by the authority of mature sense and the experience of venerated old age; and because there no longer exists a female past fifty who has courage sufficient when speaking of her youth, to say in the words of the amiable Madame du Deffant,-" Formerly, when I was a woman——”

GERMAN BALLAD.

WHERE dost thou haste so fast, blue-eyed girl, alone on the plain, at sunset hour, with thy heart beating high, and thy foot-path so light?

Oh! stay me not, my good old man; my mother weeps at home, my dear little brother has strayed on the plain, and echo only answers his For an hour I have sought him in vain, and my mother is weeping

name. his loss.

To seek thy lost brother, my pretty child, why art thou dressed in thy best, with thy slippers so thin, and thy bosom with flowers so gaily adorned?

Oh dear old man, my elder sister is married; to the feast I long to be going, and to dance at the ball am prepared. Stay me not, for the music I hear.

Now fie! pretty girl, thy sister's bridal bouquet a week since has faded away, the feast and the ball will no more be given, and the music thou hearest is the peewit's sharp cry, to warn its young that danger is nigh. The flowers that bloom on thy breast have scarcely run not so fast, pretty maid.

eir beauty disclosed. So

Oh! good old man, do not to my mother this secret disclose. I am going down yonder, beneath the tall pines, dear Ludwig to meet; he has promised me marriage when my mother consents, and this nosegay is gathered for him.

Stay, stay silly maid, and listen to me. Should Ludwig thy bouquet accept, flowers so easily plucked from their bed, soon droop and die; wait till more fully they are grown, 'twill save you many a sigh. Then run not so fast, thy lover to meet; let him seek thee, thy mother beside. By her voice let thy footsteps ever be guided, for often at sunset, beneath yon dark pines, a snake lurks concealed in the grass, which would cause thee and her to sit weeping at home.

THE SILENT ACADEMY.

Now, when, O-mi-toe-fou, son of the sun and moon, and brother to the stars, was made acquainted with the fact, that the celestial empire of China was deluged with pestiferous books, mostly written without any thought at all, and many all thought and nothing more,-and that the minds of the people were distraught by divers opinions upon matters they should have no opinion about, called to him his prime minister, Chin-long, and thus decreed-I the Emperor O-mi-toe-fou, will, and order, that every publication now printed be destroyed by fire, and the ashes distributed on the waters of the Yellow River. See that it be done Chin-long.

I the Emperor, also will and command, that all the societies of learned men be dissolved, in every part of the Celestial Empire, as useless bodies, merely tending to confound my authority, and render my children unhappy, by opening the eyes of their understanding. See that it be done Chin

long.

I, the Emperor, also will, and direct, that one hundred of these learned men be selected by general opinion among themselves, to form the sole Imperial Academy, of which I shall form the head. And I will that this society be called the Silent Academy, whose fundamental statute shall be that the members "must think abundantly, write but very little, and speak still less." See that it be done, Chin-long.

And accordingly it was done.

Now the learned Doctor Fum-hum, hearing of the promulgation of this paternal decree, hastened from a distant province to solicit the honour of being enrolled a member of the Imperial Silent Academy, and on the day of election, handed in to the president a card, in which was inscribed, "Doctor Fum-hum, 100th."

Unfortunately, the learned doctor arrived too late, as the contemplated number of academicians was completed. Great, however, was their vexation at being unable to benefit from possessing in their body a man of such prodigious taciturnity, whose silence through life had formed the admiration of the Celestial Empire. Delicately to announce the melancholy intelligence to Doctor Fum-hum, that his application was unfortunately too late, fell upon the vice-president of the academy, who calling in the learned candidate, caused a crystal vase to be filled with water, that not a drop could be added more.

The doctor presented himself with that air of simple modesty which ever distinguishes real merit. The vice-president arose, and with deep regret de

picted in his intelligent countenance, pointed with a trembling hand to the crystal vase, so completely filled. The doctor easily understood that no vacancy in the academy was left for him, but not daunted by the information, presumed to hint that a supernumerary member would not derange their body, and plucking a rose leaf from a nosegay at his breast, lightly poised it on the surface of the pure element, without disturbing a drop of water. At this ingenious reply, long and violent was the nodding of their ninety-nine heads. But it became necessary to consult the will of their president; a deputation waited upon the emperor, to report progress, stating their unanimous wish of having the learned Doctor Fum-hum admitted a member. To this O-mi-toe-fou answered," Be it so."

Immediately, therefore, the doctor was required to inscribe his name on the register of the academy, and to pronounce a very short phrase of thanks for the high honour done him. Doctor Fum-hum, in the true spirit of the silent foundation, performed this without uttering a word. He wrote on the margin of the register, the number 100, which was that of his brother academicians; then placing a zero before the cypher (0100), wrote beneath it, "neither more nor less." The president, more than ever enchanted with the doctor's extreme modesty, as much as with his manifest knowledge, placed the number 1 before the cypher 100 (1100), and wrote under it, "equal to ten times more."

TO THE NIGHTINGALE.

O Nightingale, that on yon bloomy spray

Warblest at eve, when all the woods are still;
Thou with fresh hopes the lover's heart doth fill,
The liquid notes that close the eye of day,

First heard before the shallow cuckoo's bill,
Portend success in love; O, if Jove's will
Have link'd that amorous power to thy soft lay,
Now timely sing, ere the rude bird of hate
Foretel my hopeless doom in some grove nigh;
As thou from year to year hast sung too late
For my relief, yet hadst no reason why:
Whether the Muse, or Love, call thee his mate,
Both them I serve, and of their train am I.

LONDON FASHIONS FOR THE MONTH.

ALTHOUGH the fashionable winter is yet far from its commencement, the modes are already in very great forwardness; rich silks, satins, velvets, furs ; in short, all the materials of splendid winter dresses, are in a great degree decided upon. It will be seen by our prints, that, as yet, very little change has taken place in the forms of chapeaux and capotes, nor do we believe that any great alterations are expected. The days are past when fashions went from one extreme at once to another. There is no doubt that in the course of the season some modifications will be introduced, but we have no reason to suppose that they will be very material. Velvet and satin are at present the only materials that have appeared for chapeaux and capotes. Some fancy velvets are talked of, and some silks spotted and fringed with velvet have appeared, but as only velvet and satin have yet been made up, we must wait to see whether the others will become fashionable before we announce them. We may cite among the most strikingly elegant of the new chapeaux, those of pink satin, trimmed with pink satin ribbons edged with a very narrow stripe of green velvet: a wreath of marabouts shaded with green encircled the crown, and the interior of the brim was trimmed with mancinis, composed of two tufts of pink marguerites, with green velvet foliage.

The Pamela form is the one principally adapted for velvet chapeaux; the favourite colours are green and violet, the trimming is composed of ribbon to correspond, and a bouquet formed of three têtes de plumes, shaded in different shades of the colour of the chapeau. The capotes for half-dress are generally drawn shapes of either rose or blue satin, lined with tulle bouillonné, and trimmed with flowers corresponding in general with the colour of the bonnet.

Furs, which for several years past have been considered essentially necessary to the winter toilette, are this year expected to be more in request even than usual. Sable fur is still dearer than it was last year, though it might be expected to be cheaper, as ermine, which has for several seasons been comparatively little seen, has resumed all its former vogue; but ermine is too showy for street wear, and is more what may be called a dress fur, while sable may with equal propriety be adopted in plain walking dress or carriage costume. Besides these two leading furs, there are several of an inferior kind, all dyed in imitation of sable. There are also grey squirrel, a pretty light fur for children, or very young unmarried ladies.

The forms of tippets we are assured will remain the same as last year, that is to say, the Victorias will be adopted till the weather becomes very

cold, when large shawls, as the furriers call them, but which from their form would most properly be designated Cardinals, will come into vogue. Boas have ceased to be fashionable with the exception of the flat ones, and even they will barely be tolerated. It is supposed that muffs will remain of the same size as the last two seasons.

Velvet scarfs, those of cashmere striped horizontally, and satin mantelets very lightly wadded, will, it is expected, be adopted by our fair fashionables as long as the weather will allow; but satin, levantine, and velvet cloaks well wadded and lined with silk, are already proposed for the first cold days of winter. These are for the most part of a three-quarter length, and trimmed with deep velvet lappels of a corresponding colour, and rounded on the shoulders in such a manner as to form a pelerine. We have reason to believe that the cardinal will be revived in promenade dress, and the polonaise for carriage costume, visits, &c. As to actual novelty of forms we have really little to say; those that have as yet appeared present nothing strikingly new, with the exception of some fancy trimmings; some resemble lace, others are fringed with open-worked heads presenting an appearance of either letting-in-lace, or embroidery. The variety and beauty of these trimmings, as well as the different buttons, brandebourgs, gimps, &c., is greater than we have yet seen them.

Plain silks of a very rich kind are likely to supersede the shot and shaded ones that have been so long in vogue. Some of these latter will, however, keep their ground at least for this season, particularly the damasked pekin, alternating with a large black stripe, or green, blue, or marone grounds; sometimes the grounds are of brighter colours, as pale pink and azure blue, with a white stripe. Levantines, satins, and velvets, will assuredly lose nothing of their vogue. There are also several new materials of the cashmere, and striped poplins.

The pelisse robe retains all its vogue for morning, or even for half-dress. At present we do not believe that any alteration will be made in the corsages of these dresses; those intended for morning costume will certainly continue to be made high; and so, no doubt, will many of the half-dress ones likewise. The difference will be in the style of trimming. We have seen already some half-dress velvet robes of very full colours, the corsages a threequarter height, opened in a long V, a revers composed of three rows of black lace, descending in a point to that of the corsage; they are attached by a narrow satin rouleau, and terminated by a waist-knot of satin ribbon with large floating ends; the guimpe partially displayed by the form of the corsage, is of the clearest organdy, beautifully embroidered down the front. The sleeves are rather more than demi-long, arched in front