图书图片
PDF
ePub

waved, and small pink flowers; broad pink strings. No. 5 is a morning cap of fine French cambric, the borders edged with Valenciennes lace; loops of ribbon in the borders and curtain, the colour rose des Alps; from the centre of curtain the ribbon passes over the crown to the top, and is formed into a flat bow, from which hang two very long ends; these are trimmed round with a rather broad black lace aad form lappets. No. 6 shews the bottom part or cuff of a full bouillon sleeve, for morning wear; it is of muslin or cambric, and is trimmed with either lace or work. No. 7 is the cuff of another bouillon sleeve to be made in net; it is not intended to be tight at the wrist, ample room being left to pass the hand through the three narrow bouillons must have ribbon drawn through them, either pale blue, green, or any of the fashionable pinks. No. 8 is a dress bonnet; the front edge and curtain are of white terry velvet, the round soft crown of scarlet velvet embroidered with gold sprigs: the edges of front and curtain are bound with very narrow black velvet, the curtain being entirely covered with a broad black lace; at the left side a small white plume de coques: the edge of front is ornamented by a lace lappet, waved: túlle cap and tress of scarlet velvet, the folds of which are clasped by gold or naments; broad black strings, either plain or sprigged with gold. No. 9 is a dress bonnet of white quilted silk; the round soft crown is covered by black spotted tûlle: very broad black velvet strings which cross the top of bonnet over this velvet is placed a crown of black lace: tulle with cap tress of mauve velvet and black lace rosette. No. 10 is a bonnet of light green velvet, covered quite plain; a black silk net is laid over the crown, the end, from which hangs a large tassel, is fastened to the curtain on the left side; on the right side droops a large white featber: a very narrow black lace ruche is placed on the front edge: tulle cap, black lace tress, with large rose and buds on the left side: broad green strings. No. 11 is a bonnet of very light grey terry velvet, with mauve curtain; a black lace scarf crosses the bonnet, fastened at the sides by a large mauve velvet flower; tulle cap with flowers and broad mauve strings. No. 12 is a bonnet of light blue quilted satin; it is ornamented by folds of black lace, and black feathers: tress of blue and black velvet flowers placed alternately, it is fastened at each side by a group of the same: broad blue strings.

[blocks in formation]

Our full-sized pattern this month is that of the corsage Isabel, a high dress body, the right side crossing over to the left; the skirt fastens at the side likewise, in its whole length, taking the same slanting direction as the crossing of the body. We have given the right front, that which crosses over; the left front is cut the same as if the dress buttoned in the centre, and is fastened underneath at the waist by a hook and eye, to the middle of the right front; both fronts must have a piece added at the top to the edge of front, to form a small lapel to turn back about four inches from the top. The pattern consists of five pieces; the right side of front, the back, side-body, and two pieces forming sleeve, shaped at the elbow; we have marked by a notch in these two pieces how far it is to be left open at the bottom; this opening may be closed by tabs and buttons, or small steel buckles, accordingly as the dress is buttoned or buckled at the side. This style will be very fashionable for promenade dresses, and we can recommend this pattern as a most excellent one. The breadths of the skirt are all gored towards the top; the waist is confined by a ceinture either buckled on the left side, or tied with bow and long ends.

LOVE IN IDLENESS, WALTZES.
BY JEANNE LE BRUN.

Published by Leoni Lee, Albermarle street. The talented young composer of the Love in Idleness Polka, (which has already reached a third edition,) has in these delightful waltzes surpassed the excellence of her previous production, and supplied piano-forte players with a composition of great brilliancy, and which is at the same time a most melodious and attractive piece of dance music. The motto on the title-page denotes its character:

[ocr errors]

"Ah me! how sweet is Love itself possessed, When but Love's shadows are so rich in joy." The several movements bear the titles of "Under the Trees," "Loving Hearts in Primrose-time" " Absence," and Delight," all of which are so tuneful, and possess so much character and spirit, that they will be sure to captivate all hearers, and be heard in all assemblies. It is also a beautiful drawing-room piece, without being difficult to a student of average abilities. The melodies are so fresh and original, that we may safely predict for them a very extensive popularity.

Observations

ON

LONDON AND PARISIAN FASHIONS

FOR JANUARY, 1860.

At the commencement of another year, when families and friends meet to participate in the joyous festivities of the season, we deem it is not inappropriate to have presented our fair Subscribers with some novel and elegant morning dresses; we refer to our 1st and 4th plates. The dress à la Bernoise in the 1st, and the green poplin in the 4th plate, are both very rècherchèe and will be extremely fashionable. Velvet jackets of various styles are patronized for morning wear, the late intensely cold weather we have had rendering them most desirable.

Dresses without seam at waist are getting more in favour, they are generally made in heavy materials for morning wear, such as woollen terry velvets, Magenta velvet, woollen droguets, &c. when these dresses are intended for visiting, they are made in richer materials, plain velvets, imperial velvet, satin or watered silks; they should always be trimmed down the fronts with rosettes, buttons surrounded with black lace, or rich passementeries.

For the promenade, plain skirts, (that is, without flounces, or second skirt) are considered in the best taste; they have sometimes broad bias pieces of velvet about 12 inches long placed diagonally at the bottom of skirt, at equal distances from each other; these pattes or tabs are generally trimmed with narrow black lace.

Bodies of morning dresses are made with round waists, either with narrow ceinture and buckle, or ceinture with broad ends fastened at the side.

The Isabel will be a favourite style of walking dress, the body crossing from the right side to the left, not closing to the throat, but having small lapels turned back; the skirt opening at the sides taking the same slanting direction as the body: these dresses are sometimes buttoned down, or are fastened by means of narrow straps and small steel buckles.

Mantles are worn large, whether of cloth or velvet; we give two very good styles this month.

Our second and third plates present some very elegant ball and evening costumes, and are an indication of the styles most in favour.

Bonnets are worn forward on the head:

black and white are the most stylish mixtures. In our 5th plate we give two of these, and also some very useful general styles: black lace is still most extensively used for trimming, we think more now than ever.

The Cuurt aud Bigh Life.

The Princess Royal of England and the illustrious partner of her life, Prince Frederick William, made a long stay with the Queen and Prince Consort at Windsor, but no part of the time was spent in London, so that no Court gaieties took place in honour of the occasion, and the visit was of a purely domestic character. On their arrival at Berlin, the Prince and Princess of Prussia became guests of the King of the Belgians, at Brussels. The young mother, on arriving at her home, must have been delighted to embrace her infant child again, which the strict laws of Prussia poevented from accompanying her to England, It is a pity those laws cannot be relaxed, for the illustrious grandmother and great-grandmother must naturally be desirous of seeing the child, and the health of the Duchess of Kent will not enable her to go to the continent to enjoy that gratification.

The play of Romeo and Juliet was acted before the Court at Windsor, during the stay of the illustrious visitors, by the Sadlers' Wells company, Mr. Robinson taking the part of Romeo, and Miss Heath that of Juliet. A number of the nobility and gentry had the honour of receiving invitations.

The Prince of Wales has paid a visit to the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, at Blenheim Palace, and enjoyed a day's shooting.

A singular edict has appeared at Constantinople, with respect to the costumes of the Turkish ladies. It is to the following effect. "For some time past a certain number of women, contrary to the laws of propriety, make use of very thin veils, and of dresses made of materials which have never before been used for such purposes, and walk about with their features and persons too much seen. Henceforth, all women on leaving their houses, must wear thick veils which completely cover their features, and be clad in dresses of cloth without trimmings, or external ornaments of any kind. When they are on the public promenades they must confine themselves to the part reserved for females. Any woman who shall be guilty of acts against the law will be severely punished.'

[blocks in formation]

BETTY SPINKS was a sensible young woman. She had not beauty, she had not wealth; but she had perception, discrimination, judgment. Without looking up from the table, as she spread the desert thereon, she said, "Don't have him!"

Miss Miffing looked up at Betty Spinks for an instant, and then cast down her eyes again; her head being thrown a little on one side, which, as she was deep in thought, gave her something of the look of a jackdaw, peeping into a marrow bone.

Betty Spinks arranged the fruit and decanters, and arranged them again, for she expected Miss Cecilia Miffing would have spoken in reply to her observation; therefore she delayed leaving the room; but as her mistress remained deep in thought, Betty, clearing up her voice and speaking a little louder, said, "Don't have nothing at all to do with him!"

Miss Miffing threw herself back in her arm chair, and replied in a low and solemn voice, "I don't think I will, Betty."

The sensible young woman gave a satisfied nod, and left Miss Miffing to her peaches and afternoon's glass of old Madeira. Miss Cecilia Miffing had determined to have "nothing to do with him," and Betty Spinks approved, in her heart and soul, the judicious conclusion.

But as pitch will stick, and cannot be rubbed off at will, so are there also companionships, not to be shaken off when they become unpleasant and troublesome.

Mr. Charkles would not be shaken off. Mr. Arthur Charkles had made the acquaintance of Cecilia Miffing at a fancy fair- a rustic festival, which had been got up in the village, under the auspices of Magrawber and Stryves, the eminent bankers of the adjacent town, for the benefit of the Universal Ablution Society, the members of which, being shocked and scandalized at the sight of so many dirty faces in this land of liberty, had put their benevolent heads together

and proposed to lay violent hands upon every individual of tender years, whose appearance was obnoxious to the principles of the association, and wash their faces for them-whereby the spread of moral and virtuous principles, it was believed, would be promoted.

Magrawber and Stryves, being close, though affluent men, prided themselves upon having given the hint of the association; but they gave nothing else. Sir Marden Magrawber was a sordid person, who would skin a flint if it were possible to make a penny by it. He even risked sending bundles of bank notes of much value by the post, rather than incur the expense of greater safety. But Jocelyn Stryves was a kinder man. A tall, thin, fresh-coloured individual, in a snuff-brown coat and nankin pantaloons and gaiters, of the old school; too timid to do the good that was in his heart, and therefore the mere instrument and abettor of the deeds of his avaricious partner. His mode of speech was interjectional, and he had a few pet phrases which were always in use, and prevented the necessity of thinking; such as, "Indeed!" "You don't say so!" "Bless my birth day !" "Is it possible!"

Miss Miffing had a conspicuous stall at the fancy fair, and she stood in front of it, with her most fascinating looks; and there she captivated the heart of Arthur Charkles. Mr. Charkles bought a bewildering lot of articles at the stall of Cecilia Miffing-more, indeed, than his groom could conveniently carry away with him; so it was arranged that a porter should call in the evening. But it happened that when Mr. Charkles came to pay for them, it was discovered that a pickpocket had, by some means or other, obtained entrance to the grounds, and robbed him of his purse; so the purchase went off, and a hue and cry being raised, and some malicious person in the crowd outside having pointed out a smart doctor's boy, who had, at divers times of the day been rubbing his nose against the railings, to see as much as he could for nothing, and trying to elude the vigilance of the one rural constable who kept watch and ward there, and was more than a match for him-that respectable little boy, having been denounced as the probable thief, Mr. Charkles and his groom vehemently charged upon him, and the mob, always willing to take for granted what is said by a person of appearance, and ripe for fun besides, lifted the unhappy victim off his legs and tossed him familiarly into an adjacent horse-pond.

P

The fact, however, was, that Mr. Charkles had not lost his purse at the fancy fair. He had not a purse to lose. But the incident brought him acquainted with Cecilia Miffing, and caused him to become a frequent visitor at her house.

It was a charming little cottage, a “love of a house," indeed, in quite a nook of greenery. It was a bright pea-green outside, that is to say, the door was green, and the jalousie blinds were green, and the neat iron fence, which bounded the prettiest little flower garden in the world, was green; the window sashes alone were white, an arrangement due to the taste of Mr. Jocelyn Stryves, who sometimes called in to take a cup of tea, and gossip; for Miss Miffing wished to have them coloured a bright vermillion. Inside, the place was a little Elysium: for it had been fitted and prepared for a young bride, who had gone across the sea with a gallant bridegroom, on their honeymoon tour, and never came back again. widowed bridegroom could not bear to look upon the house again, which he had made for love to nestle in, and so it was purchased by Cecilia Miffing, a lady whose age it is not necessary that we should be particular about, for she was so nice and agreeable that you did not care whether she was twenty or forty, or seventy; you were glad when you were in her company, sorry to leave it, and happy to find yourself again chatting with her in her little parlour.

The

It is no wonder that Mr. Charkles conceived a desire to conduct Miss Miffing to the temple of Hymen, and be at home, himself, in the cottage.

[ocr errors]

But Betty Spinks said to her mistress, Don't," and her mistress said in reply, "I don't think I will, Betty."

There had been discourses about Mr. Charkles in the cottage between Betty and Miss Miffing, for Mr. Charkles's groom a life-guardsman sort of fellow, had a sentiment for Betty, and wrote verses about it, which he put into her hands with a fearful ogle and sigh. Betty, who had no regard for poetry, and wondered what people could find in the "rubbish" to be delighted with, entertained a contempt for her admirer, because of those poetical effusions; but her suspicion of Arthur Charkles having been raised by a habit which he had of taking an inventory, with his eyes, of all the beautiful objects in the cottage, and mentally calculating the value of them, she, judicious servant as she was, turned the susceptibilities of the tall groom to account, and thereby learned

[blocks in formation]

THE scenery of happy England is the finest in the world; wonderful in the rich green foliage of its trees and the contrasting colours of its thick underwood, whether consisting of mighty ferns or simple flowers, bright and beauteous in the sunlight, or pearled with hoar frost in the winter time. You may climb the Alps or Andes, wander among the Spanish vines or Swiss villages, ascend the Nile and write your name upon the Pyramids, gaze with wonder at the flowers of the tropics, go up the Amazon, float on the Mississippi, or seek health and recreation among the fur-hunters of Hudson's Bay, you are sure to come back again to dear old fatherland, and feel prouder of it than ever, when you gaze upon the hills and dales, the smiling villages, the populous towns, and the contented people. And there was not a more beautiful spot in England than that in the bosom of which the estate of Giles Ringwood lay.

Giles Ringwood was one of those props of his country, a gentleman farmer. He had just wealth sufficient to enable him to fear no reverse of fortune, and being contented with what he possessed, he was a happy man. He had "one fair daughter and no more," and her beauty was the talk of the country for many miles round. Giles was a proud old man, proud of his estate, proud of his good nature, and proud of Alice. He was not a learned man, for what did he want of learning? He liked better to read men than books. He was a quick observer, a strong thinker, and a dogmatic reasoner.

He was looked up to as the first man in the village; and being generally permitted to have his own way, there was little or no dissention between him and his neighbours, And well it was that no one differed with him, for Giles was passionate, and would not brook contradiction; he was stubborn in error, and, fast friend as he was to those who won his friendship, he was as determined an enemy to those who provoked his scorn. He had some prejudices, for his thoughts had never been set in a right direction, and all his knowledge had been acquired by his own exertions; but those who observed those prejudices forgave them, knowing the intrinsic value of the man; and so, when he went abroad he obtained respect, and at his own fireside there was Alice to make him happy.

It was not a dull life in the house of Giles Ringwood; far from it; for Giles was hospitable, and there was always something to be talked about, which drew the neighbours thither; and if there was not, why, Alice was enough to induce many of the youngsters to find a cause for having a little chat with her; and at this time she had a visitor, a girl as beautiful (and, as some thought, more charming still) than herself. Alice possessed her father's greatness of spirit and pride of heart: there was a majesty in her form, and looks, and mode of speech, which might have been repelling, but for the sweet grace of manner and affability of disposition with which it was tempered. Her friend, Maud Conway, was of a gentler nature; a fair, Saxon-faced, gollen-haired beauty, whose looks made sunshine under clouds, whose laughing eyes caused melancholy to smile. again, and whose laughter was a joy for ever. They had been playmates, Maud and Alice, school-fellows, and the friendship formed in that primrose time of life, strengthened as they grew to womanhood.

It was a pleasant picture which Miss Miffing looked out upon from her trellised casement, when, along an avenue of fine old oak and chesnut trees, through which the sunbeams fell, like pencils of gold, she beheld Maud Conway and Alice Ringwood slowly wandering, in charmed and whispered conversation. Their arms were thrown around each other's waists, and their utterance was in such soft low tones, that if the birds and flowers had been gifted with human comprehension, they could not have repeated what was said. The subject of their talk was one of interest, evidently, for now and then a passing cloud would be seen upon

their faces, and they would pause in silent reflection; but the next moment the cloud was gone, and a brightness corresponding with the sunbeams, appeared again.

"What a pity that life cannot be all sunshine!" whispered Betty Spinks, looking over her mistress's shoulder, and equally interested in the picture of happiness before them.

"Ah!" rejoined the mistress of the cottage, heaving a long, deep sigh, and pointing Betty's attention to two gentlemen who were also approaching along the avenue, one of whom was Mr. Arthur Charkles. To be continued in our next.

CONTENTMENT.

Hail, sweet contentment! lovely maid,
In smiles benignly mild arrayed;
Free from corroding grief and care,
Great object of my constant prayer,
Absorb my cares in harmless glee,
And let my days be spent with thee.
The lovely goddess heard my ardeut prayer,
And darting from the bright ethereal skies,
Forced grovelling thought, replete with envious care,
From scenes which active fancy fraught with joys;
Grateful sensations in my bosom sprung,

As sweet instruction flow'd serenely from her tongue.
In golden halls and mansions of the great,
In rooms of pleasure and saloons of state,
The veil withdrawn, how frequently we find,
With real cares, mere fancied ills combined.
Expell'd from these, I seek a humbler lot,
The mountain chalet or the rural cot;
There feel at home, with generous friendship blest,
A much approved and much approving guest.

No more with envious eyes I view
Another's splendour, wealth, or fame;
No more such fancied joys pursue,
Deluded by a meteor flame:

But learn my own free happy state to prize,
And fix my ardent wish on more exalted joys.
CORIUNA.

Wants. It is easier to increase our wants be it ever so much, than to reduce them, be it ever so little.

Love in a Hurry.-Passionate wooing is like summer dust, it lies on the ground a little while, and then a slight wind comes, and away it is gone. Men who love well do not speak flippantly. Their affection borrows some inspiration from religion.

Marrying a Widow." If ever you should think of marrying a widow," said an anxious partner to his heir, "select one whose first husband was hung; for that is the only way to prevent her from throwing his memory into your face, and making annoying comparisons."-" Even that won't prevent it," exclaimed a crusty old bachelor r; "she'll then praise him by saying, that hanging would be too good for you."

« 上一页继续 »