WEAVING. 
served in tlie cathedral of Bayeanx. It is a 
piece of linen, about 19 inches in breadth, 
and 6T yards in length, and contains the his- 
tory of the conquest of England by William 
of Normandy j beginning with Harold s em- 
bassy, A. D. 1065, and ending with his, 
death, at the battle of Hastings, A. D. 1066. 
This curious work is supposed to have been 
executed by Matilda, wife to William, 
Duke of Normandy, afterwards King of 
England, and the ladies of her ^court. 
Although it is certain that the art of fi- 
gure-weaving was then known in Britain, 
it must be owned, that the piece of tapestry 
just mentioned owes most of its beauty to 
the exquisite needle-work with which it is 
adorned. 
About the close of the eleventh century, 
the clothing arts had acquired a consider- 
able degree of improvement in this island. 
About that time, the weavers in all the 
great towns were formed into guilds or cor- 
porations, and had various privileges be- 
stowed upon them by royal charters. In the 
reign of Richard I. the woollen manufac- 
ture became the subject of legislation ; and 
a law was made, A. D. 1197, for regulating 
the fabrication and sale of cloth. The num- 
ber of weavers, however, was compara- 
tively small, until the policy of the wise and 
liberal Edward III. encouraged the art, by 
the most advantageous offers of reward and 
encouragement to foreign cloth-workers and 
weavers who would come and settle in Eng- 
land. In the year 1331-, two weavers came 
from Brabant, and settled at York. The 
superior skill and dexterity of these men, 
who communicated their knowledge to 
others, soon manifested itself in the im- 
provement and spread of the art of weav- 
ing in this island. 
Many weavers from Flanders were driven 
into England by the cruel persehutions of 
the Duke D’Alva, in the year 1567, who 
settled in different parts of the kingdom, 
and introduced, or promoted, the manufac- 
ture of baizes, serges, crapes, and other 
stuffs. 
About the year 1686, nearly 50,000 ma- 
nufacturers, of various descriptions, took 
refuge in Britain, in consequence of the re- 
vocation of the edict of Nantz, and othei 
acts of religious persecution committed by 
Louis XIV. These improvements, &c. 
chiefly related to linen weaving. 
The arts of spinning, throwing, and weav- 
ing silk, were brought into England about 
the middle of the fifteenth century, and 
were practised by a company of women in 
London, called silk-women. About A. D. 
1480, men began to engage in the silk ma- 
nufacture, and the art of silk-weaving, in 
England, soon arrived at very great perfec- 
tion. 
The civil dissejitions which followed this 
period, retarded the progress of this art ; 
but afterwards, when the nation was at rest , 
the arts of peace, and, among others, that 
of weaving, made rapid advances in almost 
every part of the kingdom. It has been 
generally supposed, that silk-weaving, parti- 
cularly that offigure-weaving, has never been 
brought to that perfection in England, to 
which it has attained in other countries. Our 
silk-weavers, however, seem at length deter- 
mined to remove this reproach. For this 
purpose a most magnificent undertaking is 
at this time begun by the weavers in Spital- 
fields, London ; the object of which is “ to 
remove those prejudices which have long 
prevailed in favour of foreign manufac- 
tures.'’ This object is intended to be ac- 
complished by the “weaving of certain 
flags, for public exhibition, on which are to 
appear figures, flowers, and other devices,” 
interwoven with various coloured silks. 
After considerable labour and expense, 
this design is now begun to be put into exe- 
cution, under the superintendance of a com- 
mittee, who are appointed to receive sub- 
scriptions, and conduct the execution of the 
plans, &c. Mr.William Titford, of Union- 
street, Bishopsgate, has been appointed trea- 
surer by the committee, and the undertaking 
is now making advances towards its final ac- 
complishment. The weaving of the first 
flag is begun, and about twelve or fourteen 
inches of it completed. The designs for 
this flag are curious and well executed. 
They represent, within a large oval, “ a fe- 
male figure, with a dejected aspect, reclin- 
ing on a remnant of brocade.” Two figures, 
representing Enterprise and Genius, ap- 
pear to encourage the dejected fpmale. In 
the back ground is the Temple of Fame, on 
the top of which is a flag bearing the wea- 
vers’ arras, to which Genius is directing the 
attention of the reclining figure. The four 
corners of this design, which are intended 
to be correctly engraved, are ornamented 
with appropriate emblematical figures of 
Peace, Industry, &c. It is two yards wide ; 
and the figures in the body of the design are 
drawn nearly as large as life ; but the silks, 
being all dyed fast colours, have not that 
brilliant appearance, in the work, which 
could have been wished. What makes this 
piece of work more curious, and will con- 
