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As was predicted in an earlier number, velvet ribbon has become the favorite style of trimming for all heavier materials, whether formed into cloaks or dresses. We give a beautiful cloak, the Sontag, trimmed in this way, as Fig. 1.

The shape, it will be seen, is a large, full sacque, tight on the shoulders, and falling into a full, open sleeve. It may be made of merino, cloth, or cashmere. The trimming, which is very full, nearly

covering the sacque, is of alternate rows of narrow silk braid and velvet ribbon, of the same color as the cloak. Dark green, different shades of browns, fawns, claret, and blue, are the favorite colors. Silk will be found much warmer than cambric muslin in lining a cloak, though the latter is often used, faced with silk. A good Florence will be found much warmer and softer than a richer silk, and is most generally preferred, even in the most elegant

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MY DEAR MRS. PETER: I feel exceedingly obliged to you for the perusal of Mrs. Hale's "Appeal to American Christians on behalf of the Ladies' Medical Missionary Society." It may be supposed by some that, situated as we missionaries are, in a far-off land, and under the constant pressure of occupation in our own appropriate work, we have little time or disposition to watch the progress of things in America; but I can say with truth that nothing that is going on there escapes our notice. We are well supplied with newspapers and magazines, and you may be assured that we use them to some purpose. And among the wise and benevolent projects which have been started in America of late years, that of providing the means of giving to females a medical education, for practice among their own sex, has attracted my particular attention, and from the first moment I heard of it I gave it my unqualified approbation. I trust the time is now near at hand when this branch of practice in America will be, where it always should have been, in the hands of females alone.

But what I wish very briefly to say to you in the present communication is, that I feel quite sure that female missionary physicians, of the right stamp, would be most important auxiliaries to the missionary work in this part of the world. As society is here constituted, little indeed is the influence a missionary can directly exert on the female portion of the community. You know the habits of female seclusion universally prevalent in this country, and you know how little education there is among this class of the population. True, we have made a hopeful beginning on a small scale, and in the whole country we have several hundreds of Armenian females already connected with our congregations, and of course under our direct influence; but, alas! how little is the access we can gain to the tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands that remain!

But let one of their own sex come among them, well acquainted with the medical art, and with a heart burning

*Wife of William Peter, Esq., British Consul at Philadelphia. Mrs. Peter is an American lady, well and widely known for her philanthropy and her efforts to promote the real improvement of her own sex. She has lately returned from an extensive tour in the Old World, and reports that in all the missionary stations she visited, British as well as American, the idea of qualifying pious women, wives of missionaries or teachers, to practise as physicians for their own sex and children, was received with approbation.

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with the desire to do good, and I really think she would find herself placed in one of the most enviable positions for usefulness that could be found in this world. The peo ple have a superstitious reverence for those who have a knowledge of diseases and their remedies; and, although we could not honestly wish to foster this feeling, yet while it exists it may be turned to good account, and gradually it would be displaced by more just and reasonable views, while still the skilful medical practitioner would find her services no less in demand.

I may be too sanguine, but it is my present belief that a well-taught female physician in this place would find access to the families of all classes of the people, not excepting the Mohammedans, and she would not find time to attend to one-quarter of the calls that would be made upon her professional services. If, now, in connection with her medical knowledge and experience, she possessed the love of Christ, and the zeal of Christ for the maladies of the soul, how unlimited would be her opportunities for doing good! She would gain access where the missionary never can go, and access, too, to that portion of the community which greatly influences all the rest; for even in Turkey, where woman is so degraded, she still wields a mighty influence in society; for here, as everywhere else, it is true that those who stamp the character of the nursery stamp the character of the nation.

I long to see the experiment made among us; and, with the hope that much time will not elapse before it shall be attempted, I will venture to offer a few hints as to some practical questions connected with the carrying out of such an enterprise. It appears to me plain that, for the comfort and happiness of the individual, as well as for greater usefulness to the cause we all love, she should come out in connection with the American Board of Missions. As no other American society has any operations going on here, she must either be in connection with us, or stand alone. Of the undesirableness and impracticability of the latter course, it is not necessary that I should particularly speak, for your own mind will at once perceive the thing in its true light. Of course, I am not able to say what would be the view of our Committee on the subject, but I do not see why such an individual, properly qualified, might not be regularly appointed as assistant missionary to be attached to this station. She would be useful to the missionary families, and would soon find work enough to do among the people.

The acquisition of the Turkish language would be an indispensable condition for her full success. Indeed, she could do little or nothing without it. If she knew also French or Italian, it would be a decided advantage. The Turkish language would give her access to all classes of the native population.

But I will not enlarge. I will only add that I shall be most happy to furnish any information in my power to Mrs. Hale, or anybody else who takes an interest in this subject; and glad shall I be to hear that this plan is sotually going into effect.

I remain, my dear Mrs. Peter,
Very sincerely yours,

H. G. O. DWIGHT.

LATE HOURS.-It is hard to tell, observes an historian, why, all over the world, as the age became more luxurious, the hours became later. Was it the crowd of amusements that pushed on the hours gradually? or were people of fashion better pleased with the secrecy and silence of the night, when the vulgar industrious had gone to rest? In past ages, there were few pastimes but what daylight afforded.

ART-EDUCATION OF CHILDREN.-A recent traveller in England says: "We have found the children of Queen Victoria, at nine in the morning, at the Museum of Practical Art; and, on another occasion, at the same hour, amidst the Elgin marbles-not the only wise hint to the mothers of England to be found in the highest place. Accustom your children to find beauty in goodness, and goodness in beauty."

REWARD OF FEMALE COURAGE.-The "Moniteur" announces that the Cross of the Legion of Honor has just been granted to Madame Abicot de Ragis, who, on the 21st of December last, gave proof of singular courage in contending alone against three malefactors who had invaded her house, in order to burn the archives of the commune of Oison, of which her husband is the mayor. Madame Abicot de Ragis was badly burned, and wounded with a poniard.

DRESS. Bear it in mind, my young friends, that your dress is a sort of index to your character; that a studied and just economy in dress indicates prudence and forethought, a reference to your future wants, and to the claims of others. How much nobler is this than to be the slave of Fashion, an imitator of the follies of those richer than yourselves one of that frivolous class wittily designated as "clothes-people," because mind, body, and estate are sacrificed to clothes!

Economy is not limited to avoiding extravagance. It will induce you to purchase the most substantial and durable materials for your dress. For example, to buy a straw hat instead of a silk one, a calico instead of a muslin gown, &c. Economy will teach you to mend up an old gown, and make it do, instead of buying a new one.

Nothing will aid you so much in the practice of economy in your dress as expertness with your needle. No American woman, let her speak all the tongues, and play on all the instruments invented, can be said to be educated, if she is not a good needlewoman. With a little pains, you may learn how to make your own gowns. With ingenuity, you can turn and refit them. It would not cost you half the trouble and time it does to learn to embroider muslin well; and, tell me, which contributes the more to a good appearance, a neatly repaired and well-fitted dress, or a worked collar? Which would give you the most favorable impression of the character of the wearer?

TRIBUTE TO MRS. ANNE HILL.--This excellent and accomplished woman was one of the victims in that awful catastrophe, the burning of the Henry Clay. None has been more lamented among the multitude there sacrificed to the reckless spirit of emulation which gives the swiftest steamboat its popularity, and therefore its conductors their power over human destiny. The death of Mrs. Hill is, indeed, a public loss. She was engaged, most successfully, in carrying out the experiment of the "School of Design for Women," established in this city, about four years ago, by Mrs. Sarah Peter. Mrs. Hill had had charge of the school nearly a year, and had gained the entire confidence of both managers and pupils. In a letter of condolence to the

afflicted family of the deceased, the latter thus bear testimony to her worth:

"Never was there a person more completely fitted to gain the affections of those around her than Mrs. Hill. Never a woman better adapted by nature and education for the position in which she was placed. Firm, yet mild and gentle-ready and intelligent-acute and penetrating -with an extraordinary faculty of adaptation, yet without the constitutional impatience so frequently associated with these qualities; animated and spirited, without being vehement and passionate, she was capable of exercising a remarkable degree of self-control, either natural or acquired. She appeared to possess, by intuition, that insight into character which, with some minds, is the result of longcontinued reflection, attained only by habits of inference and analogy.

"The happy faculty, also, of keeping in shadow whatever was calculated to dampen and sadden the feelings of her pupils was most particularly a virtue of our much lamented teacher."

The managers of the Franklin Institute, of Pennsylvania, who were also patrons and advisers of the lady managers of the "School of Design," thus record their respect for her memory:

"The Committee on the 'School of Design for Women' have the painful duty of announcing to the Institute the death of Mrs. Anne Hill, the Principal of said school. She left the city, a few weeks ago, to enjoy a short vacation from the labors of the school, and was one of the passengers on board of the steamboat Henry Clay, at the time such a lamentable destruction of life attended the conflagration of that vessel. Mrs. Hill was one of those drowned in an attempt to escape from the boat, and there seems reason to believe that she fell a sacrifice to her efforts to save a drowning child. She had endeared herself to the committee, to the pupils in the school, and to all its contributors and patrons, by the uniform devotion and energy she manifested in the welfare and success of the school, by her complete adaptations, personal, moral, and professional, for its management, and by those ready and practical talents which so remarkably contributed to its usefulness, and to the enjoyment of the public confidence.

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"By this sudden and afflicting dispensation of Providence, the school has been bereaved of a head which it will be difficult to replace; her children and family have lost a kind, faithful, and religious mother and relative, and the community has been deprived of one whose career of usefulness in a new philanthropic effort was full of the promise of rich and abundant good.

"Sincerely condoling with all those who have thus lost one endeared to them by the possession of such gifts, the committee offer the following resolutions:

"Resolved, That the sympathy and condolence of the Institute be, and the same are hereby tendered to the family of Mrs. Anne Hill, to her late pupils, and to her friends, in the great and irreparable bereavement which they have suffered by her death.

"Resolved, That a copy of the foregoing resolutions be transmitted to the family of Mrs. Hill by the President of the Institute, and that the same be entered at large upon the minutes, as a humble tribute of our estimation of her usefulness. S. V. MERRICK, President."

CHRISTMAS!-and a merry one, will, we hope, be enjoyed by our readers. This holiday is so near neighbor of New Year, that we anticipate the last while thinking of the first. The farewell we bid our readers and friends at the close of this number seems united with the welcome we shall give them to our new volume of January, 1853.

VOLUME XLV. This number closes the forty-fifth volume of the "Lady's Book !" If age proves merit in a literary magazine, onrs may well claim the crown. No other periodical of the kind in our land has been so long and well sustained. We ask a continuance of this liberal support: we are resolved to merit the patronage of all who wish to sustain the credit of American talent, and improve the character of American literature.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.-The following articles are accepted: "The East," "On the Common Fallacy that Youth is a Blessing," "Presentiment," ""Twas the Dawning of Day," "The Message to the Dead," "Sonnet," "The Dream-land of Hope," "Not at Home," "The Zephyr's Message,” “Hil Allah!" "Scene at the Cascade Bridge," and "Life in Earnest."

The following are declined; some because we have no room, and others because not adapted to our pages: "Memory," ," "The Lone Heart's Complaint," "A Dirge," "Lake Ontario," "I'll think of Thee, Amanda," "The Past," "Letter to my Father," "The Three Boons," "Love and Poesy," "When Echo answers Echo," "To the Lark," "The Weary World," "A Last Look," "Gossips," "The Dead," "A Truce to my Aspirings," "Wonders," "She is Gone," and "A Winter Song."

A number of articles on hand we have not had time to examine. The writers are not forgotten; and we thank our many friends for their constant favors.

Lady Subscribers."-Smoking-cap in our next number. "Nina," Mexico, N. Y.-What was the title of the article? Please be explicit.

"W. II. W.," New York.-Must have a little patience with us. There are MSS. that we have had on hand a long time, that must take precedence. The corrections will be made.

Literary Notices.

From J. S. REDFIELD, Clinton Hall, New York, through W. B. ZIEBER, Philadelphia:

PHILOSOPHERS AND ACTRESSES. From the French of Arsene Houssaye. Two volumes. A knowledge of the subjects of these volumes--French philosophers and French actresses-would be, to most minds, satisfactory evidence with regard to their worthless character. Yet, although the author has not kept very closely to his subjects, we much doubt whether the wit and wisdom which do at times appear in his pages, would repay any one for the danger incurred in gathering them from the mass of flippancy, false sentiment, useless philosophy, licentious scandal, and masked infidelity from which they spring, like flowers on the dizzy verge of a precipice. Some knowledge is undoubtedly useful and necessary, but the knowledge of evil is the curse of man; and the less we know of the wrong side of human nature, the more peaceful, pure, and beneficent will be the tenor of our lives. Not so, thinks M. Houssaye. And there is, besides, every evidence that he belongs to that class of epicureans who, departing from the true, beautiful, and practicable precepts of their Master-" virtue is pleasure"-have inscribed on the altar of their passions the seductive, though fallacious sentiment, that pleasure is virtue. It is not necessary, nay, it is full of misery to mankind, that there should be converts to this latter doctrine. And, therefore, M. Houssaye being free to write books for such a purpose, and others being free to translate and to publish them, we, too, claim the privilege of saying, in regard to them, that they are entirely unfit for the perusal, if not of gentlemen, certainly of the truly modest and amiable ladies of our country.

ANCIENT EGYPT UNDER THE PHARAOHS. By John Kenrick, A. M. This is a work of deep research into the mysteries of antiquity, and is, consequently, full of interest to the student of history. It describes, to use the words of the author, according to the present state of our knowledge, the land and the people of Egypt, their arts and sciences, their civil institutions, and their religious faith and usages; and relates their history from the earliest records of the monarchy to its final absorption in the empire of Alexander.

COMPARATIVE PHYSIOGNOMY; or, Resemblances be tween Men and Animals. By James W. Redfield, M. D. This is an amusing book, having no less than three hundred and fifty pictures of men and beasts, between whom the author professes to have discovered a resemblance. How far he will be able to carry his readers with him in his imaginary discoveries, and in his descriptions and comparisons, we must leave to the readers themselves.

THE POETICAL WORKS OF FITZ GREENE HALLECK. We have, in a preceding number of the "Lady's Book," noticed the publication, by Redfield, of New York, of a new and beautiful edition of the poetical works of Mr. Halleck, who is universally known to the literary world as one of the best of our American poets. As an author, Mr. H. was foremost among his contemporaries in the establishment of an unequivocal literary reputation for his country, and in claiming for her writers an undisputed equality with European writers of the present age. Possessing the rarest qualifications of genius, directed by a sound and polished education, an exuberant fancy, always under the control of a pure moral sentiment, no man has done more by his writings to elevate and adorn the literature of his country than Mr. Halleck. And, for presenting this new edition of his works to the public, at a time when the strife seems to be who shall print and who shall read the greatest number of foreign works, the publisher deserves the thanks of every true-hearted American reader. The volume is for sale by W. B. Zieber, Third below Chestnut Street.

From M. W. DODD, New York, through J. W. MOORE, Philadelphia:

STORIES OF ANCIENT ROME. By F. W. Ricord. With illustrations. There is scarcely any history so interesting to youthful readers as that of ancient Rome, especially that portion of it dating from the exposure of the "wolf-suckled twins," to the overthrow of the Tarquins. There is an air of fabulous enchantment thrown round this period of Roman history, which, however much matter-of-fact men may desire it to be removed, will never be wholly dissipated, and never can cease to gratify the fancy both of the young and the old. The volume before us is "intended as the first of a connected series devoted to the most important events of Roman history," and is a complete account, arranged under appropriate heads, of the period we have above alluded to. The author's design has been to adapt his "stories" to the capacities of the young, and, at the same time, to render them agreeable and instructive to the general reader. In this, by his clear, simple, and yet attractive style, he has been very successful. We have only one objection to make, after a cursory examination, which is, that Mr. Ricord has descended occasionally to the rhetorical artifice of thinking for his heroes. This, it is true, is a common thing with modern historians; but, still, there is nothing, in our opinion, more deserving of reprehension. A cultivated imagination is not satisfied with it, a correct judgment condemns it, and it is utterly opposed to truth. It is an error, however, into which Mr. Ricord has rarely fallen, and into which he has perhaps been drawn by the imagined orations so numerous in the illustrious authors from whom his materials are derived.

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