WOMAN. BY THE AUTHOR OF " PELHAM." "O WOMAN! day-star of our doom, Thy dawn our birth, thy close our tomb, Or if the mother or the bride, Our fondest friend and surest guide; The dream, the meteor, the deceiver; And those, Fate's sternest warners, tears, Still knows no wish like those which woo thee, Still in some living form essays To clasp the bright cloud it portrays; And still as one who waits beside, But may not ford, the faithless tide, It marks the shining waters stray, A MATIN SONG. FROM THE ATHENÆUM. Good morrow to the hills again,— Good morrow to the dappled skies, THE GATHERER. "A snapper up of unconsidered trifles." Shakspeare. HOPE is a prodigal young heir, and experience is his banker; but his drafts are seldom honoured, since there is often a heavy balance against him, because he draws largely upon a small capital, is not yet in possession, and if he were, would die. The Poet should cull from the garden of nature only those sweet flowers that diffuse a healthful fragrance. No poisonous weed, however brilliant its hue, however delicious its perfume, should mingle in the wreath he wears. Women by assuming the literary character lose much of that softness and delicacy of manner which are their recommendations to the love of the other sex. When birds are kept in cages and taught a variety of notes, their power over sounds is indeed much increased; they are more noisy, but the natural sweetness of their voices is lost. There is not so variable a thing in nature as a lady's head dress. Within my own memory, I have known it to rise and fall within thirty degrees. The difference between what is called ordinary company and good company, is only hearing the same thing in a little room or a large saloon, at small tables or at great tables, before two candles or twenty sconces. The great Sir William Jones was a most astonishing example of application to study in spite of all difficulties. His maxim was, never to neglect any opportunity of improvement which presented itself. It was a fixed principle with him never to neglect prosecuting to a successful termination what he had once deliberately undertaken. The best thing to be done when evil comes upon us, is not lamentation, but action; not to sit and suffer, but to rise and seek the remedy. Let the first action of manhood be to govern your passions, for he who knows how to govern himself always becomes a favourite with society. He who has opportunity to inspect the sacred moments of elevated minds, and seizes none, is a son of dullness; but he who turns those moments into ridicule will betray with a kiss, and in embracing, murder.-Lavater. The proverb ought to run, "A fool and his words are soon parted; a man of genius and his money."-Shenstone. An excellent rule for living happy in society is, never to concern one's self with the affairs of others unless they wish for, or desire it. Under pretence of being useful, people often show more curiosity than affection. LONG SPEECHES.-In the year of Rome 702 a law was passed, called de ambitu, limiting the pleadings in criminal cases to one day, allowing two hours to the prosecutor and three to the accused. There was some sense in this, independently of the saving of time. There can be no greater absurdity than to suppose a good cause can be benefited by pleadings, the beginning of which must be quite forgotten before they come to an end. THE GATHERER. The man who is in pain to know what alteration time and age have made in him, needs only to consult the eyes of the fair one he addresses, and by the tone of her voice as she talks with him, he will learn what he fears to know. But, O! how hard a lesson ! There is a charm in private talent which, from the very nature of the thing, can never be imparted by any public exhibition. In the theatre or in the concert room, we can never sufficiently abstract our minds from the performer. The performance may be, and in many instances, is, perfection. Science and taste are completely satisfied. But sentiment vanishes away before the idea that the whole is an exhibition. LOVE LETTER.-I downa bide to see the moon Blink o'er the hill sae dearly, A face that I loe dearly. An' when down by the water clear I sigh, an' think if ane were here, Virtue in an intelligent and free creature, of whatever rank in the scale of being, is nothing less than a conformity of disposition and practice to the necessary, eternal and unchangeable rectitude of the Divine nature. Sweetness of temper is not an acquired but a natural excellence; and, therefore, to recommend it to those who have it not, may be deemed rather an insult than advice. There are two kinds of people which we ought never to contradict, those who are far above us, and those who are far below us. Zeno, the philosopher, believed in an inevitable destiny. His servant availed himself of this doctrine, one day, while being beaten for a theft, by exclaiming-"Was I not destined to rob?" "Yes," replied Zeno, "and to be corrected also." I have learned that nothing can constitute good breeding, that has not good nature for its foundation.-Bulwer. LAFAYETTE was offered by the First Consul a place in the Senate, when that body was created: but as is well known, he declined, and resisted all advances towards arbitrary establishments, and has lived to enjoy his noble consistency, after the emperor and empire have crumbled into dust. Where the sympathies of the heart have not been encouraged to expand, no cultivation of the understanding will have power to render the character eminently great or good.-Hamilton. Distaff spinning was first introduced into England, in 1505. Ell, or yard measure, was fixed by the length of Henry the First's arm, in 1101. Persons who assume reserve, gravity and silence, often practise this trick to gain credit of the world for that sense and information which they are conscious they do not possess. When 223 I see a grave fool put on this pompous disguise, he reminds me of a poor and vain man who places strong padlocks on his trunks, so that the visiter may suppose that they contain valuable articles, though he knows himself that they are quite empty. A TEAR. No radiant pearl which crested fortune wears, The famous Ben Johnson worked for some time as a brick-layer or mason," and let them not blush," says the historian Fuller," that have, but those that have not a lawful calling. He helped in the building of the new structure of Lincoln's Inn, when having a trowel in his hand, he had a book in his pocket." A PHILANTHROPIST is a busy body, who is always meddling in the affairs of other people and neglecting his own. The strength of the church consists not in the number of its members, but in the maturity and vigour of their piety. Choose thy friend with care, and confide in him, that the bonds of your mutual love may be strong as the ties which unite brothers. Be not familiar with the vulgar man; he is contagious; the scabby camel derives no benefit from the touch of the sound one, but the healthy camel becomes contaminated by communication with the sick. Poverty is accounted disgraceful; but how notable the defect in him who boasts of high descent. The rich man is honoured by all; they who stand in his presence aspire to nothing but his bounty; he rules the world by his wealth, his word is obeyed, and his sayings are approved of; the people smile at his approach, they stand before his divan, and seek to come near him. One can live well without a brother, but not without a friend. He that would not experience the vain regret of misemployed days, must learn, therefore, to know the present value of single minutes, and endeavour to let no particle of time fall useless to the ground. Whoever pursues a contrary plan, will forever find something to break that continuity of exertion, in looking forward to which, he solaces himself for his present supineness; and the expiration of the period allotted for the completion at his legal apprenticeship, will generally find a mighty waste of time to have proceeded from the trivial value he attached to its fragments. EPITAPH ON A STONE IN THE CHURCH-YARD AT LANGTOWN, RECIPES. FOR DYEING AND CLEANING FEATHERS. FEATHERS, to be dyed, must first be cleaned, by passing them through, or between the hands, in warm soap and water, and by giving them fresh liquors of soap and water, and at last rinsing them in warm water. Previously to their being dyed, it is necessary that they should be soaked in warm water for several hours. The same degree of heat should be kept up, but the water must be but little more than blood warm. If for yellows or reds, they must be alumed in cold alum liquor for a day or two, according to the body of colour you require the feathers to imbibe; then immerse them in your dye liquor. For some drab colours, it will be necessary to use the alum water at a blood heat: its being too hot would injure the feathers. For dyeing browns, archil, &c. are used instead of woods, barks, &c.; cudbear is also used. After a feather has been dyed any dark brown or other dark colour, its nature is lost, and consequently its texture. It is unprofitable for the wearer to redye them, and difficult even for a dyer to perform. A feather by being beaten across the hand soon dries; by this means feathers are as easily dyed as silk or woollen, and there is a greater certainty of obtaining the desired shade. The only difficulty in dyeing feathers is in compounding the dyeing materials, and making a homogeneous liquor of them, so as to produce the desired shade, after being saddened or made of a darker colour by means of green copperas, which is generally used to darken brown greys, blacks, slate colours, &c. Sumach and fustic, or sumach alone, is the general ground of browns; the red, as I have before observed, is obtained by archil; and the black hue by green copperas, in warm water; after the feather has been put into the copperas water, it may be returned again into the dye water, and back again into the copperas; but care should be taken each time that the feather is rinsed from the copperas water, before it is again returned into the dye liquor, otherwise the copperas would spoil it. Care also should be taken not to use too much copperas in saddening colours, as it injures the texture, and prevents the colour from appearing bright; and if the ground colour be not of a sufficient body, the saddening or copperas will make it uneven. The same preparation as would dye silk of the same colour, will dye feathers; in short, feathers as well as silk, being animal substances, are more alike in nature than any other two bodies, either animal or vegetable. You must remember, that in dyeing silks the water is used hot, or on the simmer, for most colours; but feathers must be always dyed in cold liquors, except for black, the dyeing materials being first boiled, and then let to cool; your feathers must then be put in, and when this liquor is exhausted add a fresh one, pouring off the old liquor. For dyeing feathers black, the same liquor as for silk must also be used, but with this difference, that for the feathers, the dyeing materials must be boiled for two hours, and then used as warm as the feathers will bear, heating the liquor four or five times. It often happens that a feather is four or five days dyeing black; but violets, pansies, carnations, light purples, light blues, greys, &c. are dyed in ten minutes. Light blues are dyed in chemic blues; the greys, in galls and green copperas; the violets in warm archil and water; the greens with ebony wood, in warm water and chemic blue. These are to be finished by being gently beaten out over the hand, and this will dry them just before they are dry it is requisite to curl them, which is done with a round edged knife. TO CLEAN BLACK FEATHERS. Pour a pennyworth of bullock's gall into a wash-hand basin; pour warm water on this, and run your feathers through it; rinse in cold water, and finish them as you would other feathers. For the Lady's Book. LONG had the rosy god of day, When, 'neath a window twin'd with flow'rs A lover blest those moonlight hours, Wake, lady wake! for the balmy breeze And the waving leaf of the murm'ring trees Wake! for the sparkling eyes of night And the rivulets' waves, as they dance in light Wake! for the crescent bark above, High and alone in that silver car, Wake! and list to the fairy note Wake! 'tis the noon of night, when roam |