his dominion, and clothed the earth with a new garment. The

first rude plough that man thrust into the soil, the first rude
axe of stone with which he felled the pine, the first rude canoe

scooped by him from its trunk to cross the river and reach the
greener fields beyond, were each the outcome of a human faculty

which brought within his reach some physical comfort he had never
enjoyed before.

Material things became subject to the influence of labour. From
the clay of the ground, man manufactured the vessels which were

to contain his food. Out of the fleecy covering of sheep, he
made clothes for himself of many kinds; from the flax plant he

drew its fibres, and made linen and cambric; from the hemp plant
he made ropes and fishing nets; from the cotton pod he fabricated

fustians, dimities, and calicoes. From the rags of these, or
from weed and the shavings of wood, he made paper on which books

and newspapers were printed. Lead was formed by him into
printer's type, for the communication of knowledge without end.

But the most extraordinary changes of all were made in a heavy
stone containing metal, dug out of the ground. With this, when

smelted by wood or coal, and manipulated by experienced skill,
iron was produced. From this extraordinary metal, the soul of

every manufacture, and the mainspring perhaps of civilised
society--arms, hammers, and axes were made; then knives,

scissors, and needles; then machinery to hold and control the
prodigious force of steam; and eventually railroads and

locomotives, ironclads propelled by the screw, and iron and steel
bridges miles in length.

The silk manufacture, though originating in the secretion of a
tiny caterpillar, is perhaps equallyextraordinary. Hundreds of

thousands of pounds weight of this slender thread, no thicker
than the filaments spun by a spider, give employment to millions

of workers throughout the world. Silk, and the many textures
wrought from this beautiful material, had long been known in the

East; but the period cannot be fixed when man first divested the
chrysalis of its dwelling, and discovered that the little yellow

ball which adhered to the leaf of the mulberry tree, could be
evolved into a slenderfilament, from which tissues of endless

variety and beauty could be made. The Chinese were doubtless
among the first who used the thread spun by the silkworm for the

purposes of clothing. The manufacture went westward from China
to India and Persia, and from thence to Europe. Alexander the

Great brought home with him a store of rich silks from Persia
Aristotle and Pliny give descriptions of the industrious little

worm and its productions. Virgil is the first of the Roman
writers who alludes to the production of silk in China; and the

terms he employs show how little was then known about the
article. It was introduced at Rome about the time of Julius

Caesar, who displayed a profusion of silks in some of his
magnificent theatrical spectacles. Silk was so valuable that it

was then sold for an equal weight of gold. Indeed, a law was
passed that no man should disgrace himself by wearing a silken

garment. The Emperor Heliogabalus despised the law, and wore a
dress composedwholly of silk. The example thus set was followed

by wealthy citizens. A demand for silk from the East soon became
general.

It was not until about the middle of the sixth century that two
Persian monks, who had long resided in China, and made themselves

acquainted with the mode of rearing the silkworm, succeeded in
carrying the eggs of the insect to Constantinople. Under their

direction they were hatched and fed. A sufficient number of
butterflies were saved to propagate the race, and mulberry trees

were planted to afford nourishment to the rising generations of
caterpillars. Thus the industry was propagated. It spread into

the Italian peninsula; and eventually manufactures of silk
velvet, damask, and satin became established in Venice, Milan,

Florence, Lucca, and other places.
Indeed, for several centuries the manufacture of silk in Europe

was for the most part confined to Italy. The rearing of
silkworms was of great importance in Modena, and yielded a

considerable revenue to the State. The silk produced there was
esteemed the best in Lombardy. Until the beginning of the

sixteenth century, Bologna was the only city which possessed
proper "throwing" mills, or the machinery requisite for twisting

and preparing silken fibres for the weaver. Thousands of people
were employed at Florence and Genoa about the same time in the

silk manufacture. And at Venice it was held in such high esteem,
that the business of a silk factory was considered a noble

employment.[1]
It was long before the use of silk became general in England.

"Silk," said an old writer, "does not immediately come hither
from the Worm that spins and makes it, but passes many a Climate,

travels many a Desert, employs many a Hand, loads many a Camel,
and freights many a Ship before it arrives here; and when at last

it comes, it is in return for other manufactures, or in exchange
for our money."[2] It is said that the first pair of silk

stockings was brought into England from Spain, and presented to
Henry VIII. He had before worn hose of cloth. In the third year

of Queen Elizabeth's reign, her tiring woman, Mrs. Montagu,
presented her with a pair of black silk stockings as a New Year's

gift; whereupon her Majesty asked if she could have any more, in
which case she would wear no more cloth stockings. When James

VI. of Scotland received the ambassadors sent to congratulate him
upon his accession to the throne of Great Britain, he asked one

of his lords to lend him his pair of silken hose, that he "might
not appear a scrub before strangers." From these circumstances

it will be observed how rare the wearing of silk was in England.
Shortly after becoming king, James I. endeavoured to establish

the silk manufacture in England, as had already been successfully
done in France. He gave every encouragement to the breeding of

silkworms. He sent circular letters to all the counties of
England, strongly recommending the inhabitants to plant mulberry

trees. The trees were planted in many places, but the leaves did
not ripen in sufficient time for the sustenance of the silkworms.

The same attempt was made at Inneshannon, near Bandon, in
Ireland, by the Hugnenot refugees, but proved abortive. The

climate proved too cold or damp for the rearing of silkworms with
advantage. All that remains is "The Mulberry Field," which still

retains its name. Nevertheless the Huguenots successfully
established the silk manufacture at London and Dublin, obtaining

the spun silk from abroad.
Down to the beginning of last century, the Italians were the

principal producers of organzine or thrown silk; and for a long
time they succeeded in keeping their art a secret. Although the

silk manufacture, as we have seen, was introduced into this
country by the Huguenot artizans, the price of thrown silk was so

great that it interfered very considerably with its progress.
Organzine was principally made within the dominions of Savoy, by

means of a large and curious engine, the like of which did not
exist elsewhere. The Italians, by the most severe laws, long

preserved the mystery of the invention. The punishment
prescribed by one of their laws to be inflicted upon anyone who

discovered the secret, or attempted to carry it out of the
Sardinian dominions, was death, with the forfeiture of all the

goods the delinquent possessed; and the culprit was "to be
afterwards painted on the outside of the prison walls, hanging to

the gallows by one foot, with an inscription denoting the name
and crime of the person, there to be continued for a perpetual

mark of infamy."[3]
Nevertheless, a bold and ingenious man was found ready to brave

all this danger in the endeavour to discover the secret. It may
be remembered with what courage and determination the founder of

the Foley family introduced the manufacture of nails into
England. He went into the Danemora mine district, near Upsala in