Page:The history of silk, cotton, linen, wool, and other fibrous substances 2.djvu/111

 Without digressing from our subject to question the right of the royal marauder thus tyrannously to sever these unoffending artisans from the ties of country and of kindred, we may yet be allowed to express some satisfaction at the consequences of his cruelty. It is well for the interests of humanity that blessings, although unsought and remote, do sometimes follow in the train of conquest; that wars are not always limited in their results to the exaltation of one individual, the downfall of another, the slaughter of thousands, and misery of millions, but occasionally prove the harbingers of peaceful arts, heralds of science, and in short deliverers from the yoke of slavery or superstition.

In twenty years from this forcible establishment of the manufacture, the silks of Sicily are described as having attained a decided excellence; as being of diversified patterns and colors; some fancifully interwoven with gold tastefully embellished with figures; and others richly adorned with pearls. The industry and ingenuity thus called forth, could not fail to exercise a beneficial influence over the character and condition of the Sicilians.

From Palermo the manufacture of silk extended itself through all parts of Italy and into Spain. We learn from Roger de Hoveden, that the manufacture flourished at Almeria in Grenada about A. D. 1190.

FOURTEENTH CENTURY.

According to Nicholas Tegrini, the silk manufacture afterwards flourished in Lucca; and the weavers, having been ejected from that city in the earlier part of the fourteenth century, carried their art to Venice, Florence, Milan, Bologna, and even to Germany, France, and Britain.

We have seen from different historical testimonies, that silk was known to the inhabitants of France and England as early as the sixth century. The fact of its introduction into all parts