The Art of Needle-work, from the Earliest Ages Part 1

The Art of Needle-work, from the Earliest Ages, 3rd ed.

by Elizabeth Stone.

PREFACE.

If there be one mechanical art of more universal application than all others, and therefore of more universal interest, it is that which is practised with the NEEDLE. From the stateliest denizen of the proudest palace, to the humblest dweller in the poorest cottage, all more or less ply the busy needle; from the crying infant of a span long and an hour's life, to the silent tenant of "the narrow house," all need its practical services.

Yet have the NEEDLE and its beautiful and useful creations. .h.i.therto remained without their due meed of praise and record, either in sober prose or sounding rhyme,--while their glittering ant.i.thesis, the scathing and destroying sword, has been the theme of admiring and exulting record, without limit and without end!

The progress of real civilization is rapidly putting an end to this false _prestige_ in favour of the "Destructive" weapon, and as rapidly raising the "Conservative" one in public estimation; and the time seems at length arrived when that triumph of female ingenuity and industry, "THE ART OF NEEDLEWORK" may be treated as a fitting subject of historical and social record--fitting at least for a female hand.

The chief aim of this volume is that of affording a comprehensive record of the most noticeable facts, and an entertaining and instructive gathering together of the most curious and pleasing a.s.sociations, connected with "THE ART OF NEEDLEWORK," from the earliest ages to the present day; avoiding entirely the dry technicalities of the art, yet furnis.h.i.+ng an acceptable accessory to every work-table--a fitting tenant of every boudoir.

The Auth.o.r.ess thinks thus much necessary in explanation of the objects of a work on what may be called a maiden topic, and she trusts that that leniency in criticism which is usually accorded to the adventurer on an unexplored track will not be withheld from her.

CHAPTER I.

"Le donne son venute in eccellenza Di ciascun'arte, ove hanno posto cura; E qualunque all'istorie abbia avvertenza, Ne sente ancor la fama non oscura.

E forse ascosi han lor debiti onori L'invidia, o il non saper degli scrittori."

Ariosto.

In all ages woman may lament the ungallant silence of the historian.

His pen is the record of sterner actions than are usually the vocation of the gentler s.e.x, and it is only when fair individuals have been by extraneous circ.u.mstances thrown out, as it were, on the canvas of human affairs--when they have been forced into a publicity little consistent with their natural sphere--that they have become his theme.

Consequently those domestic virtues which are woman's greatest pride, those retiring characteristics which are her most becoming ornament, those gentle occupations which are her best employment, find no record on pages whose chief aim and end is the blazoning of manly heroism, of royal disputations, or of trumpet-stirring records. And if this is the case even with historians of enlightened times, who have the gallantry to allow woman to be a component part of creation, we can hardly wonder that in darker days she should be utterly and entirely overlooked.

Mohammed a.s.serted that women had no souls; and moreover, that, setting aside the "diviner part," there had only existed _four_ of whom the mundane qualifications ent.i.tled them to any degree of approbation.

Before him, Aristotle had a.s.serted that Nature only formed women when and because she found that the imperfection of matter did not permit her to carry on the world without them.

This complimentary doctrine has not wanted supporters. "Des hommes tres sages ont ecrit que la Nature, dont l'intention et le dessein est toujours de tendre a la perfection, ne produirait s'il etait possible, jamais que des hommes, et que quand il nait une femme c'est un monstre dans l'ordre de ses productions, ne express.e.m.e.nt contre sa volonte: ils ajoutent, que, comme on voit naitre un homme aveugle, boiteux, ou avec quelqu'autre defaut nature; et comme on voit a certains arbres des fruits qui ne mrissent jamais; ainsi l'on peut dire que la femme est un animal produit par accident et par le hasard."[1]

Without touching upon this extreme a.s.sertion that woman is but "un monstre," an animal produced by chance, we may observe briefly, that women have ever, with some few exceptions,[2] been considered as a degraded and humiliated race, until the promulgation of the Christian religion elevated them in society: and that this distinction still exists is evident from the difference at this moment exhibited between the countries professing Mohammedanism and those professing Christianity.

Still, though in our happy country it is now pretty generally allowed that women are "des creatures humaines," it is no new remark that they are comparatively lightly thought of by the "n.o.bler" gender. This is absolutely the case even in those countries where civilization and refinement have elevated the s.e.x to a higher grade in society than they ever before reached. Women are courted, flattered, caressed, extolled; but still the difference is there, and the "lords of the creation" take care that it shall be understood. Their own pursuits--public, are the theme of the historian--private, of the biographer; nay, the every-day circ.u.mstances of life--their dinners--their speeches--their toasts--and their _post coenam_ eloquence, are noted down for immortality: whilst a woman with as much sense, with more eloquence, with lofty principles, enthusiastic feelings, and pure conduct--with sterling virtue to command respect, and the self-denying conduct of a martyr--steals noiselessly through her appointed path in life; and if she excite a pa.s.sing comment during her pilgrimage, is quickly lost in oblivion when that pilgrimage hath reached its appointed goal.

And this is but as it should be. Woe to that nation whose women, as a habit, as a custom, as a matter of course, seek to intrude on the attributes of the other s.e.x, and in a vain, a foolish, and surely a most unsuccessful pursuit of publicity, or power, or fame, forget the distinguis.h.i.+ng, the high, the n.o.ble, the lofty, the pure and _unearthly_ vocation of their s.e.x. Every earthly charity, every unearthly virtue, are the legitimate object of woman's pursuit. It is hers to soothe pain, to alleviate suffering, to soften discord, to solace the time-worn spirit on earth, to train the youthful one for heaven. Such is woman's magnificent vocation; and in the peaceful discharge of such duties as these she may be content to steal noiselessly on to her appointed bourne, "the world forgetting, by the world forgot."

But these splendid results are not the effect of great exertions--of sudden, and uncertain, and enthusiastic efforts. They are the effect of a course, of a system of minor actions and of occupations, _individually_ insignificant in their appearance, and noiseless in their approach. They are like "the gentle dew from heaven" in their silent unnoted progress, and, like that, are known only by their blessed results.

They involve a routine of minor duties which often appear, at first view, little if at all connected with such mighty ends. But such an inference would lead to a false conclusion. It is entirely of insignificant details that the sum of human life is made up; and any one of those details, how insignificant soever _apparently_ in itself, as a link in the chain of human life is of _definite_ relative value.

The preparing of a spoonful of gruel may seem a very insignificant matter; yet who that stands by the sick-bed of one near and dear to him, and sees the fevered palate relieved, the exhausted frame refreshed by it, but will bless the hand that made it? It is not the independent intrinsic worth of each isolated action of woman which stamps its value--it is their bearing and effect on the ma.s.s. It is the daily and hourly acc.u.mulation of minute particles which form the vast amount.

And if we look for that feminine employment which adds most absolutely to the comforts and the elegancies of life, to what other shall we refer than to NEEDLEWORK? The hemming of a pocket-handkerchief is a trivial thing in itself, yet it is a branch of an art which furnishes a useful, a graceful, and an agreeable occupation to one-half of the human race, and adds very materially to the comforts of the other half.

How sings our own especial Bard?--

"So long as garments shall be made or worne; So long as hemp, or flax, or sheep shall bear Their linnen wollen fleeces yeare by yeare; So long as silkwormes, with exhausted spoile Of their own entrailes, for mans gaine shall toyle: Yea, till the world be quite dissolv'd and past, So long, at least, the NEEDLE'S use shall last."

'Tis true, indeed, that as far as _necessity_, rigidly speaking, is concerned, a very small portion of needlework would suffice; but it is also true that the very signification of the word necessity is lost, buried amidst the acc.u.mulations of ages. We talk habitually of _mere necessaries_, but the fact is, that we have hardly an idea of what merely necessities are.

St. Paul, the hermit, when abiding in the wilderness, might be reduced to necessities; and in that n.o.ble and exalted instance of high principle referred to by Mr. Wesley,[3] where a person unknown to others, seeking no praise, and looking to no reward but the applaudings of his own conscience, bought a pennyworth of parsnips weekly, and on them, and them alone, with the water in which they were boiled, lived, that he might save money to pay his debts.--Surely a man of such incorruptible integrity as this would spend nothing intentionally in superfluities of dress--and yet, mark how many he would have. His s.h.i.+rt would be "curiously wrought," his neckcloth neatly hemmed; his coat and waistcoat and trousers would have undergone the usual mysteries of shaping and seaming; his hat would be neatly bound round the edge; his stockings woven or knitted; his shoes soled and st.i.tched and tied; neither must we debar him a pocket-handkerchief and a pair of gloves. And see what this man--as great, nay, a greater anch.o.r.et in his way than St. Paul, for he had the world and its temptations all around, while the saint had fled from both--yet see what _he_ thought absolutely requisite in lieu of the sheepskin which was St. Paul's wardrobe. See what was required "to cover and keep warm" in the eighteenth century,--nay, not even to "keep warm," for we did not allow either great-coat or comforter. See then what was required merely to "cover," and then say whether the art of needlework is a trivial one.

Could we, as in days of yore, when sylphs and fairies deigned to mingle with mortals, and shed their gracious influence on the scenes and actions of every-day life--could we, by some potent spell or by some fitting oblation, propitiate the Genius of Needlework, induce her to descend from her hidden shrine, and indulge her votaries with a glimpse of her radiant SELF--what a host of varied reminiscences would that glimpse conjure up in our minds, as--

"----guided by historic truth, We _trod_ the long extent of backward time!"

SHE was twin born with necessity, the first necessity the world had ever known, but she quickly left this stern and unattractive companion, and followed many leaders in her wide and varied range. She became the handmaiden of Fancy; she adorned the train of Magnificence; she waited upon Pomp; she decorated Religion; she obeyed Charity; she served Utility; she aided Pleasure; she pranked out Fun; and she mingled with all and every circ.u.mstance of life.

Many changes and chances has it been her lot to behold. At one time honoured and courted, she was the acknowledged and cherished guest of the royal and n.o.ble. Then in gorgeous drapery, begemmed with brilliants, bedropped with gold, she reigned supreme in hall and palace; or in silken tissue girt she adorned the high-born maiden's bower what time the "deeds of knighthood" were "in solemn canto" told.

In still more rich array, in kingly purple, in regal tissue, in royal magnificence, she stood within the altar's sacred pale; and her robes, rich in Tyrian dye, and glittering with Ophir's gold, swept the hallowed pavement. When battle aroused the land she inspirited the host. When the banner was unfurled she pointed to the device which sent its message home to every heart; she displayed the cipher on the hero's pennon which nerved him sooner to relinquish life than it; she entwined those initials in the scarf, the sight of which struck fresh ardour into his breast.

But she fell into disrepute, and was rejected from the halls of the n.o.ble. Still was she ever busy, ever occupied, and not only were her services freely given to all who required them, but given with such winning grace that she required but to be once known to be ever loved--so exquisitely did she adapt herself to the peculiarities of all.

With flowing ringlets and silken robe, carolling gaily as she worked, you would see her pinking the ruffles of the Cavalier, and ever and anon adding to their piquancy by some new and dainty device: then you would behold her with smoothly plaited hair, and sad-coloured garment of serge, and looks like a November day, hemming the bands of a Roundhead, and withal adding numerous layers of starch. With grave and sedate aspect she would shape and sew the uncomely raiment of a Genevan divine; with neat-handed alacrity she would prepare the grave and becoming garments of the Anglican Church, though perhaps a gentle sigh would escape, a sigh of regret for the stately and glowing vestments of old: for they did honour to the house of G.o.d, not because they were stately and glowing, but because they were offerings of _our best_.

In all the sweet charities of domestic life she has ever been a partic.i.p.ant. Often and again has she fled the splendid court, the glittering ball-room, and taken her station at the quiet hearth of the gentle and home-loving matron. She has lightened the weariness of many a solitary vigil, and she has heightened the enjoyment of many a social gossip.

Nor even while courted and caressed in courts and palaces did Needlework absent herself from the habitations of the poor. Oh no, she was their familiar friend, the daily and hourly companion of their firesides. And when she experienced, as all do experience, the fickleness of court favour, she was cherished and sheltered there. And there she remained, happy in her utility, till again summoned by royal mandate to resume her station near the throne. The ill.u.s.trious and excellent lady who lately filled the British throne, and who reigned still more surely in the hearts of Englishwomen, and who has most graciously permitted us to place her honoured name on these pages, allured Needlework from her long seclusion, and reinstated her in her once familiar place among the great and n.o.ble.

Fair reader! you see that this gentle dame NEEDLEWORK is of ancient lineage, of high descent, of courtly habits: will you not permit me to make you somewhat better acquainted? Pray travel onward with me to her shrine. The way is not toilsome, nor is the track rugged; but,

"Where the silver fountains wander, Where the golden streams meander,"

amid the sunny meads and flower-bestrewn paths of fancy and taste--there will she beguile us. Do not then, pray do not, forsake me.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] On aurait de la peine a se persuader qu'une pareille opinion et ete mise gravement en question dans un concile, et qu'on n'et decide en faveur des femmes qu'apres un a.s.sez long examen. Cependant le fait est tres veritable, et ce fut dans le Concile de Macon.

Probleme sur les Femmes, ou l'on essaye de prouver que les femmes ne sont point des creatures humaines.--_Amsterdam, 1744._

[2] As, for instance, the ancient Germans, and their offshoots, the Saxons, &c.

[3] Southey's Life; vol. ii.