e arrived in London in 1716, when, after conferring
with his brother, a specification was prepared and a patent for the
organzining of raw silk was taken out in 1718. The patent was granted
for fourteen years.

In the meantime, John Lombe arranged with the Corporation of the town
of Derby for taking a lease of the island or swamp on the river
Derwent, at a ground rental of 8L. a year. The island, which was well
situated for water-power, was 500 feet long and 52 feet wide.
Arrangements were at once made for erecting a silk mill thereon, the
first large factory in England. It was constructed entirely at the
expense of his brother Thomas. While the building was in progress,
John Lombe hired various rooms in Derby, and particularly the Town
Hall, where he erected temporary engines turned by hand, and gave
employment to a large number of poor people.

At length, after about three years' labour, the great silk mill was
completed. It was founded upon huge piles of oak, from 16 to 20 feet
long, driven into the swamp close to each other by an engine made for
the purpose. The building was five stories high, contained eight large
apartments, and had no fewer than 468 windows. The Lombes must have
had great confidence in their speculation, as the building and the
great engine for making the organzine silk, together with the other
fittings, cost them about 30,000L.

One effect of the working of the mill was greatly to reduce the price
of the thrown-silk, and to bring it below the cost of the Italian
production. The King of Sardinia, having heard of the success of the
Lombe's undertaking, prohibited the exportation of Piedmontese raw
silk, which interrupted the course of their prosperity, until means
were taken to find a renewed supply elsewhere.

And now comes the tragic part of the story, for which Mr. Hutton, the
author of the 'History of Derby,' is responsible. As he worked in the
silk mill when a boy, from 1730 to 1737, he doubtless heard it from the
mill-hands, and there may be some truth in it, though mixed with a
little romance. It is this:--

Hutton says of John Lombe, that he "had not pursued this lucrative
commerce more than three or four years when the Italians, who felt the
effects from their want of trade, determined his destruction, and hoped
that that of his works would follow. An artful woman came over in the
character of a friend, associated with the parties, and assisted in the
business. She attem