ANTIQUITY OF TIIU MANUFACTURE OF GRASS. 'Class XXIV.

The commercial intercourse of the Phoenicians andEgyptians vith the islands of the Mediterranean , andwith Etruria , extended to them, and even to more remoteregions, the use of this material. Hut it was not till thereduction of Egypt imparted to the llomans a more inti-mate knowledge of the arts practised in the conqueredcountry, that the use of glass became general in Italy ,and formed 1 very important article of commerce.

In the rei^n of Tiberius, works for the manufacture ofglass were first established in the neighbourhood of Koine ,and many iistances are given by the writers of the dayof the estimation in which it was held, and of the enor-mous sums (ceasionally paid for \ases, or goblets of thatsubstance, which were preferred by many to those madeof the precinis metals. It was employed by them notmerely as ai article of luxury in their feasts, or as anornament in their palaces ; but it served to decorate their Ialtar?, and Rr a pious offering in the tombs of the dead.Many fragments have been found in the catacombs, show-ing it to have been used likewise by the early Christians in their places of worship.

How far glass entered into the common purposes ofdomestic economy does not clearly appear; but it hasbeen described as having been employed in the construc-tion of holkw columns in the theatres, in which lampswere placed for the purpose of illumination; it was like-wise used Rr incrustation of the walls of apartments,instead of nnrble; and to this use the expression “ vitretecamera?,” employed by Pliny , has been thought to apply,whilst some commentators have considered that ex-pression as referring to windows. lint there is no posi-tive authority for the use of glazed windows earlier thanthe close of :he third century, when they are alluded toby Lactantius , who compares the researches of the mindwith the operations of the eye, regarding external objects“ per fenestras lucenti vitro, aut lapide speculari ob-ductas.” St Jerome also mentions windows, formed ofmelted glass, east into plates (a.d. 422).

A sheet of glass is said to have been found a few yearsago in a win low-frame at Pompeii , but the fact does notappear to be very well authenticated, and at all events itcan only be one of very rare occurrence. After theremoval of :he seat of empire to Hyzantium, the artssuffered ami 1st the disturbances and confusion whichprevailed in Italy during the decline of the Western Empire . Constantine had assembled around him all thatcould tend to the cultivation of art, and the embellishmentof his new cry, and there still remain in the cabinets ofour days some few specimens, showing the perfection towhich the nunufacture of glass was carried in his time,and that of h.s immediate successors.

Venice , according to her early winters, had been inpossession of the art of glass-making almost as early asthe foundation of the city itself: but the capture of Con­ stantinople (1204), in which she took so great a part, andthe extension of commerce which this event afforded her,induced her wealthy merchants to avail themselves oftheir increased relations with the East for the improve-ment of their domestic manufactures.

As early as the beginning of the 13th century, glasshad been a subject of special attention to the Venetiangovernment, and was regarded by them with so muchcare, as to Lave been, according to Carlo Marino, “ in jogni tempo considerata dal governo, qual pupilla degliocclii suoi.” The trade and manufacture of this article Iincreased so rapidly as to require a large number of addi- itional buiidiius for carrying it on, and great uneasiness 'was excited among the inhabitants, lest tire might acci- Identally occur among them. In 1291 they were in con-sequence removed from the city, and the island of Murano was assigned by the government for their reception.Considerable privileges were, at different times, accordedto the merchants of Murano , with the view of addingimportance t< their operations. A separate jurisdiction,independent if all the authorities of Venice , exceptingthe supreme rnuncil, was granted to them; and a lihrod'oro, in which the most eminent members of their guild,or fraternity, were registered, placed them in a positionequivalent to rhat of the nobles in a monarchical state.But, on the other hand, they were subject to very

stringent regulations. They were prohibited, under severepenalties, extending to their families, and even to theirrelations, and involving the loss of life and property, fromconveying to any foreign country the secrets of themanufacture, or the materials employed ; or even fromaffording their own individual services, by which thecompetition of foreigners with the trade of Venice mightbe promoted. An immense trade in beads, imitations ofpearls and of precious stones, was carried on with thecoasts of Asia and of Africa , and extended to India andto China ; and continues by means of the commercialintercourse of England with these countries to the presentday.

The revival of art in Italy had a beneficial effect onthe manufactures of Venice , and improved the designand the colours of her produce. Her mirrors, her table-glass of variegated colours and spiral stems, her bottlesand cups, obtained a very high reputation, and becamethe source from which the wants of Europe , Africa , andAsia continued for a time to he supplied.

Hut, iu the 15th and 16th centuries, events occurredwhich greatly affected the prosperity of Venice . Thepassage to India and to China , round the Cape of Good Hope , and the discovery of America , changed the wholesystem of European commerce, and threw open to Por­ tugal and to other States the advantages which Venice had almost exclusively enjoyed. England and Holland had forced their way into the Levant trade, up to thatperiod monopolised by the Venetians and Genoese . Thepolicy of Soliman, who, after the capture of Constan­ tinople (1453), endeavoured to turn the commerce of theEast into channels which lie could control, or from whichhe could derive advantage; and the loss of Candia andof Cyprus , operated still further to the disadvantage ofVenice . The mystery in which she involved all hertransactions, and the severity of her fiscal arrangements,by which she endeavoured to preserve her monopoly,impeded her own progress, whilst her exclusive systemexcited a spirit of competition among her neighbours,which rendered them successful rivals; and her owncommerce and manufactures, assailed and undermined inso many different quarters, were rapidly giving way.

Her trade in glass suffered w ith the rest; and Bohemia ,Germany , France , the Netherlands , and England, derivedadvantage by the dissolution of the Venetian monopoly,by the improvement of their established manufactures,or by the introduction of a new process into their respec-tive States; where, to this day, the works of the artistsof Venice are still adopted as models of great beauty andskill, inferior only to the still more perfect productionsof ancient Greece and Koine .

Bohemia was the first to emancipate herself from astate of commercial dependence upon Venice , and toresort to her own resources for her supply. Her forestsafforded fuel and potash in abundance; silex and lime ofexcellent quality were to be found in the immediateneighbourhood of her existing works, and probably led,in the first instance, to the introduction of an improvedsystem into that country ; giving the manufacture an im-pulse which, combined with skilful manipulation, causedit to make rapid progress in the peculiar qualities requisitein the art.

The Bohemian proprietors having no other means ofobtaining a return for those resources, which aboundedon their estates, were induced to support the manufactureby their own exertions, and even to embark in the tradethemselves. They have thus been enabled to bring intothe market a beautiful article of commerce, and to com-pete successfully with countries possessing larger capitals,but where a higher price is paid for labour, and wheremany of the substances used in the manufacture requireto he imported. The Venetian origin of their craft showsitself to this day in the reticulated pattern, the Easternforms, the taper stem, and the variety of colours. Theircolours, and engraving, and imitations of precious stonesare likewise very beautiful; but at the best they are butan imitation of Venetian art.

Bohemian glass is a silicate of potash and lime, andhas no lead in it. The manufacturers of that countrymake use of the same materials in the construction of the