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gance and utility, over the breeches formerly so generally worn. These I would not wish to see altogether out of fashion, but for summer wear, loose drawers, reaching nearly to the knee, and there met by the stocking, would also be very appropriate, and would bring the dress still nearer the ancient model. Thus might it be made to possess all the freedom withqut the indelicacy of the Highland costume. I suppose I shall incur the charge of squeamishness from the hardy mountaineers who wear the" garb of old Gaul," for calling in question the decency of their dress; but with all due deference to their national feeling on this subject, and to the high antiquity of the dress itself, which, in its general effect, I very much admire, I must still beg leave to maintain the opinion I have expressed, and I doubt, indeed, whether, in the present artificial state of society, such a display of nature as the Highland garb presents, would ever be generally tolerated. No doubt it may be said that all the indecency is in the mind, but the same remark might be made with respect to "the naked savage panting at the line," whose dress and equipments come still nearer to the natural state,

I now come to the covering of the feet, and I must here observe that it is a matter of general complaint among our artists that they cannot, without great, difficulty, find persons whose feet are at all fit for the purposes of drawing, so cramped and disfigured are most of them by the use of tight boots and shoes. The adoption of the Greek or Roman sandal would be an effectual remedy for this evil, besides that it would entirely do away with all' the trouble arising from corns, those painful productions of the present system, from which few persons are entirely free. It may perhaps be objected that sandals are unsuitable to our climate. To this I answer, that something of a waterproof nature might be worn beneath the sandal in dirty weather, which would keep the feet quite as dry as the thickest leather would without confinement to the feet. For this purpose it should be made after the manner of gloves, with divisions for the toes, as should also the stockings. How many colds, which are so frequently caused by sitting in damp boots and shoes, and are often of the most fatal consequence, would by this means, be prevented!

Should some such style as that which is here recommended ever be introduced, I have no doubt that the skill of our tailors and others would soon so far improve upon it, as to leave us no longer cause to complain of the want of a dress, which might vie with the noble simpli

city of ancient costume. The change, as before observed, might be brought about gradually; and if some of our leading men of fashion could agree among themselves to appear simultaneously in any of the proposed alterations, I think there is little doubt that their example would soon be followed.

Diary of Occurrences.

22. THE THAMES QUAY.-There is some talk that the aquatic promenade will be erected on the south side of the river, in consequence of the duke of Northumberland having united with the benchers of the Temple to oppose its erection on the north side. My opinion is that it will never be erected at all; it is a subject that will not bear reflection. Pray what is there that any body would wish to see by way of amusement between Westminsterbridge and the Custom-house; below Waterloo-bridge, at least, with the exception of Somerset-house and theTemplegarden, both sides of the river are lined with warehouses, wharfs, coal-barges, pothouses, and other unsightly objects, which cannot afford much relief to the eye or the heart. If, however, the ladies and gentlemen in the West wish to see the traffic of the river, to behold the coal-men, the watermen, the ballast-heavers, and other curiosities in the East, why not pay a visit in their carriages-barges I mean? this is the most ancient, national, and, I think, the best mode of seeing Old Father Thames. If the Quay was up to-morrow, I doubt whether it would be much frequented. People who walk for pleasure, (and the Quay is chiefly intended for such,) like to walk where they can see and be seen, and for life and interest who would not prefer to ramble along Cheapside, Fleet-street, and the Strand, where they may see St. Dunstan, the Temple-bar, the print shops, and a thousand interesting countenances, to a walk along the Bankside, where they could only behold dirt and misery, toil and contention.

IMPORTANT. The Paris papers state that the baby duke of Bordeaux is appointed president of the Association of St. Joseph ! incorporated for religious purposes, and was addressed in a formal discourse by a missionary Abbé. The little thing answered by deputy, and that deputy was its nurse!

Superstition is on the wane even at Rome. The number of pilgrims which visited Rome in 1750, when a jubilee was proclaimed, was, at the opening of the Holy Gate, 1,300, and in the week which

DIARY OF OCCURRENCES.

followed christmas, 8,400. This year only thirty-six pilgrims attended the opening of the Holy Gate, and but 440 arrived during the ensuing week.

COURTSHIP AND MATRIMONY. In the Court of King's bench last Saturday, damages were sought against Mr. Wood, a potato salesman of Croydon, for breach of promise of marriage with a young woman named Horner: matters had gone so far that the day of marriage was fixed, when suddenly Mr. Wood changed his mind and said, he wished Miss Horner no harm, but he had no longer any love for her the jury gave 1007.

On the same day another action was tried (Plucknett v. Treble) to recover the sum of 271, 6s. for board and lodging furnished to the wife of the defendant. It was stated that the husband had compelled the wife to quit her home under a threat that if she returned either herself or the husband must die. She therefore took refuge in the house of the plaintiff. The charge made for board and lodging was one guinea per week. The lord chief justice was of opinion the charge was moderate, and the jury found a verdict for the plaintiff for the sum claimed.

25. Went to see the progress they were making at the New London-bridge: they are still occupied in driving piles for the foundation of the piers. Active preparations are making for commencing the Thames Tunnel, and preliminary operations, it is said, will be begun, under the inspection of the director, on the 2d of

March.

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Talk of Wilberforce retiring from parliament on account of ill-health. The Vice Chancellor too, it is reported, will be obliged to resign from the same cause. shall regret the resignation of sir John Leach, for I never saw a man better qualified for a judge: no one can have heard him without admiring the temper, the clearness, the strength of argument and precision with which his judgments in equity are delivered.

26.-"To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, creeps on this petty pace"I verily think the Opera-house will not open this season, unless it be on a small scale in the Haymarket theatre.-The building, from sympathy with the Custom-house, or some cause, has sunk; and Mr. Peel, from a regard to the lives of his Majesty's subjects, has interfered to prevent Mr. Ebers from commencing operations.-Miss Wilson, who produced such a sensation in the musical world a few years ago, is engaged as prima donna at the Pergolo at Florence.

RISE OF PRICES.-The price of every article almost is rising astonishingly. Spe

159

culations at Mark-lane are not less general and extensive than those in the Mining Associations. Meat has advanced considerably in price. One of the most remarkable instances of sudden rise is in mace, which in a few days advanced from 4s, to 23s. per pound. All woollen goods are said to be full twenty-five per cent. dearer.

27. Went to hear the Rev. Mr. he is a very fine man, but I thought he enlarged too copiously on election and predestination. The celebrated Joseph Lancaster is at Caraccas, engaged in teach ing his system of education; but from one of his publications it would appear that he meets with poor success. He complains of want of room, want of friends, and want of scholars, having only 50 instead of 500, which he expected.

Weekly Calendar.

March V.-Saturday.

High Water, Morn. II. 23 m.-Even. II. 44 m. Sun rises, VI. 27 m.; sets V. 33 m,

CHRONOLOGY.-1778. Died Arne, the celebrated musical composer.

SIGNS OF RAIN.-When the swallow

flies low, skimming backwards and for wards over the surface of the water, frequently dipping the tip of her wings below the surface; when bees do not range abroad, as usual, but keep in or about the hive; or when ducks, geese, and other water-fowls, are unusually clamorous; birds forsaking their food, and flying to their nests; poultry going to roost, or pigeons to their dove-cot; the late and early crowing of the cock, and clapping his wings; the early singing of woodlarks, and the chirping of sparrows, are all signs of approaching rain.

March VI-Sunday.

Length of day 11 h. 10 min.
High Water, Morn. III. 5 m.-Even. III. 23 m.
Sunday Lessons, Morn. Gen. 39. Luke 17. Even.
Gen. 42. Coloss. 1.

of James I.,) with the duke of BuckingOn this day, 1623, prince Charles, (son ham, arrived at Madrid. The design of their journey was to conclude a treaty of marriage between the prince and the Inthe articles were agreed on, did not take fanta of Spain; which, however, though place. On his succession to the crown, in 1625, he married Henrietta of France, daughter of Henry IV.

March VII.-Monday. High Water, Morn. III. 42 m.-Even, IV. 0 m,

March VIII.-Tuesday.

March XI.-Friday.

18 m.

CHRONOLOGY.-1799. By the sinking of the pavement, opposite the Royal Exchange, a deep well was discovered, which had remained covered with only oak planks nearly six hundred years.

CHRONOLOGY. 1702. William III. High Water, Morn. VI. 47 m.-Even. VIII. expired at Kensington palace, in the fiftysecond year of his age, and the fourteenth of his reign. This prince was the posthumous son of William prince of Orange, by the princess Mary, eldest daughter of king Charles I. He was very sparing of speech: his conversation was dry, and his manner disagreeable, except in battle, when his deportment was free, spirited, and animated. He was religious, temperate; generally just and sincere; a stranger to violent transports of passion, and might have passed for one of the best princes in Europe, had not his ambition laid the foundation of a system of foreign policy, detrimental to the national in

terests.

1803. Died, in Cleveland-row, St. James's, the duke of Bridgewater, styled

LES JEUX ET LES RIS.

ing intelligence from America :-" Mr.
IMPROMPTU. On reading the follow-
mode of using water for fuel."-
Day, of Philadelphia, has discovered a

Water for fuel us'd-Indeed!-
This doth all wonders far exceed,
This we may well admire.-

A man (great Jove!) at last is found,
(So shall he stand, for aye, renown'd)
To set the Thames on fire.*--- ·

Mirator.

"He will never set the Thames on fire."-

the "Father of Canal Navigation" in this Spoken, proverbially, of any silly fellow. country.

1796. Expired sir William Chambers, the architect of Somerset-house.

March IX.-Wednesday.

High Water, Morn. IV. 17, m.-Even. IV. 39 m.

CHRONOLOGY. On this day, 1566, David Rizzio,an Italian musician, who had obtained an extraordinary degree of confidence and favour with Mary queen of Scots, was assassinated in her presence. In Holyrood-house, at Edinburgh, is still shown the chamber where the queen sat at supper, when Rizzio was dragged from her side and murdered; and also the private staircase, by which Ruthven entered with the assassins to perpetrate the savage deed.

In 1822, aged fifty-four, died Dr.Daniel Clarke, the celebrated traveller.

March X.-Thursday.

High Water, Morn. V. 48 m.-Even. VI. 17 m. Sir Hugh Middleton, to whom the inhabitants of London are indebted for the projection of the New River, is supposed to have died on this day, in 1702. A great mystery envelopes the latter period of this great man's life. It is traditionally reported, that he retired to the village of Kembleton, near Shiffnall, where he resided some time, in great indigence, under the assumed name of Raymond, and that during such residence he was actually employed in paving the streets!

1792. Expired John earl of Bute, a nobleman who for some time directed the education of George III., and who forms a prominent topic in the early history of the late reign.

LIST OF WORKS PUBLISHED.

Letters on Ireland, by J.JK. L., 8vo. 8s.— Shades of Character, vol. iii., 12mo. 7s.—. Fry on the Canticles, 8vo. 6s.-Fry on the Romans, 8vo. 12s.-Going too Far, 2 vols. 12mo. 12s. Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland, fc. 10s. 6d.— Scientia Biblica, 3 vols. 8vo. 31., royal 57.-' Batty's Views in Wales, imp. 8vo. 21. 25. large paper, 4l. 4s., 61. 6s., Sl. 8s.-Castle Chapel, 3 vols. 12mo. 1. 1s.-Burder's Discouries, 12mo. 4s. 6d.-Proceedings of the Iceland, 8vo. 7s. 6d.-Brummark's Swedish Catholic Association, 8vo. 8s. 6d. Hans of

Grammar, 12mo. 5s. 6d.

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:

ARCHERY.

THERE is no engine of war more ancient, and which is more usually found in the military exercises of all nations, than that of the bow and arrow; and among the arts that have been carried to a high degree of perfection in this country, none is more conspicuous than that of ARCHERY. Our ancestors used the bow for a double purpose in time of war it supplied the place of artillery, and was a dreadful instrument of destruction; and in peace it became an object of amusement. It is unnecessary to insist on the skill of English bowmen; history bears ample testimony both to their prowess and dexterity. In the age of chivalry it formed an essential part of education, and was cultivated by the people, and encouraged

VOL. I

by their rulers, as an important instrument of the national defence and renown.

Our ancient dames were also fond of the amusement. It was usual, when they exercised the bow, for the game to be confined by large enclosures, surrounded by the hunters, and driven in succession from the covers to the stands where the fair sportsmen were placed, so that they might let fly at the deer without the trouble and fatigue of rousing and pursuing them. It is related of Margaret, daughter of Henry VII., that when she was sojourning towards Scotland, a hunting party was made for her amusement in Alnwick Park, where she killed a buck with an arrow. It is not specified whether the long-bow or the cross-bow was used by

M

the princess on this occasion. We are certain that the ladies occasionally shot with both, for when queen Elizabeth visited lord Montacute at Cowdrey, in Sussex, on the Monday, "her highness tooke horse and rode into the park at eight o'clock in the morning, where was a delicate bowre prepared under which were her highness' musicians placed, and a cross-bow by a nymph, with a sweet song, were put into her hands, to shoot at the deere; about some thirty in number were put into a paddock, of which number she killed three or four, and the countess of Kildare one."

In the fields round London, anciently reserved for recreation, the exercise of the bow formed a principal pastime. In Henry VIII's time it was as much in Vogue as in any period of our history. Tǝe king himself was fond of it, and used to repair frequently to Mile End, to witness the performances of the citizens. The more skilful archers received nominal titles, as the duke of Shoreditch, the marquis of Clerkenwell, or earl of Pancras. "In the year 1583, there was a grand shooting-match, when a vast body of the citizens marched in great pomp, singularly dressed, through the principal streets of London to Smithfield, the scene of contest. Their attire is said to have been very gorgeous; 942 of them wearing chains of gold. The number of archers that shot were 3,000, and their attendants exceeded that number."

The length of the bow is not clearly ascertained; those used by the soldiery appear in manuscript drawings to have been as tall at least as the bearer; agreeable to an ordinance made in the fifth year of Edward IV. commanding every man to have a bow his own height; and they might, upon the average, be something short of six feet. The arrows used by the English archers, at the memorable victory of Agincourt, were full a yard in length.

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ALLITERATION.

"A pill to purge the pride of Pagan pageants;
A lozenge for the lure of loitering love;
And balsams for the bites of Babel's beasts."
Davenant.

THERE is a fashion in every thing-a
hobby for every body. Just now allitera-
tion is the rage in literature, and authors
ride it almost to death's door. Sir Wil-
liam Davenant, when he penned his pre-
cious example, which has suited me with a
motto, little thought what a number of
disciples would condescend to stalk in the
sticks he so staunchly manoeuvred. Al-
literation has been called "the parent of
puns, the weapon of wit, and the stimulus
of sentences," but I cannot but think that
there is more ingenuity in the construction
of the assertion, than truth at the bottom
of it. Style, like the orators of Rome
and Greece, is best attired in plain habits;
she little needs any foreign aid of orna-
ment, much less to dress herself out in
tricksy garments quaintly and laboriously
wrought. Her speech
quent than when it proceeds directly to
its end, and nine times out of ten, her
haltings to gather novelty are unfortunate
ones. Such efforts may dazzle, but will
not endure.

never more elo

Yet alliteration has some claim upon us if only for its antiquity; it made its appearance before us very early in Eng lish poetry, and as respect is due to the age, it is no wonder that we still continue to give it welcome. We need only cite the

-"floor faithless to the fuddled foot"-

to prove Thomson its patron; we have only to quote

"Bravely broach'd his bloody boiling breast”— to show Shakspeare's ardour in the same cause; and if we need a third witness, call

"Around the rugged rocks the ragged ruffians

ran "

"Validas in viscera vertite vires "

into court, and be satisfied.

Strutt mentions an exercise of archery, which he saw in Bedford-square, when or Virgil's the Turkish ambassador paid the archers a visit, and complained that the enclosure was by no means sufficiently extensive for a long shot. The Turk, therefore, went into the adjacent fields to show his dexterity, where Mr. S. saw him shoot several arrows double the length of the archeryground, and his longest shot fell upwards of 480 yards from his standing. This appears to us an extraordinary instance of bow-shooting, and exceeded the effective range of a musket.

For

I quite agree with a writer in one of our old periodicals, that "wherever alliteration is perceived it disgusts." there is something torturing in the struggles of an author, when you feel that he is labouring for a set of words marshalled by the same letter, neglecting, probably, all the while, thoughts, feelings, and expressions of more import, and shipwrecking his hopes, like Anthony, for a toy, because it is gaudy to view, and clashes with his humour. If this is not the dog and the

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