eive, that the fanciful creations of the needle, have
exerted a marked influence over the pursuits and destinies of man.

To blend the useful, with the ornamental and to exhibit the gushing
forth of mind, vitalised by the warm and glowing affections of the
heart, is the peculiar honor and sacred destiny of woman. Without her
influence, life would be arrayed in sables, and the proud lords of
creation would be infinitely more miserable and helpless than the beasts
that perish. To render then those "terrestrial angels" all that our
fondest wishes could desire, or our most vivid imaginations picture,
must be, under any circumstances, a pleasing and delightful employment;
while for a father or a brother to behold her returning all the care
bestowed upon her, by the thousand offices of love, to the performance
to which she alone is equal, is doubtless one of the most exalted
sources of human felicity.

Providence has, in a remarkable manner, adapted woman's tastes and
propensities to the station she was designed to occupy in the scale of
being. Tender and affectionate, it is her highest bliss to minister to
the wants, the convenience, or the pleasure of those she loves; and
hence, her inventive powers have been, in all ages, called into early
and active exercise, in the fabrication of those articles calculated to
accomplish those desirable ends. Amongst these, Useful and Ornamental
Needlework, Knitting, and Netting, occupy a distinguished place, and
are capable of being made, not only sources of personal gratification,
but of high moral benefit, and the means of developing in surpassing
loveliness and grace, some of the highest and noblest feelings of the
soul.

To become an expert needle-woman should be an object of ambition to
every fair one. Never is beauty and feminine grace so attractive, as
when engaged in the honorable discharge of household duties, and
domestic cares. The subjects treated of in this little manual are of
vast importance, and to them we are indebted for a large amount of the
comforts we enjoy; as, without their aid, we should be reduced to a
state of misery and destitution of which it is hardly possible to form
an adequate conception. To learn, then, how to fabricate articles of
dress and utility for family use, or, in the case of ladies blessed with
the means of affluence, for the aid and comfort of the deserving poor,
should form one of the most prominent branches of female education. And
yet exper