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DWIGHT DYEING. 



came a tutor in Yale college, where lie remained for 

 six years. At the age of nineteen, Mr Pwight 

 commenced writing the Conquest of Canaan, a regu- 

 lar epic poem, founded on a portion of sacred \i\^- 

 tory. It was concluded in 1774, but was not pub- 

 lished until 1795. On receiving the degree of 

 master of arts (1772), he delivered a Dissertation on 

 the History, Eloquence, and Poetry of the Bible, 

 which was immediately printed, and afterwards re- 

 published, both in America and in Europe. He was 

 also deeply engaged, during his residence in college 

 as a tutor, in Uie study of the higher branches of the 

 mathematics. 



About this period, he attempted by restricting his 

 diet, to remove the necessity of bodily exercise ; 

 but, after pursuing his course of abstinence and study 

 about a year, he became subject to severe attacks of 

 the bilious colic, which so wasted his strength, that 

 it was with the utmost difficulty he could be removed 

 to Northampton. His physician, having adminis- 

 tered successfully for his present relief, advised the 

 daily use of strong bodily exercise, as the only 

 means of restoring his constitution. Adopting this 

 system, he walked upwards of 2000, and rode up- 

 wards of 3000 miles in the course of a twelvemonth. 

 The result of this was the perfect restoration of his 

 health, which continued good for the ensuing forty 

 years of his life. 



In 1777, Mr Dwight, was licensed as a preacher, 

 by a committee of the northern association, in his 

 native county of Hampshire; and, in addition to 

 teaching his pupils, he preached during the summer 

 of 1777 ; and, in September of the same year, he 

 was nominated chaplain in the army. In addition to 

 the duties of his station, he contributed not a little to 

 heighten the enthusiasm of the soldiers by writing- 

 several patriotic songs, which enjoyed a deserved 

 popularity. The circumstance of his father's death, 

 in October 1778, obliged him to resign his office, in 

 order to assist his mother in the support and educa- 

 tion of her family. He accordingly removed his 

 own family to Northampton, where he resided five 

 years, labouring on the farm through the week, 

 preaching to different congregations in the neigh- 

 bourhood on Sundays. He likewise established a 

 school, in which he received a large number of pu- 

 pils, and employed two assistants. He was twice 

 elected, about the close of the revolutionary war, a 

 member of the legislature of the state. In 1783, he 

 was ordained minister of Greenfield, a parish in the 

 town of Fairfield, in Connecticut. Immediately 

 upon settling at this place, doctor Dwight opened an 

 ncademy, which soon acquired a reputation then un- 

 equalled in America. A large number of pupils 

 from all parts of the Union, as well as from abroad, 

 resorted to this school, where in the course of his 

 twelve years' residence, he taught more than 1000 

 scholars ; adopting to a certain extent, the system 

 since called the monitorial. 



In the year 1787, the college of Princeton, New 

 Jersey, conferred upon him the degree of D. D. In 

 1794, he published a poem, in seven parts, under the 

 title of Greenfield Hill, which as well as the Con- 

 quest of Canaan, was republished in England. On 

 the death of the reverend doctor Styles, in 1795, 

 doctor Dwight was elected president of Yale col- 

 lege, which was in a depressed state. His reputa- 

 tion soon brought to the college a great accession of 

 students. When he entered the office of president, 

 the professorship of theology was vacant, and se- 

 veral fruitless attempts having been made to fill it, 

 he engaged to perform the duties. He was annu- 

 ally elected to this chair for ten successive years, at 

 the end of which period the appointment was made 

 permanent, and he continued to fill it for the remain- 



der of hjs life. In the year 1797, at the request of 

 Uie general association of Connecticut, he undertook 

 the revision of doctor Watts' version of the psalm?, 

 to supply such as were omitted, and to make a se- 

 lection of hymns adapted to public worship. In 

 1800, he submitted his work to a joint committee of 

 that body and of the general assembly of the Presby- 

 terian church, by whom it was approved and recom- 

 mended. Besides making many alterations in the 

 version of doctor Watts, he wrote thirty-three entire 

 psalms. In the year 1796, he commenced travelling, 

 during the college vacations, particularly in May 

 and September, for the sake of exercise, and con- 

 tinued this practice through the remainder of his life. 

 In these excursions, principally through the New Eng- 

 land states and New York, he took notes, and after- 

 wards wrote them out, for the gratification of his fii- 

 inily. This work was published after his death, in four 

 volumes, octavo. It embraces an account of the 

 natural aspect of the territories over which he trav- 

 elled, and of the condition of society in those states. 

 It also contains notices of eminent men of that por- 

 tion of the Union, and anecdotes illustrative of the 

 history and customs of the aborigines. Doctor 

 Dwight died January 11, 1817, after repeated and 

 severe attacks of a disease, the character of which 

 was not well understood. His death was regarded 

 as a severe loss to the cause of learning and religion 

 in his country. Besides the works already men- 

 tioned, is his Theology, being a collection of his the- 

 ological lectures, which has been published since his 

 death, and has passed through several editions, in 

 America and Britain. 



DYEING is a chemical art, and consists in fixing 

 upon cloths of various kinds any colour which may 

 be desired, in such a manner as that they shall not 

 easily undergo any alteration, by the agents to which 

 the cloth is ordinarily exposed. The chief materials 

 of stuff to be dyed are wool, silk, cotton, and linen ; 

 of which the former two are more easily dyed than 

 the latter. Wool, in its preparation for dyeing, re- 

 quires to be cleansed, by scouring, from a fatty sub- 

 stance, called the yolk, which is contained in the 

 fleece. This is done by means of a weak alkaline 

 solution, which converts the yolk into soap. Putrid 

 urine is commonly employed, on account of its 

 cheapness ; the ammonia it contains being sufficient 

 to remove the grease. Silk, when taken from the 

 cocoon, is covered with a kind of varnish, which, be- 

 cause it does not easily yield, either to water or alco- 

 hol, requires also the aid of a slight portion of alkali. 

 Much care is necessary, however, in this operation, 

 since the silk itself is liable to be corroded, and di>- 

 coloured. Fine soap is commonly used ; but even 

 this is said to be detrimental ; and the white China 

 silk, which is supposed to be prepared without soap, 

 has a lustre superior to the European. The prelimi- 

 nary process of washing is intended to render the 

 stuff to be dyed as clear as possible, in order that 

 the aqueous fluid, to be afterwards applied, may be 

 imbibed, and its contents adhere to the minute inter- 

 nal surfaces. 



Another preparation, and one which constitutes, 

 in reality, an important part of the dyeing process, 

 consists in applying to the stuff a material to which 

 it adheres ; and afterwards the desired colour is ob- 

 tained by the application of another substance. We 

 might dye a piece of cotton black by immersing it 

 at once in ink ; but the colour would be neither 

 good nor durable, because the particles of precipi- 

 tated matter are not sufficiently comminuted to enter 

 the cotton, or to adhere to it firmly. But, if the 

 cotton be soaked in an infusion of galls, then dried, 

 and afterwards immersed in a solution of sulphate ct 

 uxiu, the acid of galls being everywhere diffused 



