Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/600

 594 CALICO PRINTING over his plantation, personally superintending its minutest operations. He was the first or one of the first in that region to cultivate success- fully small grain and cotton for market ; and he not only had the finest melons, figs, peach- es, and other southern fruits, but his apples, pears, cherries, grapes, strawberries, raspber- ries, &c., were equally excellent. He was not only fond of agriculture, but an eminently good and successful planter. His servants were in all respects well treated. They came to him as umpire and judge. Of their private crops he purchased what he wanted at the highest market price, and gave them every facility for disposing of the rest. A rigid justice regulated his conduct toward them, which they repaid by devoted affection ; and this system of man- agement was so successful that to have been an overseer at Fort Hill was a high recommen- dation. He was an excellent shot, and till his eyesight failed generally carried a gun as he walked round his place, rarely missing his aim. In person he was tall and slender. His coun- tenance at rest was strikingly marked by de- cision and firmness ; in conversation, or when speaking, it became highly animated and ex- pressive. His large, dark, brilliant, penetrating eyes strongly impressed all who encountered their glances. When addressing the senate he stood firm, erect, accompanying his delivery with an angular gesticulation. His manner of speaking was energetic, ardent, rapid, and marked by a solemn earnestness which inspired a strong belief in his sincerity and deep con- viction. Upon every subject he was acute, analytical, and original, dealing almost exclu- sively in argument. His style was forcible, clear, and condensed. He very rarely indulged in tropes and figures, and seldom left any doubt as to his meaning. He himself noted it as a peculiarity of his mind, and one that interfered with his influence over passing events, that he was disposed to follow everything out to its ultimate results, disregarding its immediate, temporary, and accidental bearings. His works have been collected and edited by Richard K. Cralle (6 vols. 8vo, New York, 1853-'4). The first volume contains a disquisition on govern- ment, and a discussion on the laws relative to the government of the United States, which he left behind him unfinished. CALICO PRINTING. The term calico (from Calicut, on the Malabar coast, whence it was first imported) is applied in England to white or imprinted cotton cloth, hut in the United States to cotton cloth upon which colored pat- terns are impressed with the use of dyes, tech- nically called prints. The effect produced by the printing process is like that of the colored designs brought out by the loom, but with much greater economy of time and labor. The origin of this art, like that of dyeing, is traced back to very remote antiquity, and in some form or other appears to have been practised by nations of little skill in other respects. The aborigines of northern America stain their gar- ments of different colors, which is a rude method of calico printing ; while the natives of Mexico, at the time of its conquest by Cortes, produced garments of cotton adorned with figures in black, blue, red, yellow, and green colors. Pliny's account of the process prac- tised by the ancient Egyptians is particularly interesting for showing the skill attained by them in the art, as also for describing with great conciseness the principle of the common operations : " They take white cloths, and apply to them, not colors, but certain drugs which have the power of absorbing or drink- ing in color ; and in the cloth so operated on there is not the smallest appearance of any dye or tincture. These cloths are then put into a caldron of some coloring matter, scalding hot, and after having remained a time are with- drawn, all stained and painted in various hues. This is indeed a wonderful process, seeing that there is in the said caldron only one kind of coloring material ; yet from it the cloth acquires this and that color, and the boiling liquor itself also changes according to the quality and nature of the dye-absorbing drugs which were at first laid on the white cloth, and these stains or colors are moreover so firmly fixed as to be incapable of removal by washing. If the scalding liquor were com- posed of various tinctures and colors, it would doubtless have confounded them all in one on the cloth ; but here one liquor gives a variety of colors according to the drugs previously ap- plied. The colors of the cloths thus prepared are always more firm and durable than if the cloths were not dipped into the boiling cal- dron." In the different countries of India the art is practised with various degrees of skill. In some the patterns are drawn with a pencil upon the fabric ; while in Mesopotamia, as stated by Mr. Buckingham, blocks are em- ployed for producing an impression, as prac- tised by the English block-printers. The Chi- nese also have long used the same process. The large chintz counterpanes, called palam- poors, of an ancient East India fabric, are pre- pared by placing on the cloth a pattern of wax and dyeing the parts not so protected. From India it appears the art was introduced at an early period into Europe ; hut it never became of much importance till some time in the 17th century, when Augsburg became celebrated for its printed cottons and linens. From this city the art spread into France, Germany, Switzer- land, and Great Britain, being introduced into London about the year 1676. Here, being greatly restricted by the opposition of the silk and woollen Veavers, it made but slow progress. In 1720 the wearing of printed calico was pro- hibited by act of parliament, under a penalty of 5 for each offence on the part of the wearer and of 20 on that of the seller. In 1730 it was allowed to be printed, provided the warp was of linen and the weft only of cotton ; but even then it was subject to an onerous tax of 6d. per square yard. In 1774 the restriction