ely the heavy
lace known as Spanish point, but pieces of the most exquisite
description, which could only have been made, says Mrs. Palliser, by
those whose time was not money.

Among the Saxon Hartz Mountains is the old town of Annaburg, and beneath
a lime-tree in its ancient burial-ground stands a simple monument with
this inscription:--

"Here lies Barbara Uttman, died on the 14th of January, 1576, whose
invention of lace in the year 1561 made her the benefactress of the
Hartz Mountains.

'An active mind, a skilful hand,
Bring blessings down on Fatherland.'"

Barbara was born in 1514. Her parents, burghers of Nuremberg, removed to
the Hartz Mountains for the purpose of working a mine in that
neighborhood. It is said that Barbara learned the art of lace-making
from a native of Brabant, a Protestant, whom the cruelties of the Duke
of Alva had driven from her country. Barbara, observing the mountain
girls making nets for the miners to wear over their hair, took great
interest in the improvement of their work, and succeeded in teaching
them a fine knitted _tricot_, and afterwards a lace ground. In 1561,
having procured aid from Flanders, she set up a work-shop in Annaburg
for lace-making. This branch of industry spread beyond Bavaria, giving
employment to thirty thousand persons, and producing a revenue of one
million thalers.

Italy and Flanders dispute the invention of lace, but it was probably
introduced into both countries about the same time. The Emperor Charles
V. commanded lace-making to be taught in schools and convents. A
specimen of the manufacture of his day may be seen in his cap, now
preserved in the museum at Hotel Cluny, Paris. It is of fine linen, with
the Emperor's arms embroidered in relief, with designs in lace, of
exquisite workmanship. The old Flemish laces are of great beauty and
world-wide fame.

Many passages in the history of lace show how severely the manufacture
of this beautiful fabric has strained the nerves of eye and brain. The
fishermen's wives on the Scottish coast apostrophize the fish they sell,
after their husbands' perilous voyages, and sing,

"Call them lives o' men."

Not more fatal to life are the blasts from ocean winds than the tasks
of laborious lace-makers; and this thought cannot but mingle with our
admiration for the skill displayed in this branch of woman's endless
toil and endeavor to supply her own wants and aid those who are dear to
her, in the pre