elegant light, and apparently fragile, Lisbon chain; some of these ponderous chains are worth from fifteen to twenty guiness; we generally see depending from them a small French watch, in an enamelled hunting case, or a cherished portrait enclosed in the same concealment. Malt se crosses of every kind of jewellery are also worn in town, and cornelian hearts with a very small key and padlock affixed to them.

Fringed balf-boots are universally adopted by our elegantés; and satin, silk, kid, and jean of various colours, in the form of the Italian slipper, still continue to be worn in full or half dress.

The prevailing colours are bright greens of various shades, cornelian blue, pale pink, Maria Louisa blue, jonquil, and slate colour.

"Now-a-days," says he, " before these fair, shops, way, all Stourbridge fair, will scarcely

young damsels have combed their heads, and set their head dress in order, and fully attired themselves in their rich and glittering habits, the church procession is past, the masses sung, and divine service is finished."

Our Kaight then admonishes bis daughters of the danger of see:ng more faces than their own, if they bestow too many glances on their mirror.

furnish.-A ship is sooner rigged by far than a nice gentlewoman made ready.”

In this point of wasting time over the busiuess of the toilet, certainly our ancestors in every ascent, from our grandmothers upwards, were much greater delinquents than the ladies of the present day. With the fashion of fardingales, hoops, tight-lacings, and hair-powder, have disappeared the most "My dear children," continues he, " there rapacious calls on the precious hours of woouce dwelt a lady so fast by the church, that she men. We no longer hear of our wives and could not fail of hearing the beils ring for daughters standing two hours under the hands prayers; but she took so much time every day || of the mantua-maker, and sitting twice as in dressing herself, that she never completed many more beneath the curling irons of the business until the service was more than || Monsieur Frizeur. All this waste of life our half over. However, it happened one Sunday, when she had been even longer than usual attiring herself, the devil was permitted to present himself behind her; and seeing his visage in the locking-glass, it was so horrible that she lost her senses, and remained in that deplorable state for many years, a warning to all the vain women who came to behold the awful judgment."

Indeed, if we are to believe the statement which a certain dramatic poet who wrote in the sixteenth century (Anthony Brewer, by name), gives of a lady's toilet paraphernalia in these ancient times, we shall not wonder that day sinks into night, and night rises to morn again before all the duties of corporeal adornment are performed. Our peet speaks of arraying a youthful companion for a frolic thus:

"It is five hours ago since I set a dozen maids to attire a boy like a nice gentlewoman; but there is such doing with their looking glasses; pinning, an pioning, setting, unsetting, formings, and conformings; painting of blue veins, and rosy cheeks; such a stir with combs, cascanets, purls, falls, squares, busks, bodices, scarfs, necklaces, carkonels, raba oes, borders, tires, fans, palisadoes, puffs, ruffs, cuffs, muffs, pustles, fusles, partle's, frislets, baudiets, filets, corslets, pendulets, || amulets, æanules, bracelets, and so many lets, that the poor lady of the toilet is scarce dressed to the girdle. And now there is such calling for fardingales, kirtle, busk-points, shoe-ties, and the like, that seven pedlars'

fair dames have rede nied from annihilation. We see the buckram suits of past days, with their sugar-loaf tetes, consigned to the obi vion they deserve, and our wives and daughters come lightly, with the morning lark, from their rooms, attired with the easy grace of woɔd-nymphs, and with their beautiful tresses shining in the lustre of nature alone, and playing in artless beauty on their blooming cheeks. Long may my fair countrywomen maintain this sensible and elegant deference for the behests of nature; long may they estimate time as of a value too incalculable to be sacrificed to the caprices of fashion.

But while I congratulate your bewitching sex on the economical arrangement of their hours, I dare not, wi h the same warmth compliment them on their economy, at all times, in the quantity and quality of their habiliments. The seasons, my fair correspondent, are the best dictators on this affair. Shall I whisper to you a little hint on the subject, which no less a personage than the renowned Lord Burleigh gave to his pretty daughter, when a certain Lord, whom he much favoured, was coming a wooing to her? I sup. pose the fair Cecil was, like some of her beauteous descendants, too fond of allowing the outward air to breathe on her polished limbs; for he thus addressed her :—

"In the Court of Philip and Mary there were two lovely sisters, the eldest of whom had been promised in marriage by her father, a knight of fame, to a young nobleman who was possessed of a fine figure, and as fine an

MONTHLY MISCELLANY,

INCLUDING VARIETIES, CRITICAL, LITERARY, AND HISTORICAL.

with the single exception of one by the Presideut, Mr. West, there is none which lays claim to any great degree of praise.

and, upon the whole, we pronounce this to be the very best historical picture which the artist has produced.

-

No. 126-Lavinia -H. Thomson, R. A Ti is composition consists of two figures, Lavinis and her mother; the character of the mother is certainly not well imagined; but that of Lavinia has great terdoruess and beauty; her eyes are moist with tears, and the expression of her face is peculiarly happy; the colouring is very approp iate to the subject, and the work itself is entitled to high

No. 162-Saul before Samuel and the Prophets, B. West, PRA-This is a fine historical landscape: the subject is that of Saul, filled by a sudden and astonishing inspiration, stretched naked on the ground, and prophesying before Samuel. The figures are very Lumerous, and the groupes are distributed and balanced with great judgment. In the centre is Saul, naked; his crown is on his head; his mind under the impulse of inspira-praise. tion, and his body labouring with the sacred agitat on. The groupe on one side consists of Samuel and the attendant prophets; immiediately next to Saul is a youth whom we suppose to be David, and the groupe next to Saul on the left is composed of priests and at. tendants. In the back ground is the city of Naioth in Ramah, and immediately before the buildings are pastoral groupes employed in agriculture, vine dressing, and the common works of industry; cattle are introduced, and numerous groupes of men, women, and chil dren. The landscape is at once grand and beautiful. This composition does the artist great honour-It has all the strength and fidelity of the Roman character of art, as seen in the finest works of Raphael, combined with the grand style of the Caracci, and the classic fancy of Pouss.n. Upon ti e whole this picture must delight every one who has judgment to undersand its merits.

No. 163.-The Infancy of Jupiter-H. Thomson, R. 4-This picture, though it has something of an academical stiffness about it, and wants that liberal flow and unrestrained grace which belong to compositions of this kind, does great credit to the ingenious artist, who im proves in almost every work which he produces. The figure of the infaut Jove, sporting with the mimic thunder, is very fine; it has a mixture of graudeur and sweetness; the uncon of infantine simplicity with the marks of nascent greatness. The head is very fine i deed, and the attitude and movement of the figure are extremely beautiful The group of Cretan nurses, and all the other appendages of the scene, are very fine and well conceived. The colouring is extremely happy,

(To be continued.)

LYCEUM..

DEVIL'S BRIDGE.-A new piece has been produced by the Managers of this theatre, under the title of the Devil's Bridge. It is an opera, and the music is composed by Horne and Braham. The fable takes a wide swep of romantic possibil ty, which admits almost every incident within the verge of nature to astonish and surprise; and wh h, as not restricted by the necessity of copying manners, and drawing characters with the pencil of truth, indulges in an unlimited range over the region of fancy, and sports with being of its own creating. Thrmantic fable, however, is very well suited to an opera, of which the prominent merit should be its music, and which surly critics will put to the test of probability, and torture by the canons of nature and truth.-The Devil's Bridge abounds with fine music and stroking incidents; and, from the scene being laid among the Piedmontese Alps, the painter has been called in to and the fforts of the author and composer. The concluding scene, which represents the Frez n Pinnacle of Mount Cenis in the back ground, and the Devil's Bridge in front, was bigly redit: ble to the machin s ́s and painters The blowing up of the bidge with gunpowder, by bich the career of a tand of assassins was uddenly put end to, leaving the hero and eroine to the tra qui e joyment of the company of each other for lif, s one of the most triking denouements many modern draina: as twas, it made the pic than usual splendour. great powers, both as

conude with more Babam exerted his an actor and a si ger›

and proved how excellent is art, wheu exempi from affectation, and ambitious only of the genuine effect of truth. Mrs. Dickons was likewise excellent both as an actress and a siuger; indeed, in all she does, there is so much simplicity, modesty, and effective sci ence, that she is deservedly deemed the most popular musical performer of the stage.

both parties were soon out of sight. All this was the work of only a few seconds; during which, Bishop seeing the Malay stuoned on the ground, alighted in order to secure him, or, if necessary, to kill him with one of his own weapons. No sooner, however, was be off his horse, than the Malay was on his feet, and began a desperate struggle with his rash

Bilant. It was the business of the Malay morely to employ his own offensive weapons; Bishop had the double necessity of defeating their use, and of applying them to his own advantage. This contest for life continued for almost an hour, when Bishop, nearly fainting with fatigue, was thrown on his back, and the Malay, kuerling on him, drew his dagger, and with all his force aimed at his breast the fatal blow. At that moment Bishop, exerting

EXTRAORDINARY ESCAPE FROM DEATH. In the attack of Manilla by Sir W. Draper, in the year 1762, Captain Richard B.shop, of the Marines. greatly distinguished himself by his intrepidity and profession 1 knowledge; in conséquence of which he was by that General made Governor of the town and fort of Cavito, the principal port of the island of Luconia. At this time there was in the nigh-his last remains of strength, with both hands bourhood a Malay of extraordinary bulk and averted the point of the dagger as it descendstrength, and of the mort ferocious disposition, ed; and changing its direction, drove it upwho had formerly worked in the dock-yard, but wards into the throat of the Malay, who imhad deserted, and having collected a hundred mediately fell down dead upon him. Bishop, men of 1 ke charecters with himse f, committed unable to walk, crawled on his hands and every species of lawless violence on the pes us knees to his horse; be mounted him with some and property of the prac able inb-bitants. For difficulty, and was soon afterwards joined by the apprehension of this man Captain Bishop his friends, who had chased their opponents had long offered considerable rewards, bu into some dangerous passes. This gallant without effect; when one day iding out with offiner was afterwards lost on board 'bis Maa brother officer, attended by about forty men, jesty's ship the Thunderer, commanded by he saw this desperado, armed with a carbins, || Commodore Walsingham, in the great hurria brace of pis ols, a scymilar, and a dagger, cane which occurred in the year 1780. issue out of a wood at a short distance, at the MECHANISM. It is not generally known bead of his troop. Instigated by a sudden at the vast block of stone (weigh ng by comemotion of resentment, Bishop determined to putation 3,000,000 pounds, or 1339 tons), inflict on this man the just punishment of his which forms the base of the statue of Peter I. offences; but being himself without weapons, of Russia, was transported, with out any ac he borrowed a pist I from the holsters of the cident, on thirty-two brass balls, of five inches officer who accompanied him Thus provided,|| diameter, on moveable hollow railways of the he galloped up to the Malay, and presented same composition with the balls, by sixty-four the pistol to his head. The Malay and his men working two capstans, under Count Moriu followers, confounded at this bold act of a Carburi Lascaris, whose skill in mechanism single man, off red no resistance. The pistol On this occasion will ever do honour to his missed fire; on which Behop, striking the memory. Perhaps the above-mentioned simple, Malay a violent biow on the head with it, though powerful mode of transporting so ponknocked him off his horse: in the meanwhile derous a body, will in some measure account the English troop, hastening to the assistance for the conveyance to Salisbury plain of those of their leader, and concluding him to be fully || stupendous stones which form an extraordiequal to cope with his fallen antagonist, pur-nary relic of the ancient superstition of our sued the banditti, who immediately fled, and || countrymen.