Of foreign fwains. While time thakes down his | Know, for fuperior ends th' Almighty Power

His fway, and office, in the common weal;
And to the board of smiling plenty's stores
Affemble, where delicious cates and fruits
Of every clime are pil'd; and with free hand,
Toil only tastes the feafts, by nerveless ease
Unrelifh'd. Various mirth and fong refound;
And oft they interpose improving talk,
Divulging each to other knowledge rare,
Sparks, from experience, that sometimes arife;
Till night weighs down the fenfe, or morning's

dawn

Rouzes to labor, man to labor born.

Then the fleek brightening lock, from hand to
hand,

Renews its circling courfe: this feels the card;
That, in the comb, admires its growing length;
This, blanch'd, emerges from the oily wave;
And that, the amber tint, or ruby, drinks.

For it fuffices not, in flowery vales,
Only to tend the flock, and fhear foft wool:
Gums must be ftor'd of Guinea's arid coaft;
Mexican woods, and India's brightening falts;
Fruits, herbage, fulphurs, minerals, to stain
The fleece prepar'd, which oil-imbibing earth
Of Wooburn blanches, and keen alum-waves
Intenerate. With curious eye obferve,
In what variety the tribe of falts,
Gums, ores, and liquors, eye-delighting hues
Produce, abfterfive or restringent; how
Steel cafts the fable; how pale pewter, fus'd
In fluid fpirit'ous, the scarlet dye;

And how each tint is made, or mixt or chang'd,
By mediums colourless: why is the fume
Of fulphur kind to white and azure hues,
Pernicious elfe: why no materials yield
Singly their colours, thofe except that shine
With topaz, fapphire, and cornelian rays:
And why, though nature's face is cloath'd

green,

No green is found to beautify the fleece,
But what repeated toil by mixture gives.

To find effects, why caufes lie conceal'd,
Reason uncertain tries: howe'er, kind chance
Oft with equivalent difcovery pays

Its wandering efforts; thus the German fage,
Diligent Drebet, o'er alchemic fire,
Seeking the secret source of gold, receiv'd
Of alter'd cochineal the crimson store.
Tyrian Melcartus thus (the first who brought
Tin's ufeful ore from Albion's diftant ifle,
And, for unwearied toils and arts, the name
Of Hercules acquir'd) when o'er the mouth
Of his attendant sheep-dog he beheld
The wounded murex ftrike a purple stain,
The purple ftain on fleecy woofs he spread,
Which lur'd the eye, adorning many a nymph,
And drew the pomp of trade to rifing Tyre.
Our vallies yield not, or but fparing yield,
The dyer's gay materials. Only weld,

Or root of madder, here or purple woad,
By which our naked ancestors obfcur'd

Their hardy limbs, inwrought with mystic forms
Like Egypt's obelifks. The powerful fun
Hot India's zone with gaudy pencil paints,
And drops delicious tints o'er hill and dale,
Which trade to us conveys. Not tints alone,
Trade to the good physician gives his balms;
Gives chearing cordials to th' afflicted heart;
Gives, to the wealthy, delicacies high;
Gives, to the curious, works of nature rare;
And when the priest displays, in just discourse,
Him, the all-wife Creator, and declares
His prefence, power, and goodness, unconfin'd,
'Tis trade, attentive voyager, who fills
His lips with argument. To censure trade,
Or hold her bufy people in contempt,
Let none prefume. The dignity, and grace,
And weal, of human life, their fountains owe
To feeming imperfections, to vain wants,
Or real exigencies; paffions fwift
Forerunning reason; ftrong contrarious bents,
The fteps of men difperfing wide abroad
O'er realms and feas. There, in the folemn
scene,

Infinite wonders glare before their eyes,
Humiliating the mind enlarg'd; for they
The cleareft fenfe of Deity receive,

Who view the wideft profpect of his works,
Ranging the globe with trade through various
climes :

Who fee the fignatures of boundless love,
Nor lefs the judgments of Almighty Power,
That warn the wicked, and the wretch who 'fcapes
From human justice; who, aftonish'd, view
Etna's loud thunders and tempeftuous fires;
The duft of Carthage; defert fhores of Nile;
in Or Tyre's abandon'd fummit, crown'd of old
With ftately towers; whofe merchants, from their
ifles,

And radiant thrones, affembled in her marts;
Whither Arabia, whither Kedar, brought
Their fhaggy goats, their flocks, and bleating lambs
Where rich Damascus pil'd his fleeces white,
Prepar'd, and thirsty for the double tint,
And flowering shuttle. While the admiring world
Crowded her ftreets; ah! then the hand of Pride
Sow'd imperceptible his poisonous weed,
Which crept deftructive up her lofty domes,
As ivy creeps around the graceful trunk
Of fome tall oak. Her lofty domes no more,
Not ev❜n the ruins of her pomp, remain;
Not ev'n the duft they funk in; by the breath
Of the Omnipotent offended hurl'd
Down to the bottom of the ftormy deep:
Only the folitary rock remains,

Her ancient fcite; a monument to thofe,

Who toil and wealth exchange for floth and

pride,

ТКЕ

True charity, by teaching idle want

And vice the inclination to do good,
Good to themselves, and in themselves to all,
Through grateful toil. Ev'n nature lives by toil:

LE EC E. Beaft, bird, air, fire, the heavens, and rolling

BOOK III.

ARGU M E N T.

worlds,

All live by action: nothing lies at rest,
But death and ruin man is born to care;
Fashion'd, improv'd, by labor. This of old,
Wife states obferving, gave that happy law,
Which doom'd the rich and needy, every rank,
To manual occupation; and oft call'd
Their chieftains from the fpade, or furrowing
plough,

Or bleating theepfold. Hence utility

INTRODUCTION. Recommendation of labor. The feveral methods of spinning. Defcription of the loom, and of weaving. Variety of looms. The fulling-Through all conditions; hence the joys of health; mill defcribed, and the progress of the manufacture. Hence ftrength of arm, and clear judicious thought Dying of cloth, and the excellence of the French in Hence corn, and wine, and oil, and all in life that art. Frequent negligence of our artificers. Delectable. What fimple nature yields The ill confequences of idleness. Country-workhoufes (And nature does her part) are only rude propofed with a defcription of one. Good effects of Materials, cumbers on the thorny ground; induftry exemplified in the profpect of Burftal and 'Tis toils that make them wealth; that makes the Leeds and the cloth-market there defcribed. Prefleece ference of the labors of the loom to other manufactures, illuftrated by fome comparisons. Hiftory of the art of weaving: its removal from the Netherlands, and fettlement in feveral parts of England. Cenfure of those who would reject the perfecuted and the ftranger. Our trade and profperity owing to them. Of the manufacture of tapestry, taught us by the Saracens. Tapestries of Bleinheim defcribed. Different arts, procuring wealth to different countries. Numerous inhabitants, and their induftry, the fureft fource of it. Hence a wish, that our country were open to all men. View of the roads and rivers, through which our manufactures are conveyed. Our navigations not far from the jeats of our manufactures: other countries lefs happy. The difficult work of Egypt in joining the Nile to the Red Sea; and of France in attempting, by canals, a communication between the Ocean and the Mediterranean. Such junctions may more eafily be performed in England, and the Trent and Severn united to the Thames. Defcription of the Thames, and the port of London.

tone,

And to the fongs of Nature's choirifters
Harmonious. Audience pure be thy delight,
Though few: for every note which virtue wounds,
However pleafing to the vulgar herd,
To the purg'd ear is difcord. Yet too oft
Has falle diffembling vice to amorous airs
The reed apply'd, and heedlefs youth allur'd:
Too oft, with bolder found, enflam'd the rage
Of horrid war. Let now the fleecy looms
Direct our rural numbers, as of old,
When plains and fheepfolds were the Mufes'
haunts.

So thou, the friend of every virtuous deed
And aim, though feeble, fhalt these rural lays
Approve, O Heathcote, whofe benevolence
Vifits our vallies; where the pasture spreads,
And where the bramble; and would juûly aft

3

(Yet useless, rifing in unshapen heaps);
Anon, in curious woofs of beauteous hue,
A vefture usefully fuccinct and warm,
Or, trailing in the length of graceful folds,
A royal mantle. Come, ye village nymphs,
The fcatter'd mifts reveal the dusky hills;
Grey dawn appears; the golden morn ascends,
And paints the glittering rocks, and purple woods,
And flaming fpires; arife, begin your toils;
Behold the fleece beneath the spiky comb
Drop its long locks, or, from the mingling card,
Spread in foft flakes, and fwell the whiten'd floor.
Come, village nymphs, ye matrons, and ye
maids,
Receive the foft material: with light step
Whether ye turn around the spacious wheel,
Or, patient fitting, that revolve, which forms
A narrower circle. On the brittle work
Point your quick eye; and let the hand affift
To guide and ftretch the gently-leffening thread :
Even, unknotted twine, will praife your fkill.
A different spinning every different web
Afks from your glowing fingers: fome require
The more compact, and fome the loofer wreath:
The laft for softness, to delight the touch
Of chamber'd delicacy: fcarce the cirque
Need turn around, or twine the lengthening flake.
There are, to speed their labor, who prefer
Wheels double-fpol'd, which yield to either hand
A feveral line and many, yet adhere
To th' ancient diftaff, at the bofom fix'd,
Cafting the whirling fpindle as they walk :
At home, or in the theepfold, or the mart,
Alike the work proceeds. This method still
Norvicum favours, and th' Icenian
It yields their airy stuffs an apter thread.
This was of old, in no inglorious days,
The mode of fpinning, when th' Egyptian prince
A golden diftaff gave that beauteous nymph,
Too-beauteous Helen: no uncourtly gift
Then, when each gay diverfion of the fair
Led to ingenious ufe. But patient art,
That on experience works, from hour to hour,

towns:

The Iceni were the inhabitants of Suffolk

Sagacious, has a fpiral engine * form'd,
Which, on an hundred spoles, an hundred threads,
With one huge wheel, by lapfe of water, twines,
Few hands requiring; eafy-tended work,
That copiously supplies the greedy loom.

Nor hence, ye Nymphs, let anger cloud your
brows:

The more is wrought, the more is still requir'd:
Blithe o'er your toils, with wonted fong, proceed:
Fear not furcharge; your hands will ever find
Ample employment. In the ftrife of trade,
Thefe curious inftruments of speed obtain
Various advantage, and the diligent
Supply with exercife, as fountains fure,
Which, ever-gliding, feed the flowery lawn.
Nor, fhould the careful State, feverely kind,
In every province, to the houfe of toil
Compel the vagrant, and each implement
Of ruder art, the comb, the card, the wheel,
Teach their unwilling hands, nor yet complain.
Yours, with the public good, fhall ever rife,
Ever, while o'er the lawns, and airy downs
The bleating fheep and fhepherd's pipe are heard ;
While in the brook ye blanch the glistening fleece,
And th' amorous youth, delighted with your toils,
Quavers the choiceft of his fonnets, warm'd
By growing traffic, friend to wedded love.

The amorous youth, with various hopes inflam'd,
Now on the bufy stage see him step forth,
With beating breaft: high-honour'd he beholds
Rich induftry. Firft, he befpeaks a loom :
From fome thick wood the carpenter felects
A flender oak, or beech of gloffy trunk,
Or faplin afh: he fhapes the sturdy beam,
The pots, and treadles; and the frame combines.
The fmith, with iron-fcrews, and plated hoops,
Confirms the strong machine, and gives the bolt
That ftrains the roll. To these the turner's lathe,
And graver's knife, the hollow fhuttle add.
Various profeffions in the work unite :
For each on each depends. Thus he acquires
The curious engine, work of fubtle skill;
Howe'er, in vulgar ufe around the globe
Frequent obferv'd, of high antiquity

No doubtful mark: th' adventurous voyager,
Tofs'd over ocean to remoteft fhores,

Hears on remoteft fhores the murmuring loom;
Sees the deep-furrowing plough, and harrow'd
field,

The wheel-moy'd waggon, and the difcipline
Of ftrong-yok'd fteers. What needful art is new?
Next, the induftrious youth employs his care
To store soft yarn; and now he strains the warp
Along the garden-walk, or highway-fide,
Smoothing each thread; now fits it to the loom,
And fits before the work: from hand to hand
The thready fhuttles glides along the lines,
Which open to the woof, and fhut altern:
And ever and anon, to firm the work,
Against the web is driven the noify frame,
That o'er the level rushes, like a furge,
Which, often dashing on the fandy beach,

Spread by the rofy fingers of the morn;
And all the fair expanfe with beauty glows.

Or, if the broader mantle be the task,
He chufes fome companion to his toil.
From fide to fide, with amicable aim,
Each to the other darts the nimble bolt,
While friendly converse, prompted by the work,
Kindles improvement in the opening mind.

What need we name the feveral kinds of looms ?
Thofe delicate, to whofe fair-colour'd threads
Hang figur'd weights, whofe various numbers
guide

The artift's hand: he, unfeen flowers, and trees,
And vales, and azure hills, unerring works.

Or that, whose numerous needles, glittering bright,
Weave the warm hofe to cover tender limbs :
Modern invention: modern is the want.

Next, from the flacken'd beam the woof unroll'd,
Near fome clear-sliding river, Aire or Stroud,

Is by the noify fulling-mill receiv'd ;
Where tumbling waters turn enormous wheels,
And hammers, rifing and defcending, learn
To imitate the industry of man.

Oft the wet web is steep'd, and often rais'd,
Faft-dripping, to the river's graffy bank;
And finewy arms of men, with full-strain'd strength,
Wring out the latent water: then, up-hung
On rugged tenters, to the fervid fun
Its level furface, recking, it expands ;
Still brightening in each rigid discipline,
And gathering worth; as human life, in pains,
Conflicts, and troubles. Soon the clothier's fhears,
And burler's thistle, fkim the surface fheen.
The round of work goes on, from day to day,
Seafon to feafon. So the hufbandman
Purfues his cares; his plough divides the glebe;
The feed is fown; rough rattle o'er the clods
The harrow's teeth; quick weeds his hoe fubdues:
The fickle labours, and the flow team strains;
Till grateful harveft-home rewards his toils.

Th' ingenious artist, learn'd in drugs, bestows
The laft improvement; for th' unlabour'd fleece
Rare is permitted to imbibe the dye.
In penetrating waves of boiling vats
The fnowy web is fteep'd, with grain of weld,
Fuftic, or logwood, mix'd, or cochineal,
Or the dark purple pulp of Pictish woad,
Of stain tenacious, deep as fummer skies,
Like those that canopy the bowers of Stowe
After foft rains, when birds their notes attune,
Ere the melodious nightingale begins.

From yon broad vafe behold the faffron woofs
Beauteous emerge; from these the azure rife;
This glows with crimson that the auburn holds;
Thefe fhall the prince with purple robes adorn;
And those the warrior mark, and those the priest.
Few are the primal colours of the art;
Five only; black, and yellow, blue, brown, red
Yet hence innumerable hues arife.

That ftain alone is good, which bears unchang'd
Diffolving water's, and calcining fun's,
And thieving air's attacks. How great the need,

Compacts the traveller's road from hand to hand With utmost caution to prepare the woof,

Again, across the lines oft opening, glides
The thready fhuttle, while the web apace
Increases, as the light of eastern skies,

*Paul's engine for cotton and fine wool

To feek the best-adapted dyes, and salts,
And pureft gums! fince your whole fkill confifts
In opening well the fibres of the woof,
For the reception of the beauteous dye,

But what the powers, which lock them in the Virtue than wealth, while, on their useful works