that the first perfectly clear glass, resembling crystal, was manufactured. Pliny states that Nero, for two cups of ordinary size, with handles, gave six thousand sestertia, equal in our currency to about two hundred and fifty thousand dollars; and that rich articles of glass were in such general use among the wealthy Romans as almost to supersede articles of gold and silver. The art, however, at that period, seems to have been entirely devoted to articles of luxury, and from the great price paid, supported many establishments,—all however evidently upon a comparatively small scale, and confined, as it would appear, to families.

Up to this period, no evidence appears to prove that any other than colored articles in glass-ware were made. It is clear, too, that the furnaces and melting-pots then in use were of very limited capacity, the latter being of crucible shape; and it was not until the time of Nero that the discovery was made that muffled crucibles or pots, as at the present day, were required in order to make crystal glass. (Without them, it is well known, crystal glass cannot be perfected.) It appears, further, that a definite street in the city of Rome was assigned to the manufacturers of this article; and that in the reign of Severus they had attained such a position, and accumulated wealth to such a degree, that a formal tax was levied upon them. Some writers take the ground that this assessment was the primary cause of the transfer of the manufacture to other places.

That the peculiar property of the manufacture at this period was its clear and crystal appearance is abundantly evident; and this, and the great degree of perfection to which the manufacture of white or crystal-like glass was carried, are by many writers thought to have been proved from classical sources,—Horace and Virgil both referring to it, the one speaking of its beautiful lustre and brilliancy, the other comparing it to the clearness of the waters of the Fucine Lake.

The decline of this art in Rome is clearly defined by various writers; and its gradual introduction into Bohemia and Venice is plainly marked out. At this latter place the art flourished to a remarkable degree, and being marked by constant progress and improvement, enabled Venice to supply the world without a rival, and with the beautiful manufacture called "Venice drinking-cups." The beauty and value of these are abundantly testified to by many authors, among whom is Holinshed, referred to previously. The manufacture of these and similar articles were located, as stated in the "Chronicles," at Murano, a place about one mile from the city, where the business was carried on, and assumed a high position in the order of the arts. And from thence we are enabled to date its future progress and gradual introduction into Europe, Germany, England, and the Western World.

It is not strange that the strict secrecy with which the business was conducted in these times, should have invested the art with an air of romance; and legends, probably invented for the purpose, created a maximum of wonder among the uninitiated. The government of Venice also added, by its course, to the popular notions regarding the high mystery of the art, conferring, as it did, the title of "Gentleman" (no idle title in those days) on all who became accomplished in the manufacture. Howell, in his "Familiar Letters," dated from Venice in 1621, says: "Not without reason, it being a rare kind of knowledge and chemistry, to transmute the dull bodies of dust and sand, for they are the only ingredients, to such pellucid, dainty body, as we see crystal glass is."

That the art had greatly improved in the hands of the Venetian artisans cannot be doubted. The manufacture was carried to a degree far beyond any previous period; and the more so, because sustained by the governmental protection and patronage. Venice being then in the height of her commercial glory, she herself being "Queen of the Sea," ample facilities existed for the exportation of her manufactures to every part of the known world; and for a long period she held the monopoly of supplying the cities of Europe with crystal glass in its various departments of ornament and utility.

A French writer, who published an elaborate work in twelve books upon the subject of glass manufacture, after it had been introduced into France, gives an interesting account of the rise and progress of the art in that country, the encouragement it received, and the high estimation in which it was held. After stating that it was introduced into France from Venice, he says:—

"The workmen who are employed in this noble art are all gentlemen, for they admit none but such. They have obtained many large privileges, the principal whereof is to work themselves, without derogating from their nobility. Those who obtained these privileges first were gentlemen by birth; and their privilege running, that they may exercise this art without derogating from their nobility, as a sufficient proof of it, which has been confirmed by all our kings; and in all inquiries that have been made into counterfeit nobilities, never was any one attainted who enjoyed these privileges, having always maintained their honor down to their posterity."

Baron Von Lowhen states, in his "Analysis of Nobility in its Origin," that, "So useful were the glass-makers at one period in Venice, and so considerable the revenue accruing to the republic from their manufacture, that, to encourage the men engaged in it to remain in Murano, the Senate made them all Burgesses of Venice, and allowed nobles to marry their daughters; whereas, if a nobleman marries the daughter of any other tradesman, the issue is not reputed noble."

From this statement a valuable lesson can be drawn, viz., that a strict parallel is constantly observable between the progress of this art and the intellectual and social elevation of its possessors.

Those engaged in it now do not indeed occupy the same social position; still it is probable that in foreign lands the blood of noble ancestors still runs in their veins; and even in our own democratical land, with all the tendencies of its institutions, workers in glass claim a distinctive rank and character among the trades; and in the prices of labor, and the estimate of the comparative skill involved, are not controlled by those laws of labor and compensation which govern most other mechanical professions; and similarity of taste and habit is in a degree characteristic of the modern artisan in this department, as in the case of those who, for their accomplishment in the art, were ennobled in the more remote period of its progress. The same writer says:—

"It must be owned those great and continual heats, which those gentlemen are exposed to from their furnaces, are prejudicial to their health; for, coming in at their mouths, it attacks their lungs and dries them up, whence most part are pale and short-lived, by reason of the diseases of the heart and breast, which the fire causes; which makes Libarius say, 'they were of weak and infirm bodies, thirsty, and easily made drunk,'—this writer says, this is their true character: but I will say this in their favor, that this character is not general, having known several without this fault."

Such was the character and habits of noble glass-makers four hundred years since; and whether their descendants still retain their blood or not, the habit of drinking, believed at that time necessary as consequent upon the nature of the employment, is, at the present day, confined to the ignorant, dissolute, and unambitious workmen. The habit will, doubtless, ere long be done away. Still, so long as the workmen of the present day cling to their conventional rules,—act as one body, the lazy controlling the efforts of the more intelligent and industrious,—so long will the conduct of the dissolute few affect the moral reputation of the entire body. They must not forget the old adage, that "One bad sheep taints the whole flock." The spirit of the age in no degree tends to sustain the old saying, that "Live horses