Smith won by a small majority.
The change from hand-loom to steam-loom weaving was disastrous to our family.

My father did not recognize the impending revolution, and was struggling under the old system.

His looms sank greatly in value, and it became necessary for that power which never failed in any emergency--my mother--to step forward and endeavor to repair the family fortune.

She opened a small shop in Moodie Street and contributed to the revenues which, though slender, nevertheless at that time sufficed to keep us in comfort and "respectable." I remember that shortly after this I began to learn what poverty meant.

Dreadful days came when my father took the last of his webs to the great manufacturer, and I saw my mother anxiously awaiting his return to know whether a new web was to be obtained or that a period of idleness was upon us.