dren's department and our own could not be ascertained by 

 observation. If the little ticket pinned npon such denoted a 

 small sum, it must not lead to harsh criticisms of the Com- 

 mittee, who look, perhaps, with too critical eye, and find scant 

 award dest rved by airy nothings, or little tricks in needlework 

 that consumed but an evening, and called for no ingenuity. 

 They helped, true, to give general glow of color to wall and 

 table, but there their mission ended. Individual interest could 

 not centre upon them. If they afforded the donor a contribu- 

 tor's ticket, plus the little sum in gratuity, they achieved more 

 than their value. It is the best that should be seen here. 

 Mediocrit}^ is out of place. On the child's table it is a pre- 

 cursor of 'something mpre ingenious in the by-and-by ; it shows 

 hours when she withdrew from play, that is innate in childhood, 

 and liiid by skipping rope and doll to become the little, demure 

 maiden — miniature tjpe of bus}' matron. 



The simple designs are apropos of her years, and she is 

 entitled to much credit ; but if, in the course of the flying 

 years, when the light skip solders into the quiet woman-step, 

 and the trilling laugh becomes the decorous smile, she moves 

 southward on our tables to the woman's department, let her^ 

 also, with her youth's buoyant ways, leave youthful products of 

 her needle. The woman who would oflfer fur inspection the 

 careless stitch, the tritle of workmanship, surely courts adverse 

 criticism. The Committee aim at perfect fairness : their stoic 

 hearts do not soften at the name of a friend and unjustly raise 

 the sums on such. Such remarks pos.sess but little rancor for 

 us ; for, philosophically, we see we are judged hastily, and, in 

 our place, our critics would, by careful thought, make most 

 excellent judges. 



" Is not that cornucopia prettier than that one, and see how 

 much less the gratuity," was a remark. 



