1

POETRY, ORIGINAL AND SELECT.

a little soiled, by time perhaps; for in painting, the light stuff's always suffer by time, and lose some of their brightness.

looks at a portrait, pays most attention to the eyes; for this he is too much in the habit of sacrificing all the other features to their effect, The hand, perhaps, is rather unfinished, it and in the same manner he sacrifices all the looks too much like a sketch. Yet this is not rest to the face, and that he effects by lowerthe effect of negligence, but is, in fact, evi-ing the tone of colouring. Yet all this he executes with such a degree of management, that the spectator feels its effect immediately, but is obliged to study some time before he can discover the cause.

dently intended to fix the attention more strongly on the principal figure, and to prevent the eye from dwelling too much on what is only introduced as a foil, or contrast.

Van Dyk knew well that every one who

39

While love, unknown among the blest,
Parent of thousand wild desires,
The savage and the human breast

Torments alike with raging fires. ·

POETRY, ORIGINAL AND SELECT.

AFRICA.

FROM MR. MONTGOMERY'S POEMS.

O, AFRICA! amidst thy children's woes, Did earth and Heaven conspire to aid thy foes?

No, thou hadst vengeance-from thy Northern
shores

Sallied the lawless corsairs of the Moors,
And back on Europe's guilty nations burl'd
Thy wrongs and sufferings in the sister world;
Deep in thy dungeons Christians clauk their
chains,

Or toil'd or perish'd on thy parching plains.
But where thine offspring crouch'd beneath
the yoke,

In heavier peals the avenging thunder broke.
Leagued with rapacious rovers of the main,
Hayti's barbarian hunter's harass'd Spain;
A Mammoth race, invincible in might,
Rapine and massacre their gim delight,
Peril their element-o'er land and flood
They carried fire, and quench'd the flames with
blood;
Despairing captives hail'd them from the
coasts;
They rush'd to conquest, led by Charib ghosts!
Tremble, Britannia! while thine islands
tell

The appaling mysteries of Obi's spell;
The wild Maroons, impregnable and free,
Among the mountain holds of liberty,
Sudden as lightning darted on their foe,
Seen like the flash, remember'd like the blow.

fight,

And Hoben inden's slaughter-deluged night,
Her spirit sinks :-the sinews of the brave,
That crippled Europe, shrunk before the
slave;

The demon-spectres of Domingo rise,
And all her triumphs vanish from her eyes.

Midst reeling mountains, and disparted plains, Tell the pale world" The God of Vengeance reigns."

When Gallia boasts of dread Marengo's He strips the trees, strikes low the flow'r,

And bids the babbling stream be still;
He sends his snow in frozen show'r,

And spreads the plain, the le, the hill.
Still those who love and friendship share,

A cottage, and content within it,
With just enough, and noue to spare,

Heed not keen Winter's coldest minute.

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Tremendous pulses throb thro' every vein ;
The firm earth shrinks beneath his torture-
bed,

The sky in ruins rushes o'er his head;
He rolls, he rages in consuming fires,
Till nature spent, with agony expires.

WINTER'S RETURN.

ONCE more the year, in circling round,
Has brought old Winter in his train ;
Whose giant arm is ever found

To hurl destruction o'er the plain.

But ah! on those whose want appals,

The sons of mis'ry, grief, and sorrow;
Heavy on them bleak Winter fali-

For them no joy illumines the morrow!
The chi'd half-cloth'd, and poorly fed,

In anguish vents his piercing cries;
Cries rais'd in vain, perchance, for bread,
While tears bedim his infaut eyes.

Oh! ye who wealth and pow'r possess,

Who know no wants, who feels no dearth, Your superfluities would bless,

And make the poor a heav'n on earth!

F

FASHIONS

FOR

FEBRUARY, 1812.

EXPLANATION OF THE PRINTS OF FASHION.

at the back. A narrow fur passes from the top of the sleeve, is brought down the side seams, and relieved by fastenings of black silk cordon; four loops with frogs ornament the shoulders and cuffs; plain standing up ' collar tied with cordon: a fine cashemire

||

No. 1.-EVENING COSTUME. An amber crape dress over white sarsnet, trimmed with pearls or white beads, with a demi-train; a light short jacket, rather scanty, with two separate fancy folds, depending about three quarters down the front of the skirt, forming in appearance a kind of Sicilian tunic, || shawl, with brown ground, and richly varieand trimmed down each division, like the bot-gated border, is generally thrown over the tom of the dress, with a single row of pearls: || dress, in which is united both comfort and short sleeves, not very high above the elbow, elegance. A Swedish hat of the same matefitting close to the arm, and ornamented at rials as the pelisse, lined with straw colour, the top with distinct points of satin, the same and fastened up one side; the crown trimmed colour as the dress, relieved by pearls; two with two rows of narrow spotted fur, and one rows of the same costly material or of beads, still narrower at the edge of the hat; a bunch according as the robe is ornamented, form a of the Christmas holly in front, and two tassels girdle. The hair dressed in the antique Ro- falling from the summit of the crown, of black, man style, with tresses brought together and to answer the pelisse, which is worn over a confined at the back of the head, terminating white round dress, either of plain or corded either in ringlets or in two light knots; a braid cambric. Beaver gloves, and demi-broquins of of plaited hair drawn over a demi-turban scarlet Morocco, laced with black, and lined formed of plain amber satin, with an elegantly with fur, complete the dress. embroidered stripe of white satin, separated by rows of pearl, and a superb sprig of pearls in front. Necklace of one single row of large pearls, with earrings of the Maltese fashion te correspond. Ridicule aux getons of slate colour, shot with pink; the firm base secured by a covering of pink stamped velvet, with pink tassels. Italian slippers of amber, fringed with silver, or ornamented round the ankle with a row of pearls or beads. White kid gloves. This elegant dress owes its inven

tion to the tasteful fancy of Mrs. Schabner, of

Tavistock-street.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

No. 2.-A WINTER WALKING DRESS. A scarlet Merino cloth pelisse, lined with straw coloured sarsnet, trimmed with light coloured spotted fur, and attached with loopstions. of black silk cordon and rich frog tassels; the broad fur iu front, forming a tippet, pointed

ON

FASHION AND DRESS. Hail Goddess of versatile attraction, changeful idol of the rich, the beautiful, and the young! Thy full influence now is felt in this our gay metropolis, and myriads follow thy splendid car, attached in willing bondage by

thy silken bands.—After this slight invocation to the Power which peculiarly presides over this part of our work, we proceed to inform our fair readers the prevailing modes in the different periods of Fashion's daily peregrina

There has been scarce any variation in the mode of the pelisses since our last Number;