NEEDLEWORK. 9 -Till a very late date we have ample record of the esteem in which this art was held. In the days of the Commonwealth, Mrs. Walker is described to have been as well-skilled in needlework “ as if she had been brought up in a convent.” She kept, however, a gentlewoman for teaching her daughters. Evelyn, again, praises the talent of his daughter, Mrs. Draper. She had,” writes he, “ an extraordinary genius for whatever hand can do with a needle.” The gay queen of Charles I., followed by the consorts of the younger Stuarts, wrought a change in the simple habits of their royal predecessors, for when Queen Mary, in her Dutch simplicity, sat for hours knotting fringe, her favourite employment, Bishop Burnet, her biographer, adds: “It was a strange thing to see a queen woik so many hours of the dayand her homely habits Sedley U6Ver encbll g subject of ridicule for the wit of Sir Charles French 1 '*! ? n, . 1<1,lle of the last century, or, rather, from the 1 n! m ° re arti8tic Style of needlework and embroidery fell mto decadence. The simplicity of male costume rendered it a less necessary adjunct to female or, indeed, male education; for, strange to say, two of the greatest generals of the republic, Hoche and Moreau, added to their pay by embroidering satin waistcoats long after they had entered the military service. wb‘ . T 1J ° n ° W became replaced by trumpery fancy works, ie e ^ er taste of the last few years has happily exploded. Vve may look on the art as almost at an end. The sewing- bas a( !ded to the exigences of the distressed needlewoman, hose who could once gain a fair livelihood now fear starva- rg° n ' 0n tbe otller hand, locomotion and cheap travelling have the ei R d the life ° f ° Ur coimtl 7 women so much less stay-at-home; an ^ i aV ° httle time for the homely employment of their me S ? rS " lna T Tei 'Hy say, with the prophet Daniel, of the S enei ’ation, “ Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge swall be increased.” 40 , , ter,” about 1 * 1 if ^ lam ’ " The Royal Knot- XIV., a contemporary writer states of u ^ e Queen: ”— - Madame de Maintenon that, “ a peine lt *’ wlle n she rides in coach abroad installee dans la voiture, avant que le rs always knotting threads ” ' cocher cut fouette' les chevaux, la dame Describing her s -i mit sea lunettes ct tirade l’ouvragequ’elle a *ly drive with Louis avait dans son sac.”