SECTION V. 

 FLAX. 



THIS is a well known vegetable, upon which the industry of 

 mankind has been exercised with the greatest success and utility. 

 On passing a field of it, one is struck with astonishment, when he 

 considers that this apparently insignificant plant may, by the labor 

 and ingenuity of man, be made to assume an entirely new form 

 and appearance, and to contribute to pleasure and health, by fur- 

 nishing us with agreeable and ornamental apparel. 



From time immemorial, Egypt was celebrated for the produc- 

 tion or manufacture of flax. Wrought into inner garments, it con- 

 stituted the principal dress of the inhabitants, and the priests never 

 put on any other kind of clothing. The fine linen of Egypt is 

 celebrated in all ancient authors, and its superior excellence is 

 mentioned in the sacred Scripture. The manufacure of flax is 

 still carried on in that country. 



In Deut. xxvii. 11, is a prohibition of wearing a garment of flax 

 and wool. The original word translated 'linen and woollen,' (Lev. 

 xix. 19), is difficult of explanation. We are inclined to believe that 

 it must rather refer to a garment of divers sorts, than to what we 

 call ' linsey woolsey ; ' to one made up of patch- work, differently 

 colored and arranged, perhaps, for pride and show, like the coat 

 of many colors made by Jacob for his son Joseph, Gen. xxxvii. 3. 



In predicting the gentleness, caution, and tenderness with which 

 the Messiah should manage his administration, Isaiah (ch. xlii. 3) 

 happily illustrates it by a proverb : * The bruised reed he shall not 

 break, and the smoking flax he shall not quench.' He shall not 

 break even a bruised reed, which snaps asunder immediately when 

 pressed with any considerable weight; nor shall he extinguish 



