plain sewing and knitting, wood-carving and drawing, though 

 we would have been glad to see more of the two latter kinds of 

 work. Here and there was an article which drew attention on 

 account of its being a sort of novelty among the things usually 

 found upon our table ; among them may be mentioned a case of 

 insects, by Master Henry T. Bailey of Scituate, in the arrange- 

 ment of which much skill and taste were shown, and which, 

 perhaps, proved to the most attractive article on our table. 

 The beautiful butterflies and other insects were much admired, 

 and we hope the young collector was. as careful in taking the 

 lives of the bright little creatures, to avoid cruelty, and give as 



little pain as possible, as he was in preserving and arranging 

 them for exhibition. 



Many of the articles were decorated with the pictures now 



used so much for that purpose, and wliich add to their beauty-; 



but in awarding gratuities we have to take into consideration 



that the work is very slight compared with ornamenting with 



needle or brush, and those who make use of such decoration 



will please bare that fact in mind. We know fault is found 



because, as is said, we put as much gratuity on an article 



as the article is worth. It may be so in some cases, for few 



persons would consider a piece of work — the first attempt of 



a little child — worth anything, intrinsically, for it might be very 



imperfectly done, an 1 the colors ill chosen ; yet it is the result 



of only a child's effort — perhaps the best it could do — and we 



must consider the difficulty experienced in finishing even so 



small a piece of work, and its value to the child, as great, no 



doubt, as a handsome and cctstly piece of work is to an older 



person. The little girl of five years who sewed sixty squares 



of patchwork "over and over" so nicely, we think deserves as 



much credit as the girl of fourteen years who runs her squares 



together, and puts in the finishing stitch, having done it all 



herself, even to the quilting or knotting and binding. 



