ch. I have never seen the face of
an adult woman who has had the experience of wifehood and motherhood
which retained so perfectly the flawless beauty of childhood. I have
often gazed at the angelic face of some child, and wondered why each
year of life should wipe out some exquisite line of drawing, or absorb
the entrancing shadows which rest upon the face of childhood. It was a
great satisfaction to personally assist in the furnishing of the home of
this beautiful aristocrat, whose own law allowed of no infringement by
our mighty three, having been shaped in a mind enriched by much
classical study and constant acquaintance with the beautiful.

When our embroideries and needlework had taken their place in this
country, we were asked to make part of an Exhibition of American Art in
London. This we were very glad to do, for the artistic gratification of
being able to measure what we were doing with the best art of the kind
abroad. It was also pleasant to be considered worthy company with the
best in our own land, to rub shoulders with our best painters, our great
makers of stained glass, leaders who take genuine pleasure in ideal
work. Of course this applies to amateur work only, as professional
decoration must accord with the general plan which has been selected.

[Illustration: FIGHTING DRAGONS

Drawn by Candace Wheeler and embroidered by The Associated Artists,
1885.]

I had reason to think that the Exhibition made by the Associated Artists
at Chicago was of lasting use to all lovers of needlework, the world
over, since so many other races came there to get their world lessons. I
learned much that was of value to me from familiar study of the exhibits
from different countries, from their excellencies and differences and
the reasons why such wide divergences existed, and from observation of
the people themselves who produced them--for many of the exhibits were
in charge of practical needleworkers who knew the history of their art
from its very beginning. I found more of interest in Oriental art
from seeing that it was not merely a perfunctory repetition of stitches
and patterns, but that there was a stanch, almost a religious, integrity
in doing the thing exactly as it had been done by generations of
forefathers, and that the silks and tissues and flosses and threads of
gold were the best the world produced. In the presence of such fidelity,
what mattered it that the borders and blocks were formed of angles, or
zig