of affection, by which the slightest shade that crosses the open brow is discovered, how alarming must have been the turbid symptoms ! He threw himself into a chair in a paroxysm of emotion, and the faithful partner of his joys and cares, placing her gentle arms around his neck, in soft and trembling accents enquired the cause of his distress. Too soon she learnt it.

His angry father had heard of the new connexion—had reproached him for his alliance with "a beggar"—had accused him of contaminating his blood and bringing shame and disgrace on his family-and with words of wrath and folly had forbidden him his presence at that time and for ever!

Heaven help her!-she knew not of the mine on which she had been standing; but she saw with one intuitive glance that she was the blight which had alighted on the prospects of the one whom she loved beyond the power of expression, and she sunk down by his side, and gave way to the full flood of sorrow with which her swollen heart was bursting.

The elastic mind of youth is not long weighed down even by the heaviest calamities; and the haughty spirit of Vincent, when the first burst of passion was over, renewed the proud defiance breathed in the last words that his exasperated father had heard from his lips. Cecilia, with the weakness of a fond conciliating woman, would fain have lulled the storm. She spoke in mild and melting accents of forgiveness sought and granted-of an acknowledgment. of hastiness, nay, of error-but her tones fell upon an averted ear. A son had blasted the hopes of an impetuous father: that father had spurned at explanation-had execrated the woman he had chosen-had trampled on, insulted and blasphemed the idol of his soul, and never more were their minds to be soothed by the soft sounds of mutual reconciliation.

We now find Vincent Conway expatriated from the country of his birth and his connexions, struggling for distinction in the mighty metropolis of a strange land; and in a profession both new and arduous. Having left the paternal roof without recommendatory credentials, adequate support in his own profession was not to be expected: he had recourse therefore to another species of employment, and became associated with that enlightened body whose industry and intelligence are so widely diffused and so essentially felt amongst the British public. Attached to one of the most distinguished of the daily journals, he became an enthusiastic labourer in the public cause, and for several years readily answered the demands which were incessantly made on his skill and ability.

It may be supposed that such success failed not to insure a corresponding degree of content, and that Vincent and Cecilia Conway were happy. They did indeed endeavour to betray each other into a belief—a dream, if you will-of happiness-but, from the moment that Conway left his native soil, the plague-spot of discontent fastened upon his soul, and preyed there incessantly through the long years to which I have casually adverted. The fond, confiding, all-indulgent creature, for whom he may have been said to have sacrificed every prospect, here and hereafter, did all sie could to render him the happiest of mortals, and in her presence for a time, he was so.

"Misery," it has been said, "makes us acquainted with strange bed-fellows;" so also does it make us acquainted with strange feelings and dispositions. The blooming youth just springing into manhood, who breathes at twenty-one

the solemn vows of unalterable attachment, presents a violent contrast to the world-worn wanderer of forty. The hues of poesy with which he originally decked his narrow universe-the flowers with which he strewed his paths and those of the beloved one by his side-have no place in the dull catalogue of realities in which the rapid steps of Time involve him—the exquisitely-prolonged enchantment is broken-and he awakes to feel the bitter effects of the delusive draught of which he has drunk so deeply.

Some writers more profoundly read in the fatuities attendant on humanity than I am, have asserted that the mind of man is prone to delusion, and without stopping to consider the philosophy of the proposition, I assert that every day's experience furnishes much painful evidence of the melancholy fact. The mind of Vincent Conway had partaken of emancipation in one sense of that important word; but it was only freed from one class of fetters, in themselves comparatively harmless, to become firmly chained by another, at once obnoxious, disgraceful, and dangerous.

About this period, a propensity began to manifest itself in the subject of this sketch, which if it did exist previously had not attracted any formal notice. This was a propensity to bacchanalian gratification. It may be said, perhaps, that his profession in some degree led to the indulgence of this vice. That he had occasionally to meet his brethren of the Press was, indeed, true-and that sometimes their orgies were prolonged to a most unseasonable hour, cannot be denied but the cause which occasioned this pernicious habit to become perpetual, to the exclusion of every sense of duty, decency, and honour, must be sought in something deeper than the occasional outbursts of hilarious friends.As might have been anticipated, the intellect which had been tasked, and that not vainly, for nearly twenty years without shrinking, began to decline under the repeated attacks made upon it in this new mode of warfare; the unnerved hand-the hot and fevered eye-the dull chaotic brain--became the dire concomitants of intemperate excess. The pursuits of industry grew hateful to the sluggish habits of the Bacchanal, and "sloth inglorious" soothed the heavy eye, and lulled the beatings of the bewildered brain. Such a state of things could not be productive of aught save ruin. Unfitted for the due discharge of the duties, by the performance of which he had upheld himself in life, his situation was speedily assigned to another, on whom reliance could be placed, and the unhappy Conway saw himself on the verge of destitution, and his character sullied by the stigma of disgrace. And what was his remedy?--do I not hear some one ask. Did he not see the fatal error, and determine at once to abandon a path leading only to misery and despair? Yes! he did see his error-and he determined on its abandonment-not once, but many times. He saw it, but not within the walls of his too oft deserted dwelling-no ear was gladdened by the recantation of his error-no home-born smile welcomed the returning prodigal! He took his resolves in a tavern-he matured his plans of reformation over fiery draughts of his favourite nectar-and found himself indeed a fallen man!

He found himself fallen in the estimation of the very men with whom he had held his midnight carousals. Like a wayward meteor, he had shot, in his erratic course beneath the elevation of their sphere, and-"his brethren knew him not!" The progress of descent is proverbially facile. Scorned by one caste, he made no scruple to associate with another-he now leagued himself with the scum

B

of intelligence-hunters-the veritable narrators of facts and circumstances as devoid of truth as they themselves are of honour or esteem.

As if bent on ruin, he did not, or could not, stop even here. Associated with the disreputable by day, he could not fly the alluring degradation by night-by night when the spell was strongest and the attachment warmest, he seemed to glory in the infamy with which he had covered himself. By night-the Apollo and the Momus of his maniac circle-he sung his frantic songs and repeated his obscene stories, till the room rang with wild uproar. Then doubly intoxicated, he would loudly boast of his powers; recount, as well as speech and memory would assist him, the feats he had performed and would again, when the time should serve; giving out ambiguous hints that he had detected a conspiracy against the exercise of his faculties, which he averred were still in their lustre-but that envy and malignant distrust had borne him down, as the only means of obscuring a brilliance which might otherwise have grown unbearably effulgent.

And how, it will be asked, did the lone Cecilia bear the long hours spent in this morbid mirth, this destructive dissipation? Who soothed her solitude and fortified her heart against the wild suggestions of neglect and destitution? No one! She sat and struggled with her misery as she could. She knew it must end; and she awaited that end with all the fortitude that she could summon to her aid. But were there no feelings of resentment for continued neglect no remonstrances against this rushing into perdition-no efforts to stem the overwhelming tide of ruin--no attempts to win a wanderer back to rectitude of purpose and of principle-no pointings to the past-no pleadings for the future?—was all as cold and apathetic in her bosom as the gloom which covered her every earthly prospect?— There were no remonstrances--she saw him depart without reproach, and return without a murmur, save of satisfaction that he was yet spared to her. It is thus that woman's love survives when all besides decays-when honour, friends, the voice of fame itself, are all dispersed and scattered to the winds. As it has been said by her poetical countryman in whom the electrical eloquence of song seems concentrated, "When every tongue his follies named, She fled the unwelcome story"—

But, alas!"no gleams of future glory" came to gild her mournful reminiscences. She saw the all of which they were possessed departing-but word of bitterness or scorn never crossed her stainless lips. She regarded him as a "fallen angel," whom it would be mockery to reprove and madness to insult.

"She never blamed him-never !

But received him-when he came, With a welcome kind as ever!" But the colourless and wasted cheek-the tear-dimmed lustre of the languid eye-the fragile and attenuated form, pining for very sustenance-they became the mute but awful monitors of the misguided husband! And did he feel their force? Oh! there were moments when his agonized heart was well nigh bursting at the sight of her; when he heaped deep and unavailing curses on his wretched head for the ruin he had brought upon her. And sheworn, weakly, as she was—would cling to him in the tempest of his self-accusing fury, implore him to desist, and soothe him into calmness. She had not much of his society,

but he was all she had to live for, and, debased as he was, she could not bring her mind to bear the thought of parting from him:

"She knew her cheek was altered,
And she knew her eye was dim—
But her sweet voice only faltered
When she thought of leaving him!”

She had hitherto borne the combined assaults of sorrow and privation with unshrinking fortitude--but she now felt that the hour was at hand when endurance would be conquered, and succour itself ineffectual. In mild accents she made the intimation to the fevered partner of her humble bed-but, alas! he could scarcely comprehend the intelligence. Roused at length to a knowledge of the fatal truth by an affectionate farewell, in which she tenderly sought his forgiveness for having been the cause of all his misery, he rushed from her in a fit of despair to procure that assistance, which, in the blindness of his infatuation, he had never before deemed necessary. After a long search, he hastily returned with a promise of the now unneeded aid. Cecilia was dying-and the wretched husband saw it!

"Speak to me!" said he, kneeling by her side with clasped and trembling hands, "speak to me-but one word-for mercy's sake!"

Her pale lips moved, but no sound issued. She bent her languid eyes upon him with a look-the final struggle between love and death-and, in attempting to grasp his uplifted hand, expired.

It forms no part of my purpose to introduce the fury of his ravings, or the portraiture of his subsequent imbecility. To render him strict justice, he never recovered the shock of this impressive scene.

He lingered a few miserable weeks, no one knew how.— He fled the scenes of his former debauchery, and, as if unable to support the recollections of it, he changed his miserable residence for another equally deplorable, the owner of which was heard one evening to remark that he had not seen his strange tenant that day. On the morrow however, when he ascended the broken staircase to see if all was well with him, he was surprised by the sight of a dark substance issuing from beneath the door of poor Conway's apartment. He touched it with the tip of his finger-it was blood!

Let us not draw the veil significantly interposed between us and the lone unfortunate; and, whilst we take warning from his weakness, let us be indulgent to his memory— though "shadows, clouds, and darkness rest upon it!”

"PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE CAUSES AND TREATMENT OF CURVATURE OF THE SPINE."-By SAMUEL HARE, Surgeon. Simpkin and Marshall.

This work, the production of an author of ability and experience, embraces in a popular and agreeable style subjects of no less importance, and of far more general scope and application, than would be anticipated in a medical essay. Excellent practical instruction is clearly and fully given on matters of the first importance to all mothers, especially in the early treatment and training of infants. In treating of the subject of spinal curvatures, the author enters minutely into the causes of distortion; and impres

occasionally from the want of sustenance, but their uneasiness is attributed to the last cause much oftener than it ought to be; the cause being removed, the distressing cry, being the only means they possess of making known their wants or sufferings, will immediately cease. Children, when very young, are apt to acquire a habit of eating their food too quickly or eagerly, particularly fruit and other articles of which they are fond; mastication is thereby imperfectly performed, digestion impaired, and the health consequently injured.

EXERCISE. Widely different is the physical state of an infant, from that of an adult; the newly-formed bones of the former are soft and flexible, and may easily be made to assume any form, especially when the body is in a diseased state. This accounts for the common origin of such irregularities of form, as are not congenital, but occur at an early period of life. In proportion, therefore, to the delicacy of the infant, will be the care required in its rearing. Much has often been effected in this way by constant and persevering attention; and many weakly and unpromising children have, by judicious management, been raised to maturity, and have passed through life in the enjoyment of a considerable share of health and vigour. A finely formed body is favorable to the enjoyment of sound health. Every one is struck with the commanding figure, the graceful appearance of a person so formed, but few enquire into the reason why all are not so gifted. If parents would have their offspring free from personal defects, if they would have their limbs moulded into the form indicative of grace, activity, and strength, they must commence their attention to them from the time of birth; and although they may not always succeed in securing for them the highest state of physical perfection, yet they will generally be able to affect such an improvement in their constitution, as will form the basis of future health. Children should not be too early set upon their feet, but should rather be placed on their backs upon the floor, that they may exercise their limbs with freedom; the former practice is a frequent cause of malformation in the lower extremities. Especial care should be taken that the spinal column, so tender in young children, may not take a wrong direction. The manner in which a child, and especially a delicate one, is suffered to sit on the nurse's arm should be carefully attended to; and until it have acquired sufficient strength to keep itself erect its back ought to receive proper support. By being suffered to sink into a crouching posture, with the head and shoulders inclining forwards, and the back projecting, a bad habit is soon contracted, which often leads to distortion of the spine. Neither is it in the arms alone, that this attention is required; the effect is not less injurious, if the child be suffered to sit long in a chair, as when fatigued, it will naturally adopt that position which at the moment affords most ease. Here it may not be irrelevant to notice the very common and reprehensible practice of raising a young child by its arms, in such a manner, thet the sides of the chest being pressed by the hands, or rather the knuckles, of the nurse, its cavity is diminished, the sternum, or breast-bone, pushed out, and that deformity produced in delicate children, commonly called "pigeon breasted."

A too softened state of the bones, so common with children born of unhealthy parents, reared in unhealthy situations, or improperly managed in their infancy, is the principal cause of that peculiar condition of the body, known

by the familiar epithet of RICKETS, as a great predisposing cause of distortion of the spine. Under these unfavorable circumstances, the organs of nutrition cannot efficiently perform their functions, the circulating system is inadequately supplied with the requisite materials for the deposition of the earthy part of the bones, which from their softness, are incapacitated for sustaining the superincumbent weight.

In all cases where a child is delicate and puny, and supposed to suffer under the effects of diseased organization, when the symptoms are such as denote weakness of the back, and consequent incapacity to support the weight of the head and shoulders, it ought, without delay, to be minutely examined. It cannot be too forcibly or too frequently impressed upon the minds of parents and others who are entrusted with the care of children, that this disease if attended to on its first appearance admits of an easy and speedy cure, but that the longer it is neglected, the more tedious will be the treatment, the greater the suffering, and the more dubious the result. The propriety of this caution is the more necessary, as cases are of frequent occurrence, where by early investigation, incipient curvatures of the spine have been detected, which were not even suspected to exist. Important as the subject must, on consideration, appear to be, it is obvious that the periods of infancy and childhood do not generally receive that degree of attention which they so urgently require. Does the horticulturist in the prosecution of his calling, find it necessary to be unremitting in his attention to his young plants? Do the sportsman and others, engaged in the rearing of a superior breed of the irrational animals, find the advantage of superior care and assiduity in training?and shall man be indifferent as to the means of effecting improvement in his own species? Surely, if the remark of a celebrated poet, that

"The proper study of mankind is man,"

be allowed to be correct, whatever has a tendency to meliorate his condition, and to effect an improvement both in his mental and bodily constitution, should be carefully studied. Much however might be effected in the improvement of the human race, as it respects his corporeal state, were the public attention more forcibly directed to the subject. The preceding remarks will, it is hoped, be instrumental in some degree, in effecting so desirable an object.

In the selection of suitable persons to discharge the humble, but important, duties of the nursery, regard should be had to such as possess adequate strength, to enable them to give the child sufficient exercise, by keeping its body in almost constant action during its waking hours; this should be done as much as possible in the open air. A decided preference should be given to girls of good temper, and a lively disposition, and particularly to those who are fond of children, and in whom, there is reason to believe, full confidence can be placed.

CLOTHING, TRAINING, &c.-The condition of an infant is one of deep interest; its extreme helpnessness and its innocency, give it strong claims upon the humane for protection and support. If its state be such as to excite the compassion and sympathy of an indifferent spectator, how greatly must these feelings be augmented in the breast of a parent, and especially that of a mother! Language indeed would be almost inadequate to the task of fully describing the close affinity, the intimate connexion, the countless ties, that bind the mother to her infant offspring.

(To be continued.)

LONDON AND PARISIAN FASHIONS.

DRESSES. From the very decided difference in the temperature at about the period of our writing, and the probability of a continuance of cold weather, the varied novelties in make and material, which some of our first-rate establishments have been some time back preparing, will come into immediate requisition; and it will be for those ladies with whom ton is of the first consideration, to supply themselves without loss of time, before a general use shall hackney these elegant productions. The general tone of the articles for the season is that of richness and elegance.

The prevalent taste for by-gone splendor, has produced a plainly perceptible effect upon the style of the modern innovations, which are in numerous cases mere revivals of various obsolete articles of costume, adapted more or less to modern usages.

Furs are introduced with a profusion that requires care and taste in the placing and choice, now most especially, otherwise the dress assumes a crowded and ungainly appearance.

Martin fur as trimmings for ordinary dresses, shawls, &c. With velvets, cashmere cloaks, &c. the ermines and the richer class of furs prevail.

The paletots, witshouras, and other similarly constructed costumes, or rather costumes constructed for similar purposes, as additions to the winter costume, are beyond all peculiarly adapted for the reception of the fashionable sorts of fur, and are admirably set off by them.

The black satin pelisses, which are seen worn by ladies of ton, short in the skirt, but with a very deep bordering of black lace or fur, are varied in a very becoming manner in the sleeve, or the make of the front, &c.

The burnous are equally fashionable as hitherto, and are seen in all varieties of fabric.

Velvet shawls, are in considerable vogue, they are frequently deeply fringed with lace, silk fringe, &c. Printed velvets are now in use, and are in some cases most beautiful in pattern and impression.

The shot silk and satin shawls, are also much admired. A new style of pelerine laced on the shoulders, is obtaining great vogue, it affords a very pleasing variety to the recent additions and introductions to the fashionable toilette.

The introduction of Redingotes in cloth is highly approved by ladies, and forms a subject of considerable gratulation in the "Petit Courrier," which speaks in lively strains of satisfaction of it, with respect to its appropriateness now, its general applicability for the promenade, the visit, the carriage, and we may ourselves add, that the introduction cannot fail of being duly appreciated by a large accession of admirers. An approved mode of ornament consists of a treble row of worked crinoline buttons instead of passementerie, which has the effect of causing an agreeable variety.

The crinoline jupe, bouffanted, is as applicable to this as to any species of costume, being capable of being made a strongly sustaining support, it disposes the folds in any required manner.

Among the very elegant paletots which have come under our notice at some of the fashionable assemblies may be cited one in marone velvet, lined with white satin, and profusely ornamented with ermine.

One of cachmere had martin trimmings, and a pearl grey satin paletot had a rose colored lining and chinchilla trimmings.

The Palatines have been perfected to a degree calculated for use and ornament in the highest degree; for the theatre, the ball, or concert room it is a great acquisition, and has obtained a proportionate vogue.

HATS, CAPS, &c.-The prevailing style of bonnets is characterized by few peculiarities, differing in any great degree from those of which we have recently rendered a rather detailed account.

The tendency is still to approximate to the head in the upper part, and to be shaped rather close to the face in front, and at the sides, the ends to fall low, and may be still seen meeting or almost meeting, under the chin. Velvet and satin for the most part prevail, ribbons of the same,. sometimes of gauze. Velvet flowers, feathers, &c., serve to embellish them.

A pretty style of ornament may be observed in these bonnets, having a ribbon slightly twisted at the upper portion, between the crown and brim, and edged with a deep net quilling on one side, and a narrower application of the same on the other side.

Velvet flowers are employed to a greater extent than have previously come under our observation, though but partially capable of giving an idea of the productions of nature in this department, they are when well and tastefully made exceedingly becoming, and elegantly appropriate to the prevailing modes.

The dyed feathers may be frequently observed, but in these care is necessary to make a particularly good selection of the article, both as to color and workmanship; graduated tints, the deepest terminating in the particular shade of the bonnet.

Black lace is much used in ornamenting the hats and bonnets of the present season, and is both applied to the bonnet as a border, or voilette, as a curtain, or an edging to the ribbon or other ornament; with satin ribbons it is very appropriately placed, and seldom fails of producing a becoming effect.

MATERIALS AND COLORS.-Of these, but little can as yet be said. It will be seen in the general notice, and in the engraved illustrations, that there is no important change in these respects since our last writing.

Of Velvets and Satins, Cashmeres, Gros de Tours, Mousseline de Laines. &c. the same may be quoted; the former in the ball-room have been frequently observed, of light or pale shades.

Pale lilac, or straw color, and embroideries or crinoline ornaments of rather darker tints.

Cloth for redingotes or pelisses, has already been spoken of. Though there have been some most beautiful introductions in the way of designs, the fabrics themselves we shall be able to speak of much more at large in our next.

VARIETIES.-Point and lace scarfs are fashionable; the style is for the most part of an ancient date, and the embroideries very elaborate and beautiful.

Lace is used among other departments of costume for flounces, and a couple or three rows, differing in width, has an exceedingly rich and elegant effect.

Boas will be again frequent; sable and chincilla still hold the sway.

A novel importation from Australia and New Zealand, called Mink, and greatly resembling sable, has attracted notice; boas of this material look extremely well.

Dentelle d'or is prevalent with dresses of rich material. The little velvet fichus, with lace trimmings, are admired, and generally becoming.