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    llO DOMESTIC ' £lFl^^

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  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

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    . Mam ^ The Roll Which The Muse Of Histo...

    might be burning hot , the thermometer at ninety _iix the shade , but for and all ermine that , . dignity must not bate a single inch of ¦ crimson velvet

    Point-lacewas a _, favorite material for the coif , and the large halfhandkerchief sometimes worn on the shoulders . There is a curious

    commission with respect to this lace from the Duchess Dorothea to the Prussian charge d'affaires at Rome in 1533 , which we give in

    her own words . "As , " she says , " we approve your diligence in our service , it is our gracious request that you procure for us some

    delicate specimens and patterns of that rare _^ Italian art , whereby linen is pierced and fashioned with curious skill into shapes of roses

    and _iower work . Also it is our gracious pleasure that you seek us out some virtuous gentlewoman or maidnot light and giddy in her

    , manners , who shall Vork for us at this cunning work . " If such a treasure is not to be procured , the duchess goes on to say , her

    correspondent is to persuade some man , skilled not only in the manufacture of point , but also of the gold and silver laceto enter her service and

    , visit Prussia , for the purpose of instructing the maidens of her court in so desirable an accomplishment .

    The Germans have always Been famed as active housewives , and we find abundant proofs in the correspondence of the highest ladies

    of the time that they could personally justify this praise . The Duchess of Prussia may serve as a specimen of all her sisterhood .

    The letters are still extant in which this illustrious lady orders her flax and linen in her own handwriting , and inquires why the

    burghers of Tilsit are behindhand with their tribute of fifteen bundles of yarn for her household . She bespeaks hemp and soap

    from Poland ; the silk , silver , and gold for her tapestry work from Nuremberg ; she sends the merchant a list of her requirements in

    velvet , lace , and veils ; and , when she finds herself short of readymoney , offers to pay in honey and wool . She describes minutely

    the pattern from whichthe duke ' s shirts are to be cut , blames the seamstress for making the shoulders too narrow , and sends her a

    measure for the width of the sleeves . She takes good heed that there shall be no lack of dried fish , especially salmon , for the ducal

    larder ; thanks a Fran Von Heideck for her courteous and welcome present of a couple of fine fat hogs , and writes to the duke ' s

    steward at Raquit about a large barrel of butter , which it seems was not forthcoming at the proper time ., The soapmaker of Marienburg

    receives a regular scolding , because she complains it is not possible to use his soap ; "it has an evil smelland lacks the fineness of the

    , Venice soap . " She orders Greorge Schulthess of Nuremberg to procure her raisins , chestnuts , medlars , and quinces from Frankfort ;

    and commands her servants to" gather the grapes in the garden , at Fischausand " make therefrom two sorts of Turkish syrupone

    , , red and the other white , for which , " adds the economical duchess , "I shall allow no sugar . " It would , we fancy , be a problem for a

    modern cook to make a syrup without sugar , but the Soyer of the

    Llo Domestic ' £Lfl^^

    _llO DOMESTIC ' _£ lFl _^^

• Citation
  • English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), April 1, 1860, page 110, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01041860/page/38/