CHAPTER XXII. Conclusion. THE PRAISE OF THE NEEDLE. "Taylor, their better Charon, lends an oar, Once swan of Thames, though now he sings no more." N the course of this volume, we have frequently quoted from a poem, written by John Taylor, the water-poet, and prefixed to a work, entitled "The Needle's Excellency, of which the twelfth edition was published in 1640. This work being extremely rare, we are tempted to reprint this poem verbatim from the original edition. A copy of this book was in the collection of the late Francis Douce, Esq. which he bequeathed to the Bodleian Library, at Oxford. It is an oblong quarto. The title runs thus:-"The Needle's Excellency A New Booke wherein are diuers Admirable Workes wrought with the needle. Newly invented and cut in Copper for the pleasure and profit of the Industrious. Printed for James Boler, and are to be sold at the Signe of the Marigold in Paules Church yard. The 12th Edition enlarged with diuers new workes as needleworkes THE PRAISE OF THE NEEDLE. "To all dispersed sorts of ARTS and TRADES, Maim'd from the warres is forc'd to make retreat; No point Mounsieur, he's maim'd, his worke is done. It is a Taylors Iavelin, or his Launce; purles & others neuer before printed. 1640." On the title page is an engraving of three ladies in a flower garden, under the names of Wisdome, Industrie, and Follie. "The praise of the Needle," as given above, is prefixed to the work, then "Here follow certaine Sonnets in the Honorable memory of Queenes and great Ladies, who have bin famous for their rare Inventions and practise with the Needle." There are six sonnets to Queen Elizabeth, the Countess of Pembroke, and others;-some of which we have quoted in the preceding chap ter. The seventh is addressed "To all degrees of both sexes, that love or liue by the laudable imployment of the needle." Another copy of this book is preserved in the Library of the British Museum. It appears to have gone through twelve impressions; and its scarcity is accounted for by the supposition, that such books were generally cut to pieces, and used by women to work upon or transfer to their samplers. And for my Countries quiet, I should like, A graue Reformer of old Rents decayd, Stops holes and seames and desperate cuts displayd, No shirts or Smockes, our nakednesse to hide, No garments gay, to make us magnifide: No shadowes, Shapparoones, Caules, Bands, Ruffs, Kuffs, No Kerchiefes, Quoyfes, Chin-clouts, or Marry-Muffes, No cros-cloaths, Aprons, Hand-kerchiefes, or Falls, No Table-cloathes, for Parlours or for Halls, No Sheetes, no Towels, Napkins, Pillow-beares, Of profit, pleasure, and of ornament. Which mighty Queenes haue grac'd in hand to take, The use of Sewing is exceeding old, As in the sacred Text it is enrold: Our Parents first in Paradise began, Who hath descended since from man to man: The mothers taught their Daughters, Sires their Sons, Thus in a line successively it runs For generall profit, and for recreation, From generation unto generation. With work like Cherubims Embroidered rare, The Covers of the Tabernacle were. And by the Almighti's great command, we see, That Aarons Garments broydered worke should be; And further, God did bid his Vestments should Flowers, Plants, and Fishes, Beasts, Birds, Flyes, and Bees, In clothes of Arras I have often seene, Men's figurd counterfeits so like haue beene, In forming shapes so Geometricall; And though our Country everywhere is fild So for weake learners, other workes here be, As plaine and easie as are A B C. Thus skilfull, or unskillfull, each may take From spacious China, and those Kingdomes East, And from Great Mexico, the Indies West. Thus are these workes, farre fetcht, and dearely bought, And consequently good for Ladies thought. Nor doe I degrodate (in any case) Or doe esteeme of other teachings base, For Tent-worke, Raisd-worke, Laid-worke, Frost-worke, Net-worke, Fine Ferne-stitch, Finny-stitch, New-stitch, and Chain-stitch, The smarting Whip-stitch, Back-stitch, & the Crosse-stitch, With many others, neur seene before.. So maids may (from their Mistresse, or their Mother) (With profit) make them perfect in them all. Thus hoping that these workes may haue this guide, To cherish vertue, banish idlenesse, For these ends, may this booke haue good successe." Taylor was a very remarkable man; and among other of his eccentricities, he undertook to perform a journey from London to the Highlands, with a horse and servant, without a penny in his pocket, and engaging not to receive any alms. The account of this journey, which he wrote partly in prose and partly in verse, is a very remarkable picture of the manners of that period. He was welcomed by the hospitality of his countrymen throughout this journey, and he appears not only to have suffered very few privations, but to have fared sumptuously for many weeks. Winstanley, in his "Lives of the Poets" says, "He was born |