The Art of Stocking-frame-work Knitting. With an exact Representation of the fame on a large Copper-plate, neatly:

O

engraved.

F all the mechanic arts none of means to difcover the fecret of the art. them does the English nation But the ftructure of the frame or mamore honour than the art of Stocking- chine, on which the work is performed, frame knitting. This method of knit- is fo ingenious and complex, that it ting ftockings, however pretended to be baffled all their attempts of gaining a French invention, as Mr. Coatlegon, their point by mere infpection; for, as who was of that nation, would perthe fame poet fings, fuade his readers, was certainly devifed by the ingenious William Lee, M. A. of St. John's-college, Cambridge, in 1589; though, it is true, he firft made it public in France, after he had defpaired of encouragement from his native country, then taken up altogether in contriving means to repel her foreign enemies, and to countermine her domestic rebels.

The occafion which prompted this invention deserves our particular attention. It was the force of love that gave birth to this profitable art, according to the beft authorities, and collected in the following verses:

In antient days, when dame Eliza reign'd,
Who prov'd to infant arts a nurfing friend,
And made, by kind encouragement she gave,
The fcholar ftudious, and the foldier brave;
Then ev'ry genius did his pow'r exert,
And labour'd to advance fome ufeful art.
Among the reft, Lee, of immortal fame,
To learning bred upon the banks of Cam,
By great Bellona favour'd and infpir'd,
Rais'd a new engine, even now admir'd;
Whofe curious form in ev'ry part difplays
The force of love in thofe reforming days;
For love, enrag'd by cool neglect and fpite,
First brought this artful Stocking-frame to
light,

That pretty maids, when woo'd, might lay

afide

Nor is there one device that can appear More wond'rous than the Frame depicted here:. Three-thousand pieces doth the whole contain, Th' unweary'd task of one poor fcholar's brain Who, in revenge of female flights, was moy'd To fpoil the knitting of the dame he lov'd.

Nor did France, at firft, fufficiently prize this profitable art; for, by throwing too many difficulties in the way of its author, applying for an exclufive privilege in Paris, the French convin

ced him of his mistake to trust them

with his fecret, and drove him back again to his native country, which now received him with open arms; and not only granted him his whole petition, but made it death to carry any of the machines out of the island, or to communicate a model thereof to foreigners. And though that law is repealed; yet even now the Legiflature has enacted,

That frames or engines for making and knitting of stockings, gloves, &c. fhall not be exported, upon forfeiture,. and the penalty of 40. by 7 & 8.

Will. III. ch. xx. fect. 8.

Therefore the utmoft we dare venture to fay of this manufacture, is to defcribe our plate, where

A is the jack for the bobbins to turn

4 Is the filk, &c. which runs off the bobbin, and is in that pofture directed up to the needle to be looped.

5 Is the needle on which the ftockings are made, according to art.

moval thereof, give notice in writing to the Mafter and Wardens of the company of Frame-work Knitters within the city of London, or to their lawful Deputy or Deputies for the time being, to whom, and to what place where fo fold, difpofed, or removed; to the end that an account may be taken by the faid Mafter, &c. upon penalty of five pounds for every offence to be recovered from the offender.

The business is clean, neat, and eafy; a journyman may earn from ten to twenty fhillings a week. Their charter includes all England and Wales, and was granted in the year 1663, by King Charles II.

And for the more effectual preventing the exportation of fuch frames, it was in the fame act of Parliament, ch. xx. fect 9, further enacted, That all and every perfon or perfons whatfoever, which fhall buy, fell, difpofe of, or remove from place to place, any fuch frame or engine, or any parts, or parcels thereof, fhall, within two months next after such disposal or reMEDITATIONS on the MISERIES of Human LIFE, in its PERFECT Age.

Recollect what I have faid, (p. 13.) concerning this perfect age. Did not I tell you, that it could be called no otherwife perfect, than because all imperfections of human nature appear at this age in perfection? And that they, who are esteemed the wifeft and moft happy in the opinion of the world, are continually pursued by and facrifice their reft, quiet, and time to avarice and ambition? For,

We are no fooner arrived to manhood, but avarice and ambition prefent themselves, and promife to give us perfect contentment with the goods and honours of this world, if we will adore them. And furely none but they, who are reftrained by a divine hand, can efcape the illufions of the one or the other, and not caft themfelves headlong from the top of the pinnacle.

But let us fee what this contentment is the covetous man makes a thoufand voyages by fea, and journies by land; runs a thoufand hazards, efcapes a thoufand shipwrecks, and is in perpetual fear and travel; and yet often

Their arms are on a chevron between two combs, and as many lends of needles in chief, and an iron jack and lend finker in bafe, a main fpring between two fmall fprings. The motto, Speed, Strength, and Truth united.

times either lofeth his time, or gains nothing but fickneffes, gouts, and oppilations. In the purchafe of this goodly repofe, he bestoweth his true reft; and, to gain wealth, loveth his life. But, fuppofe he hath gained much, and that he hath fpoiled the whole east of its pearls, and drawn dry all the mines of the weft, will he then be quiet, and fay, he is content? Nothing lefs: for,by all his acquifitions, he gains but more difquiet both of mind and body; from one travel falling into another, never ending, but only changing his miferies. He defired to have them, and now fears to lose them; he got them with burning ardour, and poffeffes them in trembling cold; he adventured among thieves to get them, and now fears by thieves and robbers to be deprived of them again; he laboured to dig them out of the earth, and now to fecure them, he hides them therein. In fhort, coming from all his voyages, he comes into a prifon; and the end of his bodily travels is but the beginning of the endlefs labour of his mind.