PREFACE.

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hardly do it more effectually than by writing a volume on the labors ofprimitive spinsters, ere the distaff was adopted, or the spindle (the originalfly-wheel) was invented ; by detailing the circumstances that gave birthto those implements, with the trials, observations, customs and anecdotesconnected with their introduction and their uses—imagining the congra-tulations that were poured upon the artist who wove the first web in aloom, and the praises bestowed upon the author of that machine and theshuttle—recalling the times and scenes when groups of laughing femaleswere hastening to examine the first colored mantles ; and recording thebursts of admiration which dropped from them (in all the force of orientalhyperbole) upon witnessing the processes by which purple and scarletand crimson and green, &c. were produced—recounting the methods bywhich the art of dyeing wrought a revolution in costume, and how it be-came one of the great sources of wealth to Babylon and Tyre—referringto the gratification which the invention of needles and pins, of thimblesand combs, conferred on ancient dames ; and noticing the influence ofthese in improving the dress and deportment of women—describing thetrials of artists before they succeeded in perfecting these instruments, andso on, until every addition to domestic dwellings, to household furniture,and to dress be reviewed—until every thing which a modern lady possessesover an Indian’s squaw be brought forward and described, with all theknown facts and circumstances associated with its history and application;—and thus form a series of essays on the arts, in which every Üne wouldbe poetry, and every incident new.

A new species of drama might here take its rise ; one possessing equalattractions and exhibiting equally interesting pictures of human life, asany thing which writers of comedy or tragedy have yet produced. Hereare characters and customs of every variety, age, and nation—incidentsand adventure in the greatest profusion—the extremes of misery and bliss,of poverty and wealth, of suffering virtue and unrequited toil, and theiropposites. Here the humblest individuals have, by industry and ingenuity,risen from obscurity and astonished the world. Mechanics have becomekings like the old potter of Sicily , (Agathoeles,) Aurelius the blacksmithof Rome, and Leitz the tinker who founded the caliph dynasty of theSoffarites. Kings have left their thrones to become workmen in brass andsilver, wood and iron ; as Demetrius at his lathe, .ZEropus making lampsand tables, Charles V. in his watchmaker’s shop ; and if some bizarreexamples are wanted, there is still to be seen the mantua-making apart-ments of Ferdinand YII. with specimens of his work.

A play might be founded on the fairs held at Delos, (the Pittsburg ofof the old Greeks,) where merchants (observes Pliny ) assembled from allparts of the world to purchase hardware and bronze. An island whoseartists were ennobled for the beauty and finish of their works in the metals,and who particularly excelled in brazen feet for chairs, tables, and bed-steads, and in statues and other large Works in brass. Then there wasthe workmen of Aügina, who beat all others in fabricating branches andand sockets of candelabra; while those of Tarentum produced the bestpedestals or shafts. In Connection with which, there is the singulär storyof the Lady Gegania,who, after giving 50,000 sesterces for a bronze candle-stick, adopted its ill-favored and hump-backed maker for her companionand heir.

How rieh in interest would a dramatic scene be if laid in an antediluviansmith’s shop ! (Forges have always been places of resort.) To noticethe characters of the visitants, listen to their remarks, examine the Instru­ ments fabricated by the artist, his materiais, fuel, bellows, and other tools !