as well as by nuns; while we know that the wonderful embroideries preserved in San Giovanni, in Florence, were the work of a man. At the Court of Isabel la Catholica regular trials of needlework were held, and Catharine of Aragon brought with her from her mother's Court all the skill in needlework for which she was famous there; and in the long years of her trouble and desertion she taught embroidery and lace making both to her mother and the poor around her. The Spanish stitch introduced by her into needlework seems to have been that kind of "laid" work for which Spain has always been famous, frequently done in black silk upon a white ground, with gold introduced. It is very possible that she also taught the stuffed gold work known as basket stitch, which also seems to have been largely practiced in Spain, and is, in fact, still executed in that country. Fresh varieties were introduced again by the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots, learned in France and practiced in the time of her imprisonment. Probably by her was begun that curious and elaborate work consisting wholly or chiefly of point-lace stitches. Some of the embroideries of this period are extremely beautiful and are treasuries of stitches for the instruction of modern workers. trouble was spared in perfecting the most minute details. In some cases we find pea-pods, in which, while the closed pod itself is worked in the finest point-lace stitch, the peas which it contains, although never destined to be seen, are quite as carefully and elaborately worked. About the same time, or a little later, and lasting on with it through the Stuarts to Queen Anne's time, came in the heavily embroidered bed furniture, worked with worsted upon twilled cotton, in which the fillings were so often also point-lace stitches.-Maguzine of Art.

FANCY BASKET FOR COLLARS AND CUFFS.

No

Select a round grape basket, or a small sized peach basket. Smooth with sand-paper and paint it black. Fit a piece of white cloth to the inside. Six of the openings in the basket extend to the bottom, and six about half way. Mark where these come on your white cloth. Remove the cloth and gather little strips of red satin over the marks. Replace the cloth and slightly pull the satin through the cracks. Put a red chenille ornament at the bottom of the short strips. Take two widths of the satin three inches longer than your basket. together, turn the top edge over, and gather about half an inch from the edge. This makes a little ruffle. Fasten this below the top hoop, gather the other edge, and push it down into the basket for an inside lining.

Sew

For a cover, cut a circle of pasteboard the size of the basket top, and cut it through the center. Put wadding on both sides of each piece. (Sachet powder can be used if desired.) Gather the satin on the upper side, making a little ruffle down the center of both pieces. Place the satin smoothly over the underside. This makes a good place for fancy pins. Fasten the outside edge of the rim of the basket with a cord, or bit of ribbon, so the covers will open from the center.

Put an ornament on one side to serve as a handle. Take a brass wire about twenty-four inches long, make a hook on one end, curve the wire, and fasten the other end to the wall with little staples. Hang the basket on the hook, and you have a very pretty and useful ornament for your husband or gentleman friend. One yard of satin and seven ornaments are required.

SHELL PINCUSHION.

Cut the shape of stout cardboard 5 inches long and 6 inches wide. Cover the front with two shades of silver-grey satin, making a diag onal seam which should be covered with old pink baby ribbon, or brier stitch in pink silk. Under the cover put a thickness or two of old flannel nicely perfumed and cover the cardboard carefully that the correct shape may be preserved. For the back cut a piece of thinner cardboard a trifle smaller, cover with any suitable material and sew to the front. Before this, however, the scallop shell should be attached by means of holes bored in the hinge, with tiny bows of pink baby ribbon. The tas sel of pink silk at the bottom is to lift it by; for this a plush ball may be used if preferred. Under the shell should be sewn three or four leaves of pinked flannel for a needle-book, or in their stead may be painted either on the satin or a bit of ivorine a tiny sea view. Paint the sea weed brownish pink, making it a lighter pink at the ends. Stick pins around the edge like sun rays or in scallops, and attach gray silk cord as shown to hang by.

A good museum sets the older folk as well as the children to gathering and storing up a collection of curiosities and will be a cure for dullness and give them an object to devote themselves to. The best receptacle for these collections is a cupboard with plenty of shelves in it if possible One shelf must be devoted to boxes of mineral, another to trays of coin, another to insects, and if there are one or two drawers to hold dry plants, so much the better. One of the elder children must have a numbered catalogue of the collection, the numbers in the list corresponding with the numbers that must be neatly gummed to the specimens. Perhaps if space is an object, it would be better to have a collection of only one class of things, say of food products, or of seeds and seed vessels, from which much useful information may be obtained.

Useful articles for housekeepers are holders, sweeping caps, and memorandum slates. For the latter, paint the frame of a very small slate, and fasten small rings in the top. Tie ribbon through these and attach a small slate pencil by a narrow ribbon or cord. A spray of flowers painted across one corner is a great improvement.

A bunch of long nails gilded and tied firmly together with a bow of bright ribbon makes a pretty paper weight.

"Your voiceless lips, O flowers, are living preachers,

Each cup a pulpit-every leaf a book

Supplying to my fancy numerous teachers

From lowliest nook.

"Floral apostles, that in dewy splendor,

Weep without woe, and blush without a crime, O may I treasure deep your sacred teaching Of love divine."

ЛHE

-Horace Smith.

HE most careless observer who glances at our beautiful Easter picture can scarcely fail to catch somewhat of its meaning, so plainly does its picture language express purity, innocence, truth, love, and the fresh new life-fitting types of the first resurrection, and of those who shall be accounted worthy to attain to it. But there is a deeper, more mysterious meaning within it, revealed only to those who are taught of God. The most worldly minded, as he gazes on the face of the child, will note how expressive it is of that spirit of innocence characteristic of childhood; but only the spiritual minded will recognize the spiritual nature implanted in the lily by the same great Creator.

"Flowers," said Henry Ward Beecher, "are the sweetest things God ever made and forgot to put a soul into."

But Mr. Beecher was mistaken; God did not forget, as the following from the Inspired Translation of the Bible shows: "For I, the Lord God, created all things. of which I have spoken, spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth.... Out of the ground made I, the Lord God, to grow every tree naturally, that is pleasant to the sight of man, and man could behold it, and it became a living soul; for it was spiritual in the day.

that I created it; for it remaineth in the sphere in which I, God, created it."Gen. 2: 5, 11.

It is to be presumed that Mr. Beecher was not acquainted with the above, or if he was, that he rejected it because not in the King James' translation; although in the latter the same idea exists, though more obscurely stated. (See Gen. 2: 4, 5.)

I propose in this article to consider this. pre-existent spiritual nature of plants, in its relation to man as traced in the fall, redemption and resurrection.

Of the creation of man the same Inspired Translation informs us thus: "And I, the Lord God, formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. . . . Nevertheless, all things were before created, but spiritually were they created and made, according to my word."-Gen. 2:8, 9.

As both man and plants are said to have existed spiritually before they did naturally, or in bodily form, and both are thereafter said to have become "living souls," we naturally inquire, How do they differ? In each case these bodies are said to have been formed from the ground; and we find that the conditions of their natural life are similar; each requiring air, light, food, and water; both experience a birth and various stages of growth and development, and both are also subject to disease and death. The difference, it would seem, consists less in the natural than in the pre-existing spiritual