which is a still further step in the manufacture of ornamental clothing. The Hebrew term employed to express this kind of manufacture is significant, and seems to intimate that shading was employed, which requires. considerable nicety of art, as well as taste. The word may be literally translated, variegated feathering. Ezekiel, speaking of the wings of the great eagle, uses the very same word, and it is there rendered "divers colors." The relation between the feathers of birds, and the effect of the Hebrew method of embroidering, which includes, probably, that of Egypt, expressed by the term of the original text, has been supposed to intimate an imitation of the manner in which the colors are graduated in the plumage of birds; and hence it has been inferred, that a considerable progress had been made, even at that early period, in this department of manufacture. This may, perhaps, be too slender a foundation for such an opinion; but it is, at all events, certain, that the art of embroidering had made considerable advances at a very early period, in the Asiatic regions. Before the war of Troy, the women of Sidon are said, by Homer, to have been famous for their address and dexterity in this manufacture; and the same poet, describing the occupations of Helen, at Troy, says, that this princess worked a wonderful piece of tapestry, in which she represented the bloody battles fought between the Greeks and Trojans. Pope thus translates the passage.

"Meantime, to beauteous Helen, from the skies,
The various goddess of the rainbow flies,
Her in the palace, at her loom she found;
The golden web her own sad story crowned;
The Trojan wars she weaved, (herself the prize,)
And the dire triumphs of her fatal eyes."

Andromache, too, is represented as amusing her lonely hours, in the absence of Hector, by having recourse to a similar employment.

* Ezekiel, xvii. 3. "A great eagle, with great wings, long winged, full of feathers, which had rekamah," translated "divers colors." +'Origin of Laws, Arts, and Sciences,' vol. ii. book 2.

'Iliad,' book iii. l. 165.

"Far in the close recesses of the dome,
Pensive, she plied the melancholy loom;
A growing work employed her secret hours,
Confusedly gay with intermingled flowers."*

The art must have been considerably advanced before such works could have formed the elegant amusement of high-bred females; and, doubtless, Homer only represented the occupations of the age. It is curious to remark, that, during a period comparatively modern, but not unlike, probably, in some of its characteristics, to the age of Homer, ladies of rank amused themselves with similar works, as the tapestried halls, and embroidered furniture, of ancient castles still indicate. This taste seems to have formed an era in the progress of the art.

It is observable, that Helen's web is said to have been ornamented with gold; and this secret was well known, even so early as the days of Moses. The Scripture states, that they used much gold in the habits of the high priest, and in the vails of the tabernacle. It even describes the manner in which the gold was prepared for this purpose. 66 They did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work it in the blue, and in the purple, and in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, with cunning work."* It was not then like gold wire of the present day, which is only silver gilt, drawn by the drawing iron; but gold itself, hammered thin, and cut into shreds. I may here remark, that although we find frequent mention of gold stuffs in ancient authors, from the era of Homer downward, no mention is made of silver thread as having ever been used in early times.

It would be interesting to inquire into the processes of dyeing, with which the ancients very early adorned their clothing; but no very precise information on the subject has been handed down to us, although some curious notices are found scattered in various authors. We have already seen, that the beautiful and highly-prized color of purple, which was so extensively appropriated as the hue of royal robes, was known as a dye, in the days

*Iliad, book xxii. l. 566.

† Exodus, xxxix. 3.

of Moses.* A later period, however, has been fixed for the discovery of this dye by fabulous antiquity. The honor has been given to the Tyrian Hercules. The tradition is, that when this hero was walking one day on the seashore, with a nymph of whom he was enamored, his dog found a shell, which, being pressed with hunger, he broke; and the liquid which ran from the expiring fish within, stained his mouth with so beautiful a color, that the fair damsel, charmed with it, declared to her lover that she would see him no more, till he brought her a dress dyed the same color. This caused Hercules to apply his ingenuity to the subject; and he succeeded in satisfying the capricious vanity of his mistress. There are various other accounts of this invention, one of which places it at the time when the first Minos reigned in Crete, about 1440 years before the Christian era. It was the most expensive of all colors, and even vied with gold in costliness, being extracted from the veins of a small shellfish, which yielded the substance but scantily. There were other colors, and particularly blue and scarlet, (coccum,) which were much esteemed at this early period; but we have no distinct account of the manner in which they were procured, although there is good reason to believe that the latter was no other than our own scarlet dye.‡

At a somewhat later period, the Babylonians appear to have distinguished themselves by the richness and variety of their dresses. They excelled in the art of embroidery. They interlaced their robes with gold and

* It is not quite certain that the word translated purple in Scripture, was actually that color. It is, however, used as the word purpura with Latin writers, to designate the robes of kings.

+ [Many of the species of the Murex and Purpura yield a purple or scarlet dye. The Purpura lapillus, a small and very common shellfish of our New England coast, will be found, on being crushed, to stain the fingers or a piece of white cloth with this hue, after a short exposure to the air, for at first the dyeing substance is white and milky.—AM. ED.]

This dye is said by Theophrastus to be produced by a sort of grains which they gathered from the bark and leaves of the holm oak. Pliny was aware that these grains contained the germs of an insect. He speaks of "Coccum ilicis celerrime in vermiculum se mutans." [The scarlet grain of the oak quickly changing itself into a worm.]

silver, and studded them with precious stones. These were the ornaments of the highest orders. But even the inferior classes were gayly clothed. They wore a tunic of lawn next their skin, which descended to their feet. Above this, they placed a woollen robe, and last of all a cloak, celebrated for its extraordinary whiteness. They covered their head with a kind of turban, and defended their feet with sandals, while on their legs they wore a kind of drawers or hose, similar, probably, to those which are common in the East at the present day. To complete this equipment, each Babylonian wore a signet ring on his finger, and a curiously-ornamented staff in his hand, with some peculiar device at the top.*

The Medes were another ancient nation, remarkable, at one period of their history, for the magnificence of their clothing. Xenophon tells us, that they wore long flowing robes, with large hanging sleeves, woven with dif ferent colors, of the most brilliant hues, and richly embroidered with gold and silver; while they were loaded with bracelets, gold chains, and necklaces, adorned with precious stones.

Nearly the same thing may be said of the Athenians; except that they do not appear to have worn any covering to their head, but were particularly careful to curl and ornament their hair. This taste for elegance of dress, extended even to their slaves. Xenophon assures us, that a citizen of Athens could scarcely be distinguished from a slave, by the richness of his clothing, or by any other external mark.

The particulars already mentioned, are applicable to the clothing of the men. It is in the history of the Greeks, that we, for the first time, have a particular account of the dress of females. The same studied atten

*We have these particulars from Herodotus and Strabo.

"In

[The accuracy of this statement must be doubted. We certainly have notices of the dress of the Hebrew women in the Scriptures, and the indignant mention of the luxurious wardrobe of the "daughters of Zion," by the prophet Isaiah, seems to be sufficiently particular. that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon, the chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers, the bonnets, and the or

tion to taste and ornament, which prevails in the present day, seems to have distinguished women of rank at that early period. Their clothes were composed of the lightest and finest stuffs, and were disposed with great neatness and elegance. They spent much of their time in preparing head-dresses, and used the most precious essences in perfuming their hair. They painted their cheeks, blackened their eyebrows, and were careful to use such drugs as might best cleanse and beautify their skin.*

Such are some particulars, gathered from ancient authors, of the progress which took place in the art of clothing down to the era of Roman history, when, by the conquests of that wonderful people, all the luxuries of Greece and of the East were concentrated in the imperial city. It will not be necessary to particularize the state of dress at this later period, as this would lead us into tedious details, and we should have occasion to do little more than to repeat what has already been said. It may be enough to mention, what indeed is abundantly known, that the Romans, not content with importing the magnificence of every country which their arms subjected to them, went beyond all other nations in extravagance and voluptuousness, till effeminacy prepared the way for their fall, as it had done for that of the empires which preceded them.

SEVENTH WEEK-TUESDAY.

CLOTHING.-COMMERCIAL HISTORY OF ITS RAW MATERIALS.

THERE are four distinct classes of the raw material which forms human clothing, two of which, cotton and naments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings, the rings, and nose jewels, the changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins, the glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the veils." Is. iii. 18-23. Is it reasonable to suppose, indeed, that there ever was a period when females were not fond of dress, and did not pay especial attention to it?—AM. ED.]

*Lucian. Amor. n. 89 and 40.