Printed by WHITING & Co., at “ Beaufort House,” 30 & 32, Sardinia Street,

Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C.

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Rev. S. A. Barnett & Mrs. Barnett,

My Friends and Helpers,

Who have done so much for workers in East London, this Volume is affectionately dedicated.

HIS little book is the product of hand-work alone, and we have chosen to produce it in this way because we wish to preserve in each copy, as much of that individuality and human interest, as the price at which it is offered will permit.

Not only was the paper made by hand, and the printing done by a hand-press, but the flax-which forms the basis of both. Linen and Paper-was first spun by the cottagers at their wheels in the Langdale Valley, and the thread thus formed was afterwards specially woven for the cover of this book on the hand loom at the same place, which is shown so well on our frontispiece. The linen we have used for our cover is unbleached, and is therefore the natural colour of the dried flax. When the linen is required to be bleached, however, this is accomplished in Langdale, by no deleterious chemicals, but by the pure mountain air and sunshine-the only kind that the Bard of Avon knew

Prefatory Note. -

when he sang of " the white sheet bleaching on the hedge" in the Daffodil-time.

Machines may well produce those necessities of life that require but little thought in their production, yet there is much that machinery can never accomplish. The very fact that a machine turns out thousands of a thing, each of which is alike in detail and finish, at once diminishes its art value. Machinemade goods, with all their superb mechanical finish, are monotonous in their uniformity, and lack that human touch, interest, and individuality for which the artistic mind craves.

It is, then, with pleasure that we are able to state that the illustration, printing, and binding of this little book are all the handiwork of English men and women. Further, as it is our conviction that a workman will not be so likely to put heart and soul into his labour, if the result of it is never to be known to the world as his, and as it is only right that honour should be given to whom honour is due, we have, as far as possible, given the names of all craftsmen and workers concerned in producing this volume, and we hope and believe that the purchasers of it will feel a kindly interest in knowing the names of those whose united handiwork they possess. For this idea we freely acknowledge we are in great measure indebted to "The Arts and Crafts Society."

The buyer of a thing may seldom think of the workers' sacrifice in producing it, yet the sacrifice of unremitting and