9168. WOMEN, Needlework.—
In the country life of America, there are many moments
when a woman can have recourse to
nothing but her needle for employment. In
a dull company, and in dull weather, for instance,
it is ill-mannered to read, ill manners
to leave them; no card-playing there among
genteel people—that is abandoned to black
guards. The needle is, then, a valuable resource.
Besides, without knowing how to use
it herself, how can the mistress of a family
direct the work of her servants?—
To Martha Jefferson.
Ford ed., iv, 373.
(1787)
