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