ferent parts of the globe. The short and squat figure of the Laplander presents a striking contrast with the tall and muscular form of the Caffre or Patagonian. But, by the consent of ages, the standard of beauty established by the Greeks, and to be found in the classic works of that great people which remain to us, has been adopted; for, in these works there is all that can realize ideal beauty to our mind: and, from analysis and measurement of the finest Greek statues, we find that when they wished to represent grace and youth, the proportions used were less than eight heads, but more than seven and a half.

Women, in general, are shorter than men, and the proportional width of each differ. The neck of the woman is a trifle longer and more upright; the shoulders not so square, and much narrower across; the hips much wider; the lower limbs larger; the hands and feet smaller, and the muscles not so marked; consequently the lines which form the contour of the body flow much more gently and smoothly into each other than in man, imparting grace, beauty and softness.

Now, would it not strike you as absurd, and perhaps provoke laughter, if you saw a young lady pluck a lily from its stem, and attempt to beautify it by adding some bright pigment to its delicate and pure colour? Yet this is no moré absurd than trying to alter your shape to suit some ridiculous notion you may have formed of an ideal beauty. How careful we should be in our criticism of what we are pleased to term the fashionable follies of other nations; for, if we ask the question of ourselves, have we no follies among us?-do we not depart from the true standard of beauty and seek distinction in deformity? The tattooing of the New Zealander, the filing and dyeing the teeth black by the Malays, the bits of stone stuffed through a hole in the cheek of the Esquimaux, the crushing of the feet of the Chinese women till all graceful motion in walking is lost, are no greater absurdities than the infatuation of those Europeans and Americans who compress the waist until the ribs are distorted, and the functions of the vital organs are irreparably disordered.

The Venus di Medici is universally admitted to be the standard model of a perfect female figure. It has stood the test of criticism for ages: and there is no compression of the waist; but in all its lines there is a flowing grace which is the admiration of all beholders, standing as a monument of Grecian art, and shewing to what a high state of perfection the Greeks carried ideal beauty. The best cure for an advocate of tight lacing would be to go into a student's dissecting-room, and see the horrible deformity it causes in the skeleton. We are pleased to see this pernicious practice becoming distasteful, and hope it will soon be discontinued altogether. It is a fallacy, and the sooner it is discarded the better, not only in regard to beauty, but health and happiness.

There is another fallacy held by many, that a very small hand and foot are requisite to beauty; and we constantly meet men and women with distorted feet, caused by wearing small boots or shoes. Small hands or feet are certainly very pretty, but they should be in strict proportion to the rest of the body; and they cease to be beautiful, no matter how small they are, if distorted.

We have no inclination to enter into a description of some of the fashionable follies of the day which are springing into a brief existence. Democratic America is not the place to start a fashion; and we have full faith in the stern good sense of American ladies to think that they will ever adopt such a costume-one in which there is no beauty, but deformity, to recommend it. The human form was made for nobler purposes; and the aim of every lady should be to dress in such a manner that she will display its beauties to the best advantage, by dressing in a proper and becoming style.

There is such a restless surging to and fro in the dress of the present day, that we cannot help thinking we are on the eve of a complete revolution. Fashions change so rapidly that it is impossible for a person of limited means to keep pace with them. It does not matter to some individuals how unbecoming it may be to them: let it be fashionable, and they immediately adopt it without consideration. Our eyes are sometimes greeted with strange fancies. We have seen a small woman with a large head make it still larger by an immense chignon; and a short woman all flounces, making herself appear much shorter; and hats that are pretty to the young, round face, adopted by persons on whose face time has left its strong impress. Again, large plaid dress patterns are worn by others, which form a moving mass of bright colours and broken lines, at variance with all graceful motions of the body, not a spot on which the eye can rest and find repose. In this last particular, we think ladies too often err.

The eye soon tires of motion when exercised to excess, and notwithstanding the sublime grandeur of Niagara Falls, it would cease to please, and the eye would turn from it in quest of some quiet spot on which to rest, and like the harmonious contrast of two colours, the beauty of motion is brought in harmony by repose. Apply this law to dress and we soon learn the value of repose. If the dress is figured the shawl or cape should be plain, or if figured, then the dress should be the reverse; by this means the eye is not fatigued but rests upon it with pleasure, the contrary creates confusion. The long sweeping train that trails regardless of dirt, however becoming and graceful it may be in the drawing-room, is certainly out of place in the street, and we can assure the ladies, that if anything pleases the opposite sex, it is a neat and clean appearance about the feet, and certainly the short walking dresses recommend themselves for two reasons-convenience and cleanliness.

To the correct understanding of dressing well, two things are essential, first, a knowledge of the beauty of form of the human body, and secondly, the harmony of colour, and as you perfect yourself in these your taste will improve and instinctively you will avoid all eccentricities of that many-faced monster-fashion, appreciating only what is conducive to beauty of the human form and cease to admire the strong glare of inharmonious colour. The dress, as we observed before, should be a secondary consideration, for the body was not made for dress but dress for the body. Give it your study in a proper spiritnot one of vanity which leads to extravagance: let chasteness and simplicity be your motto. It is better to err in this than in gaudiness.

And at the same time neglect not your mind but store it with all useful knowledge such as will fit you for all the duties of life and make you a pleasant and an agreeable companion, for it is, as Ruskin observes, "your duty to be accomplished," and the influence of woman on the hard rugged nature of man is full of power for good or evil. Woman may dress gaily, be favoured by nature with a pretty face, yet wanting mind, she is but a walking statue. On the other hand, when we meet with a woman not gifted with beauty but possessed of a mind stored full of valuable acquirements, we are pleased with her society and cease to feel that she is not handsome; the beauty of intellect supplies the deficiency; but when some favoured child of nature combines in herself physical, intellectual, and moral beauty, then may she be justly considered as the masterpiece of creation. We

Let none foolishly say that it is useless to educate woman. would have them so educated that if man wishes to retain his boasted superiority he will be forced to make more strenuous efforts to maintain it. There is too much in this world of the saying "that will do "; too much show for appearances sake, and too many "finish their education" when in fact it can scarcely be said to have been begun. They should ever bear in mind the maxim:

"Painful and slow to noble acts we rise

And long, long labours wait the glorious prize."

In no field of study are pleasanter paths to be found, or subject better adapted to woman's nature than the study of the beautiful. When guided by reason and religion it leads to life and virtue, but if we seek it out to minister to our sensual pleasures only, it leads to the opposite -sin and death.

The Creator has given to us a two-fold nature, spiritual and material, and for the proper development of the human race it is essential that both should be equally cultivated. If we disobey a moral or physical law we are punished; and the first great law of nature is to take care of the body, supplying it with healthful food. Destroy the physical powers and the intellectual faculties droop: and according to the division of labour, it is so arranged that the preparing or cooking of food devolves on woman, making it requisite for her to know how to "cook well;" and, with Ruskin, to this conclusion we must come, "that it is the duty of every woman to be pretty, to be accomplished, and to cook well."

The economy of the human frame and the means of preserving it in health and beauty, should form a part in the education of every young lady. She should be educated to avoid all absurd and pernicious fashions calculated to destroy health, for without health there can be no true beauty; and we look forward hopefully to the time when an art education will be extended to all ranks; when good taste will dictate our fashions in dress as well as other things, when a knowledge of the beautiful will be added to the useful, for how true is the saying:

"Each pleasing art gives softness to the mind
And by our studies are our lives refined."

112

STEWART'S LITERARY QUARTERLY MAGAZINE.

LITERARY NOTICES.

MISS MCIVER, of Ottawa, has in press a volume of poems, which
is to appear in a few weeks. It will be bound in cloth, contain 200
pages, and sell for about $2.00. Carroll Ryan, one of "our own" poets,
in a letter to us, says of Miss McIver's coming book: "I can say that
it will be chaste and gentle, with an occasional display of high feeling
and imagination. Her translations are especially fine.”

THE MAGAZINES.

The high standard of the ATLANTIC is still kept up by its enterpris-
ing publishers, Messrs. Fields, Osgood & Co. The March number
is unusually rich.

We have no hesitation in saying that OUR YOUNG FOLKS is the best
juvenile magazine that has ever been issued in America. It has on its
staff the ablest writers in prose and verse, the finest artists, and the
most successful engravers: the combination of talent employed is there-
fore great. Mr. Aldrich's "Story of a bad boy" is the chief attrac-
tion, and, like Sir W. Baker's story, it will be read by boys from "eight
years to eighty," who will derive from its perusal pleasure, profit and
amusement. Any of our readers can have the first four numbers of
Our Young Folks FREE, by addressing Fields, Osgood & Co, Boston.
EVERY SATURDAY.-" He knew he was right," Mr. Trollope's story,
is pronounced by critics, who ought to know, to be the story of the
year. Mr. Dickens' "
Samples" are as good as ever, and some of
them are written in the great author's happiest vein. There is no fall-
ing off in other respects of the merits of this weekly. Same pub'rs.
PUTNAM'S MAGAZINE.-The new series of "Old Put," which in days
gone by was such a power in the land, excels the old. The proprietors
spare no pains to satisfy their patrons. Their bill of fare comprises
the very best the market affords. G. P. Putnam & Son, New York.

LITTELL'S LIVING AGE.-Berthold Auerbach's "Country-house on
the Rhine," translated from the German for LITTELL, is a grand work,
and has many delighted readers in the Dominion. The other contents
of this publication comprise selections from the cream of foreign and
domestic literature. Littell & Gay, Boston.

THE PHRENOLOGICAL JOURNAL.—A gentleman of high literary ability
and taste, while sitting in our office the other day, picked up a copy of
the Journal that was lying on our table, and forthwith commenced to
eulogize it. "I have taken this magazine," said he, "ever since it
was first published, and can unhesitatingly testify to its extraordinary
merits. Its biographies are always clever, and the estimates of cha-
racter formed invariably turn out to be correct. I can recommend it,
and am pleased to see that you take it." Amen," say we, Fowler
& Wells, New York.

66

HARPER'S BAZAR.-Although only in its second volume, the BAZAR
is the leading fashion paper of America. This high position is due,
mainly, to the untiring enterprise of its publishers, the Mess. Harper.

Reviews and other notices crowded out this issue.

ALBERTINE OIL, BRITISH AND FRENCH COOD: