ceptions to the general rule. Stolen marriages can be solemnized, without the consent of friends, at Providence, Rhode Island, as at Gretna Green, in Great Britain; but there is seldom any serious opposition from parents to render such a step excusable.

There are very few convents in the United States. The nearest approach to them among Protestants are the establishments of Shakers, where the brethren and sisters live in different dwellings, and enter the meeting-house by different doors. These people are proverbial for neatness and industry; but their unnatural mode of life induces something of automaton regularity, which is painful to a free spirit.

The games and amusements of America are similar to those of Protestant Europe. Where all are peculiarly amenable to public opinion, eccentricities in character or dress are very rare, and some complain that this produces a monotonous surface of society. Lady Dare-all, the pride of fox-hunters and horseracers, would require even more boldness to act in opposition to public opinion here, than was necessary for the same process in England.

The custom of giving presents on the first of January is generally observed; and Catholics and Episcopalians commemorate Christmas with religious services and social festivity. In New England, the last Thursday of November is set apart as a day of thanksgiving, in conformity to the custom of their forefathers. All the members of a family, far and near, generally meet under the parental roof on this occasion. An abundant supply of roasted turkeys,

puddings, and pies are provided, and the day is spent in festivity, The poor are bountifully supplied by their neighbors. In remote parts of the country, it is still considered a delightful frolic for farmers' families to meet together in the barn, to husk corn. If a girl finds a red ear of corn, she is entitled to receive a kiss; and if a young man finds one, he gains a right to take the same privilege. The party partake of a plentiful supper, and there is no lack of merriment, or good cheer.

Female societies for benevolent purposes are very numerous in the United States. A large portion of their funds are gained by the sale of ingenious articles of their own manufacture.

The United States have produced several female writers, some of whom have talent of the highest order. Foreign critics would probably unite with Americans in conferring the title of pre-eminence on Miss Sedgwick; and never, in any age or country, have the laurels rested on a woman of purer principles, or more expansive benevolence.

bex

SOUTH SEA ISLANDS.

AMONG these numerous islands there is a general resemblance of habits and manners. Their dwellings are small huts covered with matting, and their furni ture consists of a few gourds, cocoa-nut shells, lances, slings, fishing-nets, and low wooden stools, of black or brown wood, neatly inlaid with ivory obtained from whale's teeth; these latter articles serve both for seats and pillows. The floor is strewed with soft grass, covered with mats, on which all the inmates of the house sleep without distinction.

The clothing of both sexes is a species of cloth made from the bark of the paper-mulberry tree, called tapa or gnatoo. The common class wear a strip of this cloth fastened about the hips and falling below the knees. The wealthy sometimes have their garments trailing on the ground, because an ample drapery, particularly if it be very fine and delicate, is considered an indication of high rank. The upper part of the person is usually entirely exposed; but on some occasions a mantle of tapa is thrown over the shoulders. In some places mats are worn, one before and the other behind, fastened about the hips with a cord of curious straw work. These mats are made of native flax, very fine and silky, and woven with great neatness and ingenuity. Sometimes the edges are ornamented with stripes of various colors, or with black diamonds, colored with the husk of cocoa-nuts. In several of the islands, one small square apron of this description constitutes all the clothing; and a broad leaf, or a wreath of leaves, often supplies the place even of this slight garment. The women of New Caledonia and New Hebrides wear a short, clumsy-looking petticoat made of the filaments of the plantain tree, about eight inches long, fastened to a very long cord which is passed several times around the waist, until the filaments lie one above another, several inches in thickness. The queens in the Sandwich islands sometimes wear cloaks, or mantles, made of feathers of various colors, and arranged in all manner of beautiful patterns; but this magnificent dress is worn only by people of the highest rank.

In some of the islands, the women, when they go abroad, hold a green bough, or a banana leaf, over their heads, by way of parasol; or sit down and weave little bonnets of matting or cocoa-leaves, whenever they have need of them. The belles occasionally decorate themselves with fanciful turbans of fine white gnatoo, among which their shining black ringlets are very tastefully arranged. Sometimes they wear a curious kind of head-dress made of human hair, in braids nearly as fine as sewing silk; these braids have been seen more than a mile long, without a knot. Superb coronets of plumes are worn on state occasions by people of distinction.

European fashions were adopted with great eagerness; and their ignorance of the appropriate use of imported articles often led them into the most grotesque blunders. Mr. Stewart says he has seen a native woman of high rank, and monstrous size, going to church in a fine white muslin dress, with a heavy silver-headed cane, an immense French chapeau, thick woodman's shoes, and no stockings. But they soon learned better. In those islands that carry on a traffic with Europe and America, the royal family now have their walking dresses, dinner dresses, and evening dresses, of velvet, satin, or crape, in the most approved style; and their wooden stools are changed for sofas and pillows covered with morocco or damask.

In nearly all the South Sea islands, it is the custom to make an incision in the lobe of each ear, into which they introduce large rolls of leaves, sometimes covered