The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-11-27 00:00:00

SUPPLEMENT TO THE LIVERPOOL STAN 188 used by young men. Elderly gentlemen had the shoe fastened with small buckles on the instep. Ladies wore the hair becomingly curled round the face. A flowing coif, or rather veil, of the finest linen, was fastened on the head, and fell around it. The chemise had a tucker or border above the boddice, which was open in front, and fastened with gold or silver clasps, or jewellery. The sleeves were full. The large tub hoop made its appearance in this reign. The apology for it was its coolness in summer, by admitting a free cir culation of air. Flounces and furbelows prevailed, and embroidered shoes and gloves continued the fashion." Little difference was made in dress during the reign of George I. Spanish broad cloth, trimmed with gold lace, was still in use for ladies' dresses; and scarfs, greatly furbelowed, were worn from the duchess to the peasant, as were riding-hoods on horseback. The mask continued till the followiug•reign. We will conclude by quoting a brief description of the dress of a country squire and madam at the commencement of the reign of George lII. eighty to ninety years ago. The squire " com monly appeared in a plain drab or plush coat, large silver buttons, a jockey cap, and rarely without boots." The dress of the lady consisted of a " stiff starched cap and hood, a little hoop, a rich silk damask gown with large flowers, and she leant on an ivory-headed crutch-cane."— Hogg's Instructor. GREAT 11EN: THEIR MOMENTS OF COMPOSITION. Luther, when studying, always had his dog lying at his feet—a dog he had brought from Wartburg, and of which he was very fond, An ivory crucifix stood on the table before him, and the walls of his study were stuck round with caricatures of the Pope. He worked at his desk for days together without going out ; but when fatigued, and the ideas began to stagnate in his brain, he would take his flute or his guitar with him into the porch, and there execute some musical fantasy (for he was a skilful musician), when the ideas would flow upon him again as fresh as flowers after summer's rain. Music was his invariable solace at such times. Indeed, Luther did not hesitate to say, that after theology, music was the first of arts. " Music," said he, " is the art of the prophets ; it is the only other art which, like theology, can calm the agitations of the soul, and put the devil to flight." Next to music, if not before it, Luther loved children and flowers. That great, gnarled man, had a heart as tender as a woman's. C-r—o!vin studied in his bed. Every morning, at five or six o'clock, he had books, manuscripts, and papers carried to him there, and he worked on for hours together. If he had occasion to go out, on his return he undressed and went to bed again to continue his studies. In his latter years he dictated his writings to secretaries. He rarely corrected anything. The sentences issued com plete from his mouth. If he felt his facility of composition leaving him, he forthwith quitted his bed, gave up writing and composition, and went about his out-door duties for days, weeks, and months together. But as soon as he felt the in spiration fall upon him again, he went back to his bed, and his secretary set to work forthwith. _ _ Richelieu amused himself in the intervals of his labour with a squadron of cats, of whom he was very fond. He used to go to bed at eleven at night, and after sleeping three hours rise and write, dictate, or work, till from six to eight o'clock in the morning, when his daily levee was held. This worthy student displayed an extrava gance equalling that of Wolsey. His anneal expenditure was some four millions of franca, or about £170,000 sterling. How different the fastidious temperance of Milton! He drank water and lived on the humblest fare. In his youth he studied during the greatest part of the night ; but in his more advanced years he went early to bed—by nine o'clock—rising to his studies at four in summer and five in winter. He studied till mid-day ; then he took an hour's exercise, and after dinner he sang and played the organ, or listened to others' music. He studied again till six, and from that hour till eight he engaged in conversation with friends who came to see him. Then he supped, smoked a pipe of tobacco, drank a glass of water, and went to bed. Glorious visions came to him in the night, for it was then, while lying on his couch, that he composed in thought the greater part of his sublime poem. Sometimes when the fit of composition came strong upon him, he would summon his daughter to his side to commit to paper that which he had composed. _ The life of Liebnitz was one of reading, writing, and meditation. That was the secret of his pro digious knowledge. After an attack of gout, he confined himself to a diet of bread and milk. Often he slept in a chair ; and rarely went to bed till after midnight. Sometimes he was months without quitting his seat, where he slept by night and wrote by day. He had an ulcer in his right leg, which prevented his walking about, even had he wished to do so. The chamber in which Montesquieu wrote his Spirit of the Laws, is still shown at his old an cestral mansion, hung about with its old tapestry and curtains ; and the old easy chair in which the philosopher sat is still sacredly preserved there. The chimney-jam bears the mark of his toot, where be used to rest upon it, his legs crossed, when composing his books. His Persian Letters were composed merely for pastime, and were never intended for publication. The principles of laws occupied his life. In the study of these he spent twenty years, losing health and eye sight in the pursuit. As in the case of Milton, his daughter read for him, and acted as his secre tary. In his portrait of himself, he said—" I awake in the morning rejoiced at the sight of day. I see the sun with a kind of ecstasy, and for the rest of the day I am content. I pass the night without waking, and in the evening, when I go to bed, a kind of numbness prevents me indulging in reflections. With me, study has been the sovereign remedy against disgust of life, having never had any vexation which an hour's reading has not dissipated. But I have the disease of making books, and of being ashamed when I have made them." Bufibn used to work on pages of five distant columns, like a ledger. In the first columns he wrote out the first draught ; in the second be corrected, added, pruned, and improved ; thus proceeding until he had reached the fifth column, in which he finally wrote out the result of his labour. But this was not all. He would some times re-write a sentence twenty times, and was once fourteen hours in finding the proper word for the turning of a period ! Buffon knew nearly all his works by heart. On the contrary, Cuvier never re-copied what he had once written. He composed with great rapidity, correctness and precision. His mind was always in complete order, and his memory was exact and extensive. Some writers have been prodigiously laborious in the composition of their works. Caesar had, of course, an immense multiplicity of business, as a general, to get through ; but he had always a secretary by his side, even when on horseback, to IARD. :Novi 'ffBLU whom he dictated ! and often he occupied three secretaries at once. His famous taries" are said to have been composed horseback. Some writers composed with great others slowly and with difficulty. 13 ) himself that though he felt driven hod he was in a state of torture un til he had livered himself of what he had to 60, writing never gave him any pleasure ; to be a severe labour. Scott, on the possessed the most extraordinary fl dashed off a great novel of three volu the same number of weeks. Many authors have been distinguts, fastidiousness of their composition --1 satisfied, but correcting and recorre last moment. Cicero spent his old a recting his orations ; Massillon, i n p oll sermons ; Fenelon corrected his Tel' times over. r ote Of thirty verses which Virgil at morning, there were only ten lef t ,„ Milton often cut down forty verses — 0 Buffon would condense six pages int ° paragraphs. Montaigne, instead of et amplified and added to its first sketch . had great difficulty in making his said—" If I write four words, I them ;" and at another time—" I si three hours for a rhyme !" Some authors were never satis, work. Virgil ordered his iEneid Voltaire* cast his poem of the Lc fire. Racine and Scott could not their productions aga'n. Michael always dissatisfied ; he found faults in and most admired works. A great deal might be said 0- h De mos failures of authors and orators• sch stammered, and was almost inatid"l' first tried to speak before Phial:)• like a man moribund. Other orators down, like Demosthenes, in their Curran tried to speak, for the first meeting of the Irish Historical Socie words died on his lips, and he sat titters—an individual present chars as orator Mum. Boileau broke doyen vocate, and so did Cowper, our own tesquieu and Bentham were also fa , same profession, but mainly through it. Addison, when a member of ti Commons, once rose to speak, but overcome his diffidence, and ever aft, silent. ILLUSTRATIONS OF -E PROVERBS• " The middle path is the best?' t be The meaning of this proverb 1 05 i lie all who read it, and it will require bu" to exhibit the same principle under on our part to prove its truthfuleedsslif v, an is d d , o i m n ,ththeefißrsitblien,staanndceh,elnetceuds deiri'reesrl' operation may not be devoid of tration of our subject. It is contain, address to his pupil Ithliel—" Give wen; nor riches ; feed me with food eon who if I be full and deny thee, an d sa y, or lest I be poor and steal, and take the eg o riv t e o a th be , in vain." What do we gather from thit very rich and the abject poor are alike - I great temptation—the one arising. from ,of abundance, the other from the dire NOT, iii world's goods. Those of a middle statiel'o, therefore, are more likely to escape the 511 , 4 consequently to avoid the sin and its attendov_."c, Apart, however, from one's worldly eircun)Ore' may regard man in his social habit ; and ae he , 3 we observe the supe riorit y of the " golll• , 4 ; hav e b o lv fir' t e ' - 1 .ioe,gill st Fit 44 ty. 4 If Lt d° pei i cter ls " 4 11, 115 poe t. tilli re° ltya &FP I ( 3 , the ' he k I N fter ,1,1 5 . 1 / 4 1t/ re ePP• f r tle ag e -N ev er Tent ) 1 0, st and so„l?"beau4 ,e -L, ued In eh' an o te i s e fell :1 ,e 13a b , f A try is, t , Q , e tt • Or l. : u s es e l i t D e (do ' I lit. e at : Pi li t u eli r ir : z 7, I. czstil . ;teat influe . 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