tty lesson in the thought that to the
perfection of each of these little pieces the beauty of the whole is
due--that the rose or leaf some humble peasant woman wrought carefully,
helps to make the fabric worthy the adorning of a queen or the
decoration of an altar, even as the sweetness and patient perfection in
any life makes all living more worthy and noble. A single flower upon
which taste and fancy were lavished, and which sustained and deft labor
brought to perfection, represents the lives of many diligent women
workers.

It has become so much the fashion to worship all things ancient that
most lovers of fine lace would prefer to have it a century old; and yet
there never was a time when laces were more beautiful, more artistic and
more unique in design than just at the present day; for modern laces
preserve the best features of the laces that have gone before them, and
have added so many new inspirations that except for the sentiment, the
romance or the history connecting this scrap with a title, that with a
famous beauty, and another with some cathedral's sacred treasure, the
palm would certainly be given to the gauze-like production of the poor
flax thread spinner of the present day."

Not all people know the difference between point lace which is made with
the needle, and pillow lace which is made with the bobbins--but much of
the beautiful point lace of the present day is made with the needle, and
its beauty stands a favorable comparison with the more costly pillow
lace.

Strictly modern lace-making is a result of American ingenuity, and it
has so simple a basis and is so easy to learn that any woman of average
skill may, with little difficulty, produce by its different processes,
laces that are really magnificent and quite as substantial and useful as
they are exquisitely beautiful. In America modern lace-making has been
developed to a high degree of perfection by its pioneer, Mrs. Grace B.
McCormick, in whose designing rooms at No. 923 Broadway, New York, may
be seen specimens of modern laces of every variety, from dainty
needle-point to a very elaborate kind known as the Royal Battenburg.
This English name for an American production was selected in honor of
the Battenburg nuptials, which occurred about the time a patent for
making the lace was applied for at Washington. Only a few years have
elapsed since this plucky little woman made a single piece of lace
edging from common braid as an experiment, and