Samuel Smiles：Self-Help, Excerpt 56

After the trial was over, Mr. Heathcoat, on inquiry, found about six hundred machines at work after his patent, and he proceeded to levy royalty upon the owners of them, which amounted to a large sum. But the profits realised by the manufacturers of lace were very great, and the use of the machines rapidly extended; while the price of the article was reduced from five pounds the square yard to about five pence in the course of twenty-five years. During the same period the average annual returns of the lace-trade have been at least four millions sterling, and it gives remunerative employment to about 150,000 workpeople.

Source： https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/935
Locator：Excerpt 56 · Verified：2026-10-19 · Verification：Short excerpt

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