bouffant_ fichus and the flowing
head-dresses, all were specially easy and graceful to work. Many of the
pretty children Sir Joshua loved to paint were copied. "Innocence" made
a charming picture, and several of the less rustic Morland pictures were
copied.

We would imagine that when the beginnings of the picture were so
glorious the needlewoman would have made some endeavour to work up to
it. But, alas! it was not so. Though often the stitching is neat and
small, not an idea of shading seems to have entered the worker's mind,
and whole spaces, nay, a complete garment, are often worked solid in one
tone of colour! On the whole there is far more artistic sense and
feeling in the Stump pictures it is the fashion to deride.

Not always were dainty pastoral and domestic scenes worked. Very ghastly
creations are still existent of scriptural subjects. Coarsely worked in
wool, instead of silk, or in a mixture of both. The painting is still
good, but the work and the subjects are execrable! "Abraham about to
sacrifice Isaac," on the pile of faggots already laid, and Isaac bound
on it, with a very woolly lamb standing ready as a substitute, was a
favourite subject. "Abraham dismissing Hagar and Ishmael," with a
malignant-looking Sarah in the distance, vies with the former in
popularity. "The Woman of Samaria," and "The Entombment," are another
pair of unpleasant pictures which we are often called upon to admire.

The best of these pictures were worked in fine floss silk, not quite
like the floss silk of to-day, as it had more twist and body in it, with
just a little fine chenille, and very tiny bits of silver thread to
heighten the effect. The worst were worked in _crewel_ wools of crude
colours. Fortunately, the moth has a special predilection for these
pictures, and they are slowly being eaten out of existence, in spite of
being cherished as heirlooms and works of art.

Another pretty style which we seldom meet with was some part of the
picture covered with the almost obsolete "aerophane," a kind of chiffon
or crape which was much in request even up to fifty years ago. A certain
part of the draperies was worked on the silk ground, without any attempt
at finish. This was covered with aerophane, and outlined so as to attach
it to the figure. This again was worked upon with very happy effects,
very fine darning stitches making the requisite depth of shading. The
illustration shows the use of this, but this cannot be said to b