Not the least attraction of the Exhibition of Royal and Historic Trea-ures which opened this wevit is that its being held in 145 Piccadilly, the home of the King and Queen before their accession, Not that there is, much of them personally about the house, though the nurseries "contain the cot with draperies of frilled Ivory organdie in which the little Princesses successively slept, and they have lent some of their dolls and toys. Still one treads with reverence, and curiosity these great rooms, hall and staircase, 'There Is a fine' out-Took to the gardens of Buckingham Palace. But it must have been a noisy house to live in.
The exhibition shows, all sorts of royal relics—a handkerchief of Queen Elizabeth's heavily embroidered—in old; shirts worn by Charles T and Charles TI, miracles of fine needle work; a small painting of Catherine the Great of Russia, which reveals her as rather a plain woman with a double chin, but) unmistakably—imperial; a bust of Marie Antoinette, showing the mark where it. was mended after being broken by the Paris mob; and a small violin given by the Prince Consort to Prince Alfred, on which the latter played outside' Queen Victoria's door on her birthday when he was nine years old. The young of the violin are justly to be dreaded, But in such "cases mothers are tone-dear, calling them "chancy.") With roses the usual taste is for bowls or vases all of the same sort. But if you Dlond then carefully, a mixture of colours Is {ar more beautiful. Almost equally splendid, however, is a big pot full of all sorts of flowers, delphiniums, " scabious, foxgloves, valerian, catmint, sweet william, campanula—all common stuff, so to speak, easily grown, but when properly ar-vanged, indescribably inspiring.
The shops are displaying flower bowls and vases of every shape and colour. But you cannot beat neutral tints in ching, plain glass and simple shapes. I believe that the arranging of flowers is an indispensable part of the education of every well brought Japanese damsel. So it should be every country. No hasty or immoderate person could ever make a success of it.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.