peful boy with the
little coat, whilst her willing fingers lingeringly perform their
office, as if loth to quit a task in which they so much delight. And
then with meek step and grateful heart she wends her homeward way, and
meditates tranquilly on the past interview, till the return of another
year finds her again on her pilgrimage of love--the joyful bearer of
another "little coat."

And a high tribute is paid to needlework in the history of Dorcas, who
was restored to life by the apostle St. Peter, by whom "all the widows
stood weeping, and showing the coats and garments which Dorcas made
while she was with them."

"In these were read
The monuments of Dorcas dead:
These were thy acts, and thou shalt have
These hung as honours o'er thy grave:
And after us, distressed,
Should fame be dumb,
Thy very tomb
Would cry out, Thou art blessed!"

But it is not merely as an object of private and domestic utility that
needlework is referred to in the Bible. It was applied early to the
service of the Tabernacle, and the directions concerning it are very
clear and specific; but before this time, and most probably as early
as the time of Abraham, rich and valuable raiment of needlework was
accounted of as part of the _bona fide_ property of a wealthy man.
When the patriarch's steward sought Rebekah for the wife of Isaac, he
"brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and _raiment_."
This "raiment" consisted, in all likelihood, of garments embroidered
with gold, the handiwork, it may be, of the female slaves of the
patriarch; such garments being in very great esteem from the earliest
ages, and being then, as now, a component portion of those presents or
offerings without which one personage hardly thought of approaching
another.

Fashion in those days was not quite the chameleon-hued creature that
she is at present; nor were the fabrics on which her fancy was
displayed quite so light and airy: their gold _was_ gold--not silk
covered with gilded silver; and consequently the raiment of those
days, inwrought with slips of gold beaten thin and cut into spangles
or strips, and sewed on in various patterns, sometimes intermingled
with precious stones, would carry its own intrinsic value with it.

This "raiment" descended from father to son, as a chased goblet and a
massy wrought urn does now; and was naturally and necessarily
inventoried as a portion of the property. The practice o