Plush

in commerce, . a kind of stufi leaving a sort of velvet kaap, or shag, on one side, composed regularly of a woof of a single woollen thread, and a double warp, the one wool, of two threads twisted, the other goats or camel’s hair; though there are some plushes entirely of worsted, and others composed wholly ~of hair. Plush is manufactured, like velvet, on a Joom with three treadles; two of these separate and depre the woollen warp, and the third -Yaises the hair warp, upon which the workman throwing the shuttle pa es the woof between the woollen and hair warp; and afterwards ¥ laying a bra broach, or needle, under that of the hair, he cuts it with a knife destined for “that use; conducting the knife on the broach, which is made a little hollow all its length, and thus gives the surface of the plush an ap- ‘pearance of velvet. See Veiver. » There are other kinds of plush, all of silk; ‘some of which have a pretty long knap on one side, and some on both. ~ PLUTARCH, a native of Cher one a, descended of ‘a tes pec table family. ‘Under Am- “Monius, a reputable teacher at Delphi, Pjutarch ea was made acquainted with philosophy and ma- thematics. He afterwards travelled in quest of knowledge, and after he had visited the territories of Egypt and Greece, he retired to Rome, where he opened a school, which was much frequented. ‘The emperor Trajan admired his abilities, honoured him with the office of consul, and appointed him governor of Jllyricum., After the death of his imperial benefactor, Plutarch removed to Cher one a. In this peaceful and solitary retreat, Plutarch closely applied himself to study, and wrote the greatest art of his works, and particularly his Lives. He died in an advanced old age at Cher one a, about the 140th year of the Christian era. his private and ublic character he was the friend of discipline, and boldly a erted the natural right of mankind, liberty, Plutarch’s works admit of a nearly equal division, into Lives and Morals; the former of which, in his own estimation, were to be preferred as more noble than the latter. His style has been excepted to with some reason: he has also heen criticised for some mistakes in Roman antiquities, and for a little partiality to the Greeks. On the other hand, he has been justly praised for the copiousne of his fine sense and learning, for his integrity, and for a certain air of goodne which appears in all he wrote. His busine was not to please the ear, but to instruct and charm the mind; and in this none ever went beyond him. Of his moral writings it is to be regretted that we have no elegant English translation. Even his Lives were chiefly known to the English reader by a motley and miserable version, till anew one, executed with fidelity and spirit, was presented to the public by the Langhornes in 17703 and this has been recently much improved by Mr. Wrangham. On the whole, it is to be wished that this most amiable moralist and biographer had added a life of himself to those which he has given to the world of others, as the particulars which other writers have preserved of his personal history are very doubtful and imperfect. Of the Works of Plutarch, the best editions with which we are acquainted are that of H. tephens, in 13 vols. 8vo. published in 1572, and the elaborate edition of Reiske, in 12 vols. 8vo. published at Leipsic in 1774. Of the Lives, the best edition is that of Bryan, published at London in 1729, 5 vols. 4to: of the Morals, we have the highly celebrated edition of Wyttenbach, published at’ Oxford in 1798, both in 4to, and 8vo: the 4to, copies are greatly to be preferred.