Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB
[graphic][ocr errors]

THE COURT MAGAZINE,

AND

Belle Assemblée,

FOR OCTOBER, 1833.

GENEALOGICAL MEMOIR OF MISS MARIAN MILLICENT BARTON.

[blocks in formation]

did not entirely obliterate its monastic appearance: and it is still in many respects worthy the attention of the antiquary.

This property has now passed into the ancient family of Rawstorne of the same county, and is in the possession of Lawrence Rawstorne, Esq.

Miss Barton's family on the maternal side boasts of equal, if not still greater, antiquity; tracing their descent in an uninterrupted line from one of the captains in the army of William the Conqueror, who obtained a grant of the property of Crofton Hall, in the county of Cumberland, which Sir Wastel Brisco, Bart., the head of the family, at present possesses.

SUMMER SONGS, BY MRS. HEMANS.

II.-NIGHT-BLOWING FLOWERS.

CHILDREN of night! unfolding meekly, slowly,
To the sweet breathings of the shadowy hours,
When dark-blue heavens look softest and most holy,
And glow-worm light is in the forest bowers;

To solemn things and deep,

To spirit-haunted sleep,
To thoughts, all purified
From earth, ye seem allied,
O dedicated flowers!

U

VOL. III.-NO. IV.

Ye, from the crowd your vestal beauty turning,
Keep in dim urns the precious odour shrined,
Till steps are hush'd and faithful stars are burning,
And the moon's eye looks down, serenely kind;
So doth love's dreaming heart

Dwell from the throng apart;
And but to shades disclose

The inmost thought which glows,
With its pure life entwined.

Shut from the sounds wherein the day rejoices,
To no triumphant song your petals thrill;
But yield their fragrance with the faint sweet voices
Rising from hidden founts when all is still,
So doth lone prayer arise,

Mingling with secret sighs,
When grief unfolds, like you,
Her breast, for heavenly dew
In silent hours to fill.

III. THE WANDERING WIND.

THE wind, the wandering wind
Of golden summer eves!
Whence is the thrilling magic

Of its tones among the leaves?

Oh, is it from the waters

Or from the long, tall grass?
Or is it from the hollow rocks

Through which its breathings pass?

Or is it from the voices

Of all in one combined,

That it wins the tone of mastery?
The wind, the wandering wind!

No, no, the strange sweet accents
That with it come and go,
They are not from the osiers,
Or the fir-trees, whispering low.

They are not of the river,

Nor of the caverned hill:

'Tis the human love within us
That gives them power to thrill.

They touch the links of memory
Around our spirits twined,
And we start, and weep, and tremble,
To the wind, the wandering wind!

HABITS OF THE ROMAN LADIES.

Ir has been remarked that "a fondness for adorning the person for the sake of obtaining admiration from men is natural to all women." Now allowing this to be true, surely no one can condemn so laudable a desire of pleasing on the part of the fair sex, whatever may be its ulterior object. The female mind, for the most part, has so few important considerations wherewith to occupy itself, and so few opportunities of publicly displaying its judgment and taste, except in matters of dress, that we cannot wonder at seeing so much attention paid to it by women of every class; besides, when it is remembered that the amount expended by ladies in articles of dress and bijouterie by far exceeds that spent by the "lords of the creation" for the same purpose, a female fondness for fashion must always be considered as a national blessing, and one of the many advantages derived from a splendid court. We would, however, by no means be understood as advocating that excessive love of dress which is indulged in by some, reckless of all consequences, and which would almost induce them, Tarpeia-like, to sacrifice their country for a bracelet. The opening remark was made on the Roman ladies some two thousand years ago, and it is of their different dresses that we now propose to treat; these, in splendour, richness, and gracefulness, were not surpassed even by those of the present day, if we may judge from the little insight afforded us by old Latin writers into the mysteries of a Roman lady's toilette.

The ladies of ancient Rome rose early, and immediately enjoyed the luxury of the bath, which was sometimes of perfumed water; they then underwent a process of polishing with pumice-stone for the purpose of smoothing the skin, and after being anointed with rich perfumes they threw around them a loose robe and retired to their dressing-rooms, where they received morning visits from their friends, and discussed the merits of the last eloquent speech delivered in the senate, or the probable conqueror in the next gladiatorial combat. After the departure of their visiters commenced the business of the toilette, which occupied a considerable portion of time; the maids were summoned, to each of whom a different duty was assigned: some formed a kind of council and only looked on to direct and assist the others by their advice and experience; one held the mirror before

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

The bodkin, comb, and essence to prepare." With the exception of the looking-glass the articles of the toilette were much the same as those in use at present. The glass, or, more properly speaking, mirror, was composed of a highly polished plate of metal*, generally silver, richly chased around the edges, and adorned with precious stones; this was not fixed in a frame like the modern glass, but held by a slave. The combs were formed of ivory and rose-wood. Curling tongs, bodkins, and hair pins were also known; the former was a simple bar of iron heated in the fire, around which the hair was turned in order to produce a curl; the two latter were made of gold and silver, and ornamented with pearls; it was probably with one of these bodkins that Cleopatra gave herself a death-wound, and not, as is commonly supposed, with an adder.

The use of perfumes, cosmetics, and depilatories, prevailed to a great extent amongst the Romans; the first were obtained at a considerable expense from India, Greece, and Persia; there are still in existence a few recipes for making the cosmetics used two thousand years ago, and which will be found to have many ingredients in common with similar preparations of our own time. Ovid gives the following, and adds, that those who use it will possess a complexion smoother than the surface of their polished mirrors :— "Take two pounds of Lybian barley, free from straw and chaff, and an equal quantity of the pea of the wild vetch, mix these with ten eggs, let it harden and pound it, add two ounces of hartshorn, and a dozen roots of the narcissus bruised in a mortar, two ounces of gum, and two ounces of meal, reduce the whole to a powder, sift it, and add nine times the quantity of honey." Some used poppy juice and water, and others a pap or poultice of bread and milk, with which they completely covered the face, and kept on in their own houses; this when removed left the skin smooth and fair. Depilatories were used to form and adorn the eyebrows, which it was considered elegant to have joined across the nose.

*Looking glasses were known to the Romans and obtained from the Phoenicians, but they were not in general use.

« ZurückWeiter »