204 CULTIVATED VEGETABLES. 



" 'Tis liberty that crowns Britannia's isle, 

 And makes her barren rocks and her bleak mountains 

 smile," Addison. 



Spain was celebrated for her manufactory 

 of linen as early as the birth of Christ. The 

 Spaniards were the inventors of fine Cyprus 

 or clear lawn, which was made from the flax 

 of Arragon and Catalonia. France then pro- 

 duced a flax from which sails were made : 

 Holland and Flanders produced linen cloth 

 at the same period. The Germans of those 

 days carried on the spinning and weaving of 

 linen in vaults and caves under ground, which 

 was also the practice of the people of Lom- 

 bardy in the time of Pliny.* 



The fine muslins of the East Indies were 

 also made by persons kept under ground, 

 who were never allowed to see the light. 

 Children were entombed from their infancy 

 in these dark abodes, in order to gratify the 

 vanity of the wealthy with a finer thread 

 than could be drawn by the eye that was 

 blessed with the sight of day. Our East 

 India Company has suppressed this subterra- 

 neous weaving. The art is now happily lost, 

 and no Christian can wish its revival. 



Linen was not worn by the Hebrews, 



* Book xix. c. 1. 



