But I am entering too much into detail, and must pass on more rapidly. About six weeks after that solitary evening, there were at least twenty-five present; and let me give you an idea of the improvement in their manners. I was a minute or two late. They were nearly all assembled. As I entered the room, they all rose, and remained standing till I was seated. And this was by no means in consequence of any lectures I had given them on manners: I should have considered it as much as my place was worth to have offered such instruction. From having frequently heard a difficulty as to the time which these meetings took from their work, I thought of a plan for supplying their fingers, whilst their minds were occupied in listening to what was passing in the way of instruction. Various materials for clothing were provided, and issued to members of the society, as required by them, at a reduction of twopence in the shilling. Good patterns were also provided, free of charge. In this way, during the winter, most of these women made several garments for themselves and their children; and as the payments were usually only a few pence at a time, the total cost appeared to them very trifling. In addition to this, a Savings’ Bank was established, and some of the depositors saved as much as seven or eight shillings. As the summer advanced, the attendance, of course, lessened. The greater part of the poor people living in the Potteries, being brickmakers, can follow this occupation only in the summer, when they work early and late; and the wife often works too. We therefore thought it best to give up meeting, from July to the end of September. As we parted, one of our members, a good woman, who had interested me very much, came to me, and, with tears in her eyes, spoke of the happy hours we had enjoyed there, and said the time would seem long till we met again. We then little thought _how_ long it would be. The Potteries was one of the first places visited by the cholera that year; and this good woman, to whom I was most sincerely attached, was one of the first victims. She was attacked one morning, and died in the evening. A sickly child, too, who had been long the object of the greatest care and solicitude to his poor mother, followed her in a few hours, and one grave received them both. When we assembled in October, in addition to the inroads which death had made, a few members had left the neighbourhood; but still so many returned, and brought with them so many companions, that I saw it was quite impossible to carry on the society longer single-handed. Neither was there any occasion for doing so. Several ladies kindly offered their assistance, and we are now regularly organised.