All accomplishments have the one great merit of giving a lady something to do; something to preserve her from ennui; to console her in seclusion; to arouse her in grief; to compose her to occupation in joy. And none answers this purpose much better than fancy work, or even plain work. The former can often be brought advantageously into the rear of other pursuits--as a reserve. The latter cannot well be carried into society, except as a charity...Not that it is recommended to take into a party your husband's stockings to mend, or dear Charles's shirts, over which he was naturally so irritable at the absence of buttons, or Louisa's pinafores to run strings into; let the work have the characteristics of recreation combined with utility, and the most scrupulous cannot be offended. Such is indeed the spirit of the day; for we are a more sensible people than our grandsires were.
Sketching and archery stand first among out-door amusements. They are healthy, elegant, and appropriate to the feminine character; while--first thought of mammas!--they assemble rather than exclude the younger members of the other sex.
-The Habits of Good Society (1863), page 268-9
| The Croquet Match (1864) by George Elgar Hicks |
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