Page:A happy half-century and other essays.djvu/234

 " of butterflies' wings on sheets of gummed paper, and messing with strange, mysterious compounds called diaphanie and potichomanie, by means of which a harmless glass tumbler or a respectable window-pane could be turned into an object of desolation. Indeed, when the genteel young ladies of this period were not reading "Merit opposed to Fascination; exemplified in the story of Eugenio," or "An Essay on the Refined Felicity which may arise from the Marriage Contract," they were cultivating what were then called "ornamental arts," but which later on became known as "accomplishments." "It is amazing to me," says that most amiable of sub-heroes, Mr. Bingley, "how young ladies can have patience to be so very accomplished as they all are. They paint tables, cover screens, and net purses. I scarcely know any one who cannot do all this; and I am sure I never heard a young lady spoken of for the first time, without being informed that she was very accomplished."

We leave the unamiable Mr. Darcy snorting at his friend's remark, to consider the paucity of Mr. Bingley's list. Tables, screens,