Page:The history of silk, cotton, linen, wool, and other fibrous substances 2.djvu/127

 CHAPTER VI.

SILVER TEXTURES, &c., OF THE ANCIENTS.

EXTREME BEAUTY OF THESE MANUFACTURES.

Magnificent dress worn by Herod Agrippa, mentioned in Acts xii. 21—Josephus's account of this dress, and dreadful death of Herod—Discovery of ancient Piece-goods—Beautiful manuscript of Theodolphus, Bishop of Orleans, who lived in the ninth century—Extraordinary beauty of Indian, Chinese, Egyptian, and other manufactured goods preserved in this manuscript—Egyptian arts—Wise regulations of the Egyptians in relation to the arts—Late discoveries in Egypt by the Prussian hierologist, Dr. Lepsius—Cloth of glass.

The Evangelist Luke, in Acts xii. 21. speaks of the "royal apparel," in which Herod Agrippa, king of Judea, was arrayed when he received the ambassadors of Tyre and Sidon, sitting in great state upon his throne at Cæsarea. "And upon a set day, Herod arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man. And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost."

Josephus describes the same garment, which was a tunic, as "all made of silver, and wonderful in its texture." He adds, that the king appeared in this dress at break of day in the theatre, and that the silver, illuminated by the first rays of the sun, glittered in such a manner as to terrify the beholders, so that his flatterers began to call out aloud, saluting him as a god. He was then seized with the painful and loathsome distemper, of which he soon after died .

We extract the following curious account of the discovery of Ancient Piece-goods and manufactured stuffs from a late