3-066-052 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Her First Offer. by E. F. Brewtnall, 1881. Engraving of a painting. 'The subject of Mr. Brewtnall's picture, at the Exhibition of the Royal Society of Painters in Water-Colours, seems to belong to the domestic life of the higher class of English gentry in the early years of this century, about the time of Jane Austen's novels; and this young lady, standing with her father beneath the trees of his park, might have been "Emma," the daughter of Mr. Woodhouse, of Hartfield. She has received a letter from some aspiring lover, whose suit, to guess from the tender anxiety that gives a soft expression to her face, she feels much inclined to favour; but, with the dutiful behaviour of young ladies at that period, she has lost not an hour in bringing it to her father; and, having met him in his morning walk, is now respectfully awaiting his decision. This excellent maidenly example should not be lost on the girls of the present age; but they have their own ideas and sentiments, which have already been recognised in the works of contemporary novelists and artists...Parents and guardians must make the best of it, and put up with the spirit of these times'. From "Illustrated London News", 1881.