g process, which has kept the contents of tombs from
becoming dust.

As to more modern embroideries, we ought to be thankful that the art
has had its fashions; otherwise, the world would be overwhelmed with
shabby rags. Human nature has a tendency to dislike the
"old-fashioned"--i.e. the fashion of the last generation. That which
our mothers worked or wore, is an object for affectionate sentiment,
and the best specimens alone are preserved. That which belonged to our
grandfathers and grandmothers has receded into the rococo; and a few
more generations take us back to the antique, of which so little
survives, from wear and tear, carelessness and theft, that we put away
and preserve it as being curious and precious. We may hope that the
general law of the survival of the fittest has guarded what is most
remarkable.

Certain works have been consecrated by the hands that executed them,
or by that of the donor, or by the purpose for which they were
bestowed, and are mostly preserved in churches or national museums. Of
these there are vestments and altar decorations worked by royal and
noble ladies; and coronation garments given by Queens and Empresses,
such as Queen Gisela's and the Empress Kunigunda's at Prague and
Bamberg, and Charlemagne's dalmatic at the Vatican, described in the
chapter on ecclesiastical embroideries. Sculptured effigies help us as
to embroidered patterns; for our forefathers often actually copied in
bronze or stone the patterns of the garments in which the body was
buried, or at any rate, those the man had worn in his life. Of these,
King John's monument at Worcester, and the surcoat of the Black Prince
at Canterbury, are remarkable examples.[8]

The succeeding chapters will contain sketches of the history of the
different stitches, and of the best examples of stitch and style
remaining to us; and I shall try to extract from both the best
suggestions for guidance in design and handicraft.

Embroidery from its nature is essentially the woman's art.[9] It needs
a sedentary life, industry and patience. It does not require a room to
itself, and the worker may leave it at any moment between two stitches
when called to other duties. Nunneries produced the finest work of the
dark and middle ages; and their teaching inaugurated the workrooms in
the palaces and castles, where young girls, whether royal, noble, or
gentle, were trained in embroidery as an accomplishment and a
household duty.

The history o