Excerpt from The Art of Weaving, by Hand and by Power: With an Introductory Account of Its Rise and Progress in Ancient and Modern Times In making books we own that we are 'green,' And for defects this should be some apology. The author of this Treatise has not been Plucking sufficient fruit from off the knowledge tree; A fact which by our readers will be seen, Without the proofs afforded by phrenology; But, to avoid the evils of satiety, We shall endeavour to give some variety. Materials inexhaustible abound, Which, if well handled, might adorn our pages; By learning, metaphysical, profound, We might, no doubt, be rank'd among the sages; The natives too, perhaps, we might astound, With lists comparative of weavers' wages; Or, essays on political economy; Or, loftier still, the science of astronomy. Though all these themes are worthy of attention, We think it proper in this place to state, That to exclude all chances of dissension, The author shall not in this Work relate A sentence, which, by men of comprehension, Could e'er be deem'd admitting of debate: Hence, politics we never once shall touch, Lest we should say too little, or too much. 'Tis wisdom to make hay while weather's sunny; But, here we should not be misunderstood: We disavow all thoughts of making money: We publish solely for the public good, (Our own included). Op'ning flowers yield honey; This book shall yield to weavers ample food; Food for the mind, which, when digested, may Yield food to fill the body every day. The present Work is not a periodical; We do not publish number after number Poetic, philosophical, rhapsodical, With shining gems amidst a mass of lumber. Our plan, in most respects, is quite methodical. Meantime, our readers we shall not encumber With more remarks, but show them, with facility, A specimen or two of our ability. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.