and sometimes had a couple of small pockets in the front, in which the fast girls stuck their hands, no doubt, and did their best, we dare say, to swagger like the swells. Another point of resemblance between the dresses of the gentlemen CHAPTER XXX.-THE FASHIONS OF THE LADIES OF THE and ladies at this period was, that the latter often came out in that parti a long pea-jacket, fitting closely to the figure, and reaching about as far as the middle of the thigh. It was fastened in the front with a row of large-sized buttons, had sometimes streamers from the elbows, *Buttons were at this time very generally used for whatever wanted fastening; and indeed were often worn in such profusion that people must have wasted a great part of their lives in buttoning their clothing. FAIRHOLT speaks of the cotehardie as "having nought extravagant about it, except buttons;" and judging from the look of them in some of the old drawings, it seems to have been the cheese to have them made as big as cheese-plates. If History repeats itself, so assuredly does Fashion, coloured clothing to which the notice of the reader has already been of blue and the other sleeve of white; and if by any accident her directed. It was no uncommon thing to see a beauty with one sleeve stockings became visible, it would have been found they were made also not to match. Like their husbands too, the ladies often bore their armorial bearings emblazoned on their gowns, which were rendered thus as hideous as heraldry could make them, with all its curious menagerie of blue griffins and green geese. introduced about this period, and worn over the kirtle. The chiefly A loose garment with long skirts, bordered and faced with fur, was curious point about it was that, generally speaking, it had neither sleeves nor sides; the armholes being made so large, that the girdle of the kirtle which was worn beneath it was visible at the hips. An old drawing in the Argentine Collection, representing QUEEN PHILIPPA interesting specimen of this sideless sleeveless garment is shown in an (who has let down her back hair) interceding for the lives of the six burgesses of Calais; who with halters round their necks are kneeling to KING EDWARD, with the piteous looks of aldermen when panting a request for a third helping of turtle, or pleading that their venison has been sent them with no fat. MR. STRUTT, who as a writer on the subject of costume must clearly be regarded as one of the first walk, quotes an interesting story from a manuscript of this period, which shows that ladies were at times not much more sensible in dress, in the reign of EDWARD THE THIRD, than in that of QUEEN VICTORIA. As the story, although French, has an admirable moral, we may without imprudence transfer it to our print:"The eldest of two sisters was promised by her father to a young and handsome knight, who owned a very large estate. The day was appointed for the gentleman to introduce himself, he not having as yet seen either of the ladies; and they were duly informed beforehand of his coming, that they might be properly prepared to receive him. The affianced bride, who was the handsomest of the two, being desirous to show her elegant shape and slender waist to the best advantage, clothed herself in a cote-hardie, which sat very strait and close upon her, without any lining or facing of fur, although it was winter, and exceedingly cold. The consequence was, that she appeared pale and miserable, like one perishing with the severity of the weather; while her sister who, regardless of her shape, had attired berself rationally in thick garments lined with fur, looked warm and healthy, and as ruddy as a rose. The young knight was fascinated by the girl who had the least beauty and the most prudence, and having obtained her father's consent, proposed to her instead of marrying her sister, who was left in single blessedness to shiver in her finery, and sigh at her sad fate." This affecting anecdote is related by a Norman knight, named GEOFFROI DE LA TOUR LANDRY, who recites it in a treatise on morals and behaviour, which he composed expressly for the use of his three daughters, and in which occur some curious details respecting dress. It is not now the fashion for fathers to write books for the instruction of their children (who would probably not dream of reading anything so "slow"), but were any Paterfamilias to venture so to do, we should advise him to insert the story we have cited, and to devote a page or two to fit remarks upon the salutary moral that it points. The anecdote we think might be most profitably repeated, if it only be This fondness for big buttons was certainly revived by our "gents" a few years back; and many of our fast girls, if we remember rightly, copied it. to illustrate the evils of tight-lacing, which is still one of the weaknesses of the weaker sex. Indeed a stronger term than "weakness" ought to stigmatise such folly, seeing that it sometimes amounts almost to suicide, for it entails a certain sacrifice of health if not of life. A "good figure" is no doubt an enviable possession, but its attainment is too commonly attended with bad health; and husbands as a rule think far less of fashion than they do of flesh and blood, and are less likely to be caught by a pair of well-shaped stays than by a pair of rosy cheeks. Girdles handsomely embroidered and embossed with gold and silver were generally worn over the kirtle and cote hardie, and were girt loosely on the hips, and not round the waist. A sort of pouch or reticule, which was called a gypsire, was worn pendent from the girdle, Occupying much about the same position as the chatelaines which lately were in fashionable use. As it was tastefully embroidered, no doubt the gypsire was at times merely worn by way of ornament; and we learn that a small dagger was occasionally stuck through it, which doubtlessly was likewise only worn for decoration, or if ever it was used, it surely must have been for some such peaceful purpose as piercing a few button holes, or stabbing a plum cake. The hair was still worn in a fret or caul of golden network, which sometimes was surmounted by a coronet of jewels, and sometimes by a wreath of flowers, or else simply by a veil. At tournaments, however, and at picnics (if there were any) ladies mostly wore short hoods, and wrapped round their heads like cords the "lirripipes," or 66 'tippets," which were the long streamers depending from the hoods. Wimples still remained in vogue for the protection of the throat, although they were not worn so commonly as during the last century; but "SIR, CLUBS AND CHARITIES. To Mr. Punch. "Club, Pall-Mall, Friday. avoid the contemptuous looks of such of the servants as are not tating mendicants the parsons are the most unblushing, and that out! "Why, Sir, does the Reverend K. know that at this very moment half the Clubs in London want more billiard accommodation? Does he know that port wine is getting dearer and dearer every day, and that it is the bounden duty of every Committee to lay down every good the ugly clumsy gor-pipe they can hear of ? Does he know, Sir, that we want more warm get, which, we have baths built? Is he acquainted with the price of tobacco? or does he seen, was introduced need to be told that very few Club cigars are fit to smoke, in consein the reign of EDquence of the dearness of the article and the reluctance of men to give WARD THE FIRST, more than eightpence or ninepence for a weed? Is he aware that our appears to have been libraries, especially the French novel departments, are far from comkicked into the dust-plete, and that from the absence of duplicate sets a man has often to hole of oblivion, for wait a couple of days for the last Paris story, especially if an English we find no mention dramatic author gets hold of it? Can he have been apprised that Club that it was still in use. Coverchiefs or kerchiefs were still worn by servants are very expensive, and that, owing to the insufficient attendway of head-dress among the middle classes, but by the swellesses it ance, a fellow has often to wait three minutes before his table can be seems they had mostly been discarded. CHAUCER's Wife of Bath, he cleared and the wine brought? I am not hostile to the Clergy, Sir, tells us, wore them once a week; and if she had any tendency to far from it, and I willingly assume that the Reverend Gentleman is headache, we can scarcely wonder that she did not wear them oftener, uninformed of these facts, and that his preposterous proposition would for he expressly mentions that they were "full fine of ground" (what- never have been made had he possessed ampler knowledge. But in ever that may mean) and he adds::the face of this painful destitution, in the presence of these revolting details, it is mockery to ask the Clubs to squander funds in charity. PORTRAIT OF "Y WIFE OF BATH." COPY OF CHAUCER. FROM MR. PUNCH'S "I durste swere that they weighed a pound, Ful streit yteyed, and shoon full moist and newe." We learn too of this lady : "Upon an ambler easily she satte, As brode as a bokeler or a targe. A foote mantel about hire hippes large, With the exception perhaps of the wimple and the spurs this description might have fairly been applied to the MISS BROWNS, MISS JONESES and MISS SMITHS, who a season or two since were wont to amble about on donkeys by the sad sea-waves at Ramsgate; for the round hats which they wore were every bit as broad as bucklers, and really looked as though they ought to have been worn in a broad farce. The Long Vacation. THE KING OF NAPLES has had so many troubles lately, and has been oppressed with so much business of a most moving and distressing nature, that it is not to be wondered at if he has gone into the country just to enjoy a little Gaëta. CHARACTER READ IN A WEED.-The thistle is a fit emblem for Scotland-it is so remarkably downy. "I do not insist, Sir, upon the impropriety of a Club's making a public contribution, and proclaiming its almsgiving, though such a thought might have occurred to a minister of the Establishment. But charity should be a secret matter, of which the world should have no knowledge. 'What I give is nothing to nobody' was the admirable remark of one of the most distinguished Members of Parliament. The ostentation which would be manifested by Club donations would be most objectionable to the feelings of Club-men, who are celebrated for prac tising the truly Christian virtue of retiring modesty upon the subject of any good deeds they may do, should they happen to do any. "I will only add, Sir, that should the plausible but most improper appeal of the REV. MR. KEMPE produce any effect upon our Committee (not that I would wrong them by believing it possible), I, for one, will leave no stone unturned to eject that Committee from office at the earliest opportunity, and I have the honour to be, Sir, "Your very obedient Servant, "THOMAS ANTIKEMPIS." "P.S. The poor, I am given to understand, have Clubs of their own. Let them apply there for assistance, if they want it. We occasionally send the hat round for a Swell-properly recommended by Swells-so it is unjust to accuse us of illiberality." THE MOVEMENT OF EVENTS IN ITALY.-"St. Peter's Chair stops the way." "I say, Old Fellow, it's not the slightest use trying to shelter there-you'll be wet through in no time. Why don't you follow my example?" DINNER AND THE LADY. "DEAR MR. PUNCH, "I DID hope that we were going to hear no more of MR. G. H. M., the gentleman who insulted us, the Matrons of England, by saying that we did not know how to give dinners properly, and by a offering us all sorts of advice which was not required, and if it was, was not going to be taken from such as him. But it seems that he cannot keep his disgusting greedy pen quiet, and that not. being able to find anything good enough to eat in England, he must go to Russia for a dinner, and he had better stop there. I am not going to demean myself by going through his letter of two columns long, all about his dinner, like a Pig, and indeed I scarcely read a quarter of the rubbish; but I shall only say that the creatures he speaks of who want a flogging before dinner to give them an appetite, should have a precious good one, if I had the making the laws and the choosing the beadles. Laurestinas, indeed! Cat o' nine tails would be the properer thing. And Bohemian Girls to sing to him after dinner. Very pretty, upon my word. An English gentleman ought to be content to come up to the drawing-room, and hear an English girl sing "I dreamt that I dwelt in marble halls." That ought to be enough of Bohemian Girl for him. I despise G. H. M., Mr. Punch, and that's the long and the short of it, and it's no use saying it isn't, because it is. ་་ DHOUR AUSTRIAN SYMPATHIES. ENGLAND must fraternise with Austria. Surprising as this declaration may seem, its truth will be apparent from the facts, that, for the last ten years the Austrian nation has paid taxes to the amount of 800,000,000 florins more than it did in the ten preceding; that the national debt is 1,300,000,000 florins larger than it was ten years ago; that State property valued at 100,000,000 florins has had to be sold; that the deficit expected in 1861 is 39,000,000 florins even in case of peace; and that the people are subject to a war-contribution" of 32,000,000 florins per annum. These circumstances are stated in the report of a financial committee; and what Englishman that reads them can refrain from exclaiming to his Austrian fellow sufferer, "Come to my arms, my brother in taxation! Let us compare what our friend DISRAELI calls fleabites." We are told that the war-contribution is so exceedingly onerous that it cannot long be levied. How very like our own Income-Tax! Perhaps, even as that impost, it is assessed with the utmost injustice, and levied so as to inflict the greatest possible inconvenience. Whilst, therefore, JOHN BULL hugs the Austrian subject of confiscation, MR. GLADSTONE may embrace the Finance Minister of Austria! "HE CALLS THEE, EDWIN." "AM Havin the misfortin to be Hear For larsny wich i wish to Be Tried by jury of My Countrymn as i wold lik to now wich Way is To Be Mill or Quiets But i ear the Gudge EDWN JEAMES is Gone to itly to be Counsel to GEN GORBALDY, and advice Him to Shoot unfortune Chaps as cant abear the Enmy shootin of Them wich seem ard but May be all Wright but what Caul has GUDGE JEAMES to itly Instead of tryng My larsny Case wich am givn to understand is pade for wich by Publishg may caul him to His hone spear and oblidge, "Your respilly, at the dinner-table better than anywhere else. You were instructed to "But what I meant to say to you was, that I do hope you will set Then as to politeness. We used to be told that this was learned | "Russell Square, Monday." "THE BRITISH MATRON." VOL. XXXIX A PRINCE PROCEEDING TO AMERICA. O BROTHER PRINCE, would seem a more fitting destination for ever, our colonists very strongly object parties; but, unless PRINCE takes many rich followers out with him, it may be conjectured that he and YOUNG will not agree to put their asses together. The exoteric doctrines of the Mormon Chief and those of the Prince of the Agapemone lation intimating to perhaps differ, but there is every reason for him the propriety of supposing that their esoteric views are identical. going to America. They have both of them, no doubt, genuine inSome British colony yet been convicted of swindling; BROTHER ternal convictions, though neither of them has PRINCE having been compelled to make restitution by a legal tribunal, which had not the power to allot him likewise a term of laborious grinding at the crank. They both evidently coincide in a belief in the main chance, as contransmarine abode. tradistinguished from predestination and everyUnfortunately, how-thing else, except, perhaps, polygamy. If there is balm in Gilead, there is tar in America. There are also feathers. These considerations may, if they fail to render BROTHER PRINCE disobedient to the revelation which orders him to the United States, at least induce him to take good care in what portion of the American territory he pitches his tabernacle, and to make sure that it is one inhabited by the he had obtained greatest fools, and exempt from the jurisdiction chiefly from confiding of JUDGE LYNCH, females, by pretensions of a supernatural character. He has been forced to transfer certain stock acquired in this way; and there appears to be good ground for questioning whether a more personal kind of investment in the stocks might, or not, be the legal consequence of some of his pecuniary transactions. It has been suggested that BROTHER PRINCE, when he goes to America, will fraternise with BRIGHAM YOUNG; but the proverbial indisposition to concord of two of a trade renders that suggestion unlikely. The two prophets might enter into partnership, if such an arrangement were likely to suit both OUR ROVING CORRESPONDENT. "MY DEAR PUNCH, "IT may seem anomalous that your Roving Correspondent should, at this season of all others in the year, be still in Town. Such, however, is the fact. While others were looking after their passports, getting them visèd and inserted in charming little morocco cases, with their names neatly printed in gold outside, or arming themselves with those wonderful circular notes (which by the way are really rectangular but still extremely useful), or investing in miraculous knapsacks, which hold everything you don't want, from a portable shower-bath to a patent shaving-brush; while, I say, tourists have been consulting Bradshaw, haunting Railway Offices, and flurrying themselves generally, your humble servant has been quietly occupied in his studio over his canvas and cutty-pipe. Extremely Shell-fish. WE beg to present the reader with the two following latest novelties in the way of autumnal conundrums: 1st. Why have lobsters no feeders? Because they have antenna (haven't any). 2nd. Why is a supplementary plate of crabs like the Alien Act? Because it contains an extradition clause (an extra dish and claws). If the too indulgent reader were to try for a thousand years, he would never be able to beat the above in badness. of pleasure. For my own part I admit that there are occasions when a churchwarden pipe and a wainscotted tap-room possess irresistible attractions for me. Why should I be ashamed to own it? Has not the greatest poet of modern times written an Ode to The Cock, that famous chanticleer, under the shadow of whose wing how many wits, authors, artists, have joked and eaten! Nay, had not the great Lexicographer himself a weakness for tavern dinners? I have seen the corner pointed out in which the author of Rasselas used to sit, (GRABLEY the stockbroker takes his chop there daily), and I like to imagine the old philosopher puffing and grunting over his humble fare. There must be some charm about a neatly sanded floor, which we miss in the produce of Kidderminster. I have been assured by a score of exceedingly respectable persons that they prefer a pipe in an old fashioned chimney-corner to sipping souchong in the genteelest boudoir in Christendom. What do I but follow in the wake of my more dis"Perhaps a continental tour has lost its charms for me. Perhaps I tinguished brethren? A great modern author has said, that a painter am somewhat weary of trips down the Rhine, fortnights in Paris, should be fit for the best society; and keep out of it. There are a few excursions to Switzerland, pic-nics in the Pyrenees (where will our of us who dance attendance on fat dowagers, and haunt the houses of indefatigable tourists next spend their autumn?) Perhaps out of the great, but ninety-nine out of a hundred prefer ease and good perversity I am determined not to do what every one is doing. Perhaps fellowship at home. Thank heaven, the flunkeydom of Art is past, the balance at my banker is not of sufficient preponderance to justify, and if our pictures are engraved; there is no need to dedicate the proof &c. &c.-what matters? Here I am on my native soil; neither to my LORD MECENAS for the sake of his gracious patronage or watching the sun rise upon the rosy Jungfrau, nor sink behind the precious guineas. great dome of Buonarotti; but looking at the rain, drizzling, pattering, pelting down on London pavement.. Slow this sounds I admit; but in pleasant company what situation is not tolerable? I would not give a fig for the finest scenery in the world if I should be condemned to wander through it alone. I think I am a gregarious animal, and can't enjoy life without a companion. Some of my friends who are of an equally sociable turn, are good enough to drop in upon me occasionally to share my cognac, or join me in a pipe, and so we manage to get through an evening very pleasantly. Sometimes STIPPLER holds forth on the divine art, and grows warm in defence of Pre-Raphaelites, or old MASSICOT, sitting down at my battered piano, trolls out a jolly ditty. And in truth I would rather listen to him than to the strains of MISS GUSHINGTON, who warbles at LADY PRISM's soirées, for all her fine contralto voice. I fear there must be some truth in the theory once prevalent in fashionable circles, that we painters have low tastes, and instinctively incline to humble sources So my friends take kindly to my easy chair, and in a cloud of fragrant Latakia forget to sneer at my humble Penates. Last week I met an old German chum, HERR VON STUNNINGER, who used to study in the Munich Academy, until the death of his uncle, and his consequent accession to the family thalers induced him to relinquish the limner's art as a profession. I had asked him to drop in the other evening, and after waiting some time had given him up, when a decidedly dissyllabic knock, which was much too deliberately given for the post, and with not sufficient slang about it for the beer, announced his arrival at the door of my chambers. Signalling MRS. KINAHAN to bring up the battered old would-be-plated-but-unquestionably-Britanniametal teapot in which she serves my Pekoe, I rushed to meet him; but imagine, Sir, my feelings when I tell you that I found him putting on pumps in the passage, and attired in a complete ball costume with a gibus' under his arm. There is a rather coarse but familiar metaphor by which a man under risible influence is represented as 'ready to |