e lid of a Cumnock
snuff-box. A few years ago, the art in question was much affected by
the long-continued depression of the weaving business; so much so,
that many left it for some other employment. And some of those who
emigrated, having made a good deal of money, instead of being cooped
up in a workshop, are now thriving proprietors in Upper Canada. But
after a brief interval the trade rallied; and though prices are low,
it is now more flourishing than ever. In Cumnock the number of hands
has increased considerably, and in Mauchline there is one workshop so
extensive that it may almost be compared to a cotton mill or factory.
In other quarters the trade is extending, such as Helensburgh near
Greenock, Catrine, Maxwelltown, Dumfries, &c. The principal markets
for the snuff-boxes are London, Liverpool, Glasgow, and Edinburgh.
At one time large lots of boxes were exported to South America, and
probably are so at present. Cumnock, in a word, in regard to its
staple manufacture, is in that palmy state so well described by a
modern writer:--"the condition most favourable to population is that
of a laborious, frugal people ministering to the demands of opulent
neighbours; because this situation, while it leaves them every
advantage of luxury, exempts them from the evils which accompany its
admission into a country. Of the different kinds of luxury, those are
the most innocent which afford employment to the greatest number of
artists and manufacturers; or those in which the price of the work
bears the greatest proportion to that of the raw material." Some very
wretched imitations of Cumnock boxes have been produced in different
parts of England; but they can deceive no one who ever saw a genuine
box. The hinge, as well as the finishing, is clumsy in the extreme.

[Mr. Macculloch acknowledges himself indebted for this
curious and instructive article to his esteemed friend "John
M'Diarmid, Esq. Editor of the _Dumfries Courier_, one of the
best provincial papers published in the empire."

By the way, what a colossal labour must have been the
preparation of the above Dictionary. How it reminds us of
the words of poor, patient Antony Wood: "What toyle hath been
taken, as no man thinketh, so no man believeth, but he that
hath made the trial." Yet it has often occurred to us that
the compiler, or editor, as he is complimentarily called, is
barely treated with proper respect in these day