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( 71 ) CHAPTER VI. SPAIN. “ Of Point rt’Espagnc a rich cornet, Two night rails and a scarf beset, With a largo laco and collaret.” Ecefajn, Voyage to Marry-land. “ Hat laced with gold Point d’Espagne.” 1 IVardrohe of a Pretty Felloe:, Under id; lbtnlnm. The Count. “ Vogliouna punta di Spagna, larga, massiccia, ben lavorala. Del ^begno, della riccliezza, nra niente di luccicante.”—Goldoni, Ij Avaro fastoso. Spanish point, in its day, has been as celebrated as that of Italy, tradition declares Spain to have learned the art from Italy, "hence she communicated it to Flanders, who, in return, taught ,S Pain how to make pillow lace. Be that as it may, Spanish point 'vas highly prized, extensively made, and Spain had no occasion to import the products of Italy. Many reasons exist why Spanish l’eint was less known to Europe in general than that of other Nations. The dress of the court, guided not by the impulse of fashion, but by sumptuary laws, gave little encouragement to the manufacture; while, on the other hand, the numberless images of our Lady and other patron saints, dressed and re dressed daily ' 11 the richest vestments, together with the albs of the priests and the decorations of the altars, caused an immense consumption for ecclesiastical purposes. “Of so great value,” says lleckford, “were the laces of these favoured Madonnas that in 1787 the Marchioness of Oogalhudo, wife of the eldest son of the semi- r °yal race of Medina Coeli, was appointed mistress of the robes to our Lady of La Solidad, at Madrid, a much coveted office.” It ma y he surmised then that the supply scarcely exceeded the demand, and that the rich points of which we have lately heard so much were entirely employed for home consumption. At that early period, too, Spain, on whose empire the sun never set, had 1 1750. “ Point cVEspngnc liats.”—Connoisseur.