances, we find that in 1801he had so far accomplished his purpose, that he took out a patent for his invention, which he called thetireuse des lacs; and in the following year, having put up one of his new looms, he was visited in the poorlodging, which he occupied in Rue de la Pechererie, by Carnot, the Minister of the Interior, and the membersof the Consulta, which was then assembled at Lyons. The merits and importance of his invention were, however,but very slowly recognised, although it was exhibited at the National Exposition in 1801, on which occasionthe inventor was only rewarded with a bronze medal, and he is spoken of in the Report of the Jury as “ theinventor of a mechanical contrivance, which, in the weaving of figured silk, performs the part of the workmancalled the draw-boy (tireur des lacs).” Jacquard was sent to Paris, where he was engaged at the Conservatoiredes Arts et Metiers , with various pieces of machinery; and particularly in bringing into working order thatinvented by Vaucanson some time before to effect the. same object as his own admirable contrivance; it was,however, too complicated and costly for practical use.

In 1804 Jacquard returned to Lyons, where he was engaged in endeavouring to introduce his looms; inthis he was much obstructed by. the determined opposition of the working weavers, who even made attemptsagainst his life. In 1806 an order of the then imperial government authorised the municipality of Lyons topurchase of Jacquard the right of his patent, for which he received an annuity of 3000 francs. After thisthe number of Jacquard-looms rapidly increased, so that we find them amounting to 18,000 in the year 1812.In 1819 he again brought forward his loom at the National Exposition; and on this occasion the jury, more aliveto the importance of the invention, awarded to him the gold medal. Notwithstanding numerous brilliant offersof employment in other countries, Jacquard remained in his native city, where he died on the 7th of August, 1834.

The improvements introduced into silk-weaving by Jacquard, as they were confined to Lyons, had a greateffect in increasing the trade of that place; and we find that after the peace in 1815, the number of loomsemployed soon reached the number of 20,000. It must be understood, however, that this includes those atwork in the neighbouring country as well as those in the city itself. From the Reports of the juries of theExpositions in 1834 and subsequent years, we learn that between 1815 and 1830 the number of metiers workedat Lyons rose from 15,000 to 27,000; and in 1839 it was calculated that there were 31,000 in the town itself,besides 9000 in the country. The number of looms now working either in, round, or for Lyons, is estimatedat nearly 50,000.

The invention of Jacquard effected more than a mechanical improvement; for owing to the height ofthe card or figure-loom, it could not be worked in the low rooms, which, up to the time of the great invention,the weavers usually occupied. The Jacquards are generally worked in ateliers, where the chef d’atelier, ormiddleman, sets up several looms, and engages journeymen, who are termed compagnons. The chef d’atelierobtains the work from the manufacturers, and it is his duty to arrange the warp and the cards for producingthe design; he also undertakes the reeling and winding of the silk. To arrange a Jacquard for a compli-cated pattern, takes sometimes as much as six or seven days, during which time the compagnon is necessarilyidle; but as the price paid for the work rises very considerably with the intricacy of the pattern, theweaver does not object to this delay. The price paid by the manufacturer is shared equally between the chefd’atelier and his compagnons , the former, out of his share, providing the workshop, looms, and accessorylabour.

It is remarkable that with all her facilities for breeding the worms, France is obliged to draw a veryconsiderable quantity (about fifty-seven millions of francs’ worth) of the raw silk from Italy , 145 millionsof francs’ worth being produced upon her own soil.*

* The “Morning Chronicle” of May 1, 1851, contains an interesting account of the present state of the silk-trade at Lyons, and to this weare indebted for some of our information.