44 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



many beautiful pieces of artistic needle-work. Needle-work 

 is now receiving much attention in plain and useful branches 

 equally with the ornamental. 



There is at this day a peculiar charm and attraction in 

 every event that pertains to the customs and amusements 

 of our forefathers. Needle-work is an art of great antiquity. 

 It originated in Eden. Modern industry has done very 

 little, either by discovering new materials, or inventing new 

 modes of manufacture. Embroidered linen, exquisite speci- 

 mens of muslin enriched with needle-work in gold and silver 

 floss, applique-work and silk embroidery, might have been 

 termed art needle-work in the days of the ancient Israelites. 

 At that period, we read that wise-hearted men and women 

 wrought the work of the sanctuary so earnestly and gen- 

 erously that they required restraint: they had brought suffi- 

 cient, and too much. The hangings for the tabernacle door 

 were wrought with blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined 

 linen. Artisans, engravers, and cunning workmen did not 

 hesitate to acquire, also, the art of embroidery in its variety of 

 rich and gorgeous colors, with which the people richly deco- 

 rated their altars and places of worship. Articles of dress 

 were not neglected. Coats of fine linen, girdles of needle- 

 work, bonnets, and numerous other articles were exhibited. 

 Needle-work is an art useful and interesting. It is easily 

 acquired, and, as a source of profit or amusement, may be 

 practised by all classes. It was formerly the custom in 

 royal families to devote certain hours to needle-work. The 

 queen, with her maidens around her, sat embroidering at 

 their frames of tapestry, and also performed other varieties 

 of needle-work for ornament and utility. Penelope gives us 

 an interesting example of the influence of industry and in- 

 genuity. While industriously employing herself on the 

 world-renowned "web," of which she designed to make a 

 funeral ornament for the aged Laertes, the father of Ulysses, 

 she consoled herself for the long absence of her husband, 

 and solaced her grief, by her constant labor on this tribute 

 of love, and during her labors devised the means of escape 

 from the importunities of her numerous suitors. 



For the Committee. 



Mrs. J. Pierce. 



