s")
must have girded at the philosophy she was compelled to work into her
sampler--

"Look well to what you take in hand,
For learning is better than house or land;
When land is gone and money is spent
Then learning is most excellent."

With the eighteenth century the beauty of the Samplers distinctly
declined. They became squarer, and were bordered with a running pattern,
and the whole canvas became more or less pictorial. Inevitably the end
of this art came. Ugly realistic bowpots with stumpy trees decorated the
picture in regular order. The alphabet still appeared, and moral
reflection seemed to be the aim of the worker rather than to make the
Sampler show beauty of stitchery. Quaint little maps of England are
often seen, surrounded with floral borders, but it remained to the early
nineteenth century to show how the Sampler became reduced to absurdity.
One of the quaintest and most amusing Samplers at South Kensington is a
12-inch by 8-inch example in woollen canvas and embroidered with
coloured silk. At the lower end is a soldier, a tiny realistic house, a
dovecot, any number of flowering plants, a stag and other animals. Above
is a band of worked embroidery enclosing the words, "This is my dear
Father." The remaining spaces are filled in with angels blowing
trumpets, double-headed eagle, peacocks and other birds, and baskets of
fruit. In spite of its absurdity, this little piece is far more
pleasant than the tombstone inscriptions which abound, and is, after
all, delightfully suggestive of home and affection.

[Illustration: EARLY ENGLISH "SAMPLER," SHOWING EMBROIDERY IN COLOURED
SILK.

(_S.K.M. Collection._)]

[Illustration: EARLY ENGLISH "SAMPLER," SHOWING BIRD'S-EYE EMBROIDERY
AND CUT AND DRAWN WORK.

(_S.K.M. Collection._)]

Another quaint piece at South Kensington is a sampler worked by poor
Harriet Taylor, _aged seven!_ At the top are four flying angels, two in
clouds flanking a crown beneath the letters "G. R." In the middle stands
a flower-wreathed arch, with columns holding vases of flowering plants;
above are the words, "The Temple of Fancy," and within an enclosed space
the following homily:

"Not Land but Learning
Makes a man complete
Not Birth but Breeding
Makes him truly Great
Not Wealth but Wisdom
Does adorn the State
Virtue not Honor
Makes him Fortunate
Learning, Breeding, Wisdom
Get these three
Then Wealth