wide sleeves. Over this, some wear a white or red woollen girdle. Their turban is generally composed of a white, red, or yellow woollen shawl, or of a piece of coarse cotton or muslin, wound round a turboosh, under which is a white or brown felt cap, (called libdeh ;) but many are so poor as to have no other cap than the libdeh-no turban, nor even drawers, nor shoes, but only the blue or brown shirt, or merely a few rags, while many, on the other hand, wear a soodeyree under the blue shirt; and some, particularly servants in the houses of great men, wear a white shirt, a soodeyree, and a ckooftan or gibbeh, or both, and the blue shirt over all. The full sleeves of this shirt are sometimes drawn up, by means of cords, which pass round each shoulder and cross behind, where they are tied in a knot. This custom is adopted by servants, (particularly grooms,) who have cords of crimson or dark blue silk for this purpose. In cold weather, many persons of the lower classes wear an 'abbayeh, like that before described but coarser; and sometimes, instead of being black, having broad stripes, brown and white, or blue and white, but the latter rarely. Another kind of cloak, more full than the 'abbayeh, of black or deep blue woollen stuff, is also very commonly worn: it is called diffeeyeh. The shoes are of red or yellow morocco, or of sheepskin. USEFUL ARTS. any DYING is a chymical art, and consists in fixing upon cloths of various kinds colour which may be desired, in such a manner as that they shall not easily undergo any alteration, by the agents to which the cloth is ordinarily exposed. The chief materials or stuffs to be died are wool, silks, cotton, and linen; of which the former two are more easily died than the latter. Wool, in its preparation for dying, requires to be cleansed, by scouring, from a fatty substance, called the yolk, which is contained in the fleece. This is done by means of a weak alkaline soluuon, which converts the yolk into soap. Urine is commonly employed, on account of its cheapness; the ammonia it contains being sufficient to remove the grease. Silk, when taken from the cocoon, is covered with a kind of varnish, which, because it does not easily yield either to water or alcohol, requires also the aid of a slight portion of alkali. Much care is necessary, however, in this operation, since the silk itself is liable to be corroded and discoloured. Fine soap is commonly used; but even this is said to be detrimental; and the white China silk, which is supposed to be prepared without soap, has a lustre superiour to the European. The preliminary process of washing is intended to render the stuff to be died as clear as possible, in order that the aqueous fluid, to be afterward applied, may be imbibed, and its contents adhere to the mi nute internal surfaces. Another preparation, and one which constitutes, in reality, an important part of the dying process, consists in applying to the stuff, a material to which it adheres; and afterward the desired colour is obtained by the application of another substance. We might die a piece of cotton black, by immersing it at once in ink, but the colour would be neither good nor durable, because the particles of precipitated matter are not sufficiently comminuted to enter the cotton, or to adhere to it firmly. But, if the cotton be soaked in an infusion of galls, then dried, and afterward immersed in a solution of sulphate of iron, the acid of galls being every where diffused through the fabrick, it will receive the particles of oxyde of iron, at the very instant of their transition from the fluid to the solid state; by which means a perfec covering of the black, inky matter, will be applied in close contact with the surface of the most minute fibres of the cotton. The name of mordant is applied to those substan ces which unite with the different stuffs, and aug. ment their affinity for the various colouring matters. There exists a great number of mordants; some, however, are very feeble in their activity, while others are attended with too much expense for common stuffs; some alter the colours which they are intended to combine, or modify their shades: hence it results, that there are but a small number which can be employed. These are alum, acetate of alumine, muriate of tin, nutgalls, &c. The mordant is always dissolved in water, into which the stuffs to be died are plunged. If the mordant be universally applied over the whole piece of goods, and this be afterward immersed in the die, it will receive a tinge over all its surface; but if it be applied only in parts, the die will strike in those parts only. The former process constitutes the art of dying, properly so called; and the latter the art of printing cottons, or linens, called calico-printing. In the art of printing piece goods, the mordant is usually mixed with gum or starch, and applied by means of blocks or wood engravings, in relief, or of copper plates, and the colours are brought out by immersion in vessels filled with suitable compositions. The latter fluids are termed baths. The following are the processes usually adopted, when alum is the mordant employed. 1. Alum mordant for silk. Into water containing the sixtieth part of its weight of alum, at the ordinary temperature of the air, the silk is plunged, and allowed to remain for twenty-four hours, when it is withdrawn, drained, and washed. If the liquid is warmed, it is found that the silk absorbs less of the mordant, and that, of course. it combines less easily with the colouring matter, besides losing, in part, its natural gloss. 2. Alum mordant for wool. When it is wished to combine wool with this mordant, after its cleansing has been effected, it is plunged into a boiling solution composed of eight or nine hundred parts of water, and twenty-five of alum, where it is allowed to re main during two hours; when it is taken out, suffered to drain, and washed. Frequently, a little cream of tartar is added in this process, in order to engage the excess of acid in the alum, as well as the portion arising from a slight decomposition of the alum by the oily matter of the with the mordant, if allowed to remain in the solu- stances are supposed to act by deoxydizing indigo, tion only seven or eight minutes, pressing it a little, and, at the same time, rendering it soluble. Golden without twisting it, however, on taking it out, and die. The cloth is immersed alternately in a solution not immersing it in the colouring bath until twelve or of copperas and lime-water. The protoxyde of iron, fifteen hours after. In all alum mordants for wool, precipitated on the fibre, soon passes, by absorption the alum of commerce may be employed; but when of atmospherical oxygen, into the golden-coloured silk or cotton is to be died, especially if the colours deutoxyde. Buff. The preceding substances, in a are bright, it is necessary to make use of the alum more dilute state. Blue vat, in which white spots of Rome, or of that which is equally pure; that is to are left on a blue ground of cloth, is made by applysay, of alum which does not contain above one five- ing to these points a paste, composed of a solution of hundredth of its weight of sulphate of iron; other-sulphate of copper and pipe-clay, and, after they are wise there will be a great quantity of oxyde of iron dried, immersing it, stretched on frames, for a defiadhering to the fabrick, which will affect the shade nite number of minutes, in the yellowish-green vat, we desire to obtain. The colouring matters to be of one part of indigo, two of copperas, and two of transferred to the various stuffs are either soluble or lime, with water. Green. Cloth dried blue, and well insoluble in water. When they are soluble in water, washed, is imbued with the acetate of alumine, dried, which is most generally the case, they are dissolved and subjected to the quercitron bath. In most of the in it at a boiling temperature; and the material to be above cases, the cloth, after receiving the mordant died, after having been duly prepared, and impreg-paste, is dried, and put through a mixture of cownated with the mordant, is plunged into it, where it dung and warm water. It is then put into the dyis allowed to remain for a certain time, and at a tem-ing vat or copper. The foregoing colours are also perature varying with the nature of the stuff. When, on the contrary, the colouring matter is insoluble in water, its solution is effected in some other fluid, and the article to be coloured (prepared as in the former case, with the exception that the application of the mordant is omitted) is immersed, and the colouring matter is precipitated by the addition of a third body. Silks are died at a temperature which is gradually increased from 86 to 175° Fahr. If the bath is heated above 85°, at the commencement of the process, the effect of the mordant is diminished, and the desired shades of colour will not be produced. For the same reason, in dying hemp and flax, the temperature should not exceed 97° Fahr. Cottons and woollens may be died at a boiling heat. Various mechanical contrivances are made use of in immersing the different materials to be died into the colouring solution, so as to cause all their parts to be equally affected at the same time. As soon as they are withdrawn from the colouring bath, they are washed in a large quantity of water, in order to deprive them of those particles of colouring matter that are merely superficial. 3. The following are the die-stuffs used for producing fast colours: 1. Black. The cloth is impregnated with acetate of iron, (iron liquor,) and died in a bath of madder and logwood. 2. Purple. The preceding mordant, diluted, with the same dying bath. Crimson. The mordant for purple, united with a portion of acctate of alumine, or red mordant, and the above bath. 4. Red. Acetate of alumine is the mordant, and madder is the die-stuff. 5. Pale Red, of different shades. The preceding mordant, diluted with water, and a weak madder bath. 6. Brown of Pompadour. A mixed mordant, containing a somewhat larger proportion of the red than of the black, and the die of madder. 7. Orange. The red mordent, and a bath, first of madder, and then of quercitron. 8. Yellow. A strong red mordant, and the quercitron bath, whose temperature should be conslerably under the boiling point of water. 9. Blue. Indigo, rendered soluble and greenish-yellow coloured, by potash and orpiment. It recovers its blue colour by exposure to the air, and becomes firmly fixed upon the cloth. An indigo vat is also made by diffusing indigo in water. with quicklime and copperas. These sub produced from deccotions of the different colouring woods; but, as they possess but little fixity when thus formed, they are denominated the fugitive colours. 1. Red is made from Brazil wood and peach wood. 2. Black. A strong extract of galls and deuto-nitrate of iron. 3. Purple. Extract of logwood and the deuto-nitrate of iron. 4. Yellow. Extract of quercitron bark, or French berries, and nitromuriate of tin. 5. Blue. Prussian blue and solution of tin. Fugitive colours are thickened with gum tragacanth, and are sometimes sent to market without being washed. Sponge.-Sponge is allowed now to be a living being; but it long remained a question, whether it was a vegetable or an animal one. Its animality is now the belief of the best naturalists. It is described as fixed and torpid; of various forms, composed of net-work fibres, or of masses of small spines interwoven together, and clothed with a gelatinous flesh, full of small mouths on its surface by which it absorbs and rejects water THE HISTORY OF LIFE. I SAW an INFANT in its mother's arms, Years passed-I saw a GIRL with woman's charms, Years passed-I saw a MOTHER with her child, And o'er it languish : Years brought me back-yet through her tears she smiled, I left her-years had vanished, I returned, And I returned again in after years, Till death beholds the spirit leave the heart. RETREAT FROM RUSSIA. comrades,' cried one, with a heart-rending voice, THE retreat from Russia of the French armies un-assist me to rise; lend me a hand to pursue my der Napoleon is one of the most disastrous events in the annals of military warfare. On the preceding page we have represented a scene from the campaign; it represents a corps of the wounded, still turning to the herds of Cossacks who hovered around them, and presenting an unbroken front. Alas! for the brave; of what little avail was their indomitable courage! Alas! for Napoleon, the most devoted attachments ever shown for man, was of no use. La Baume in his "Campaign of Russia," among other interesting matter, gives the following thrilling description of some of the scenes in this retreat :"The presence of the emperour had kept the chiefs to their duty, but when they heard of his departure, the greater part of them followed his example, and shamefully abandoned the remains of the regiments with which they had been intrusted. Until then we had found, at intervals, some few armed soldiers, who, conducted by their officers, rallied round the standard which they had sworn never to forsake, but with life. But from the moment that they were deprived of their chiefs, and that unheard-of calamities had reduced their numbers, those brave soldiers, who were intrusted with the immediate charge, were reduced to the painful necessity of hiding their colours in their knapsacks. Many of them, sensible that they were expiring, and knowing that the honour of a French soldier consisted in preserving his colours, with a weak hand dug up the ground, to save from the Russians those ensigns under which our arms had been raised to the pinnacle of glory. "The division of Loison, which had come before us from Königsberg, and that of the Neapolitans, from Wilna, having been obliged to encamp in a cold of twenty-two degrees, were totally destroyed, and out of six thousand men, of which each was composed, we could only see, through a thick fog, some feeble battalions, who ran on the road like madmen. They beat the earth with their feet, to keep themselves from being benumbed by the frost, and if, unfortunately, they were urged by the wants of nature, losing the use of their hands, they fell on the ground, and rose again no more. They who could support the fatigue of marching, only prolonged their misery; and if, at length, weary of life, they wished to terminate their sufferings, it was necessary only to stand still. "The road which we followed, presented, at every step, brave officers, covered with rags, supported by branches of pine, their hair and beards stiffened by the ice. These warriours, who, a short time before, were the terrour of our enemies, and the conquerors of Europe, having now lost their fine appearance, crawled slowly along, and could scarcely obtain a look of pity from the soldiers whom they had formerly commanded. Their situation became still more dreadful, because all who had not strength to march were abandoned, and every one who was abandoned by his comrades, in an hour afterward inevitably perished. The next day every bivouack presented the image of a field of battle. Whenever a soldier, overcome with fatigue, chanced to fall, his next neighbour rushed eagerly upon him, and before he was dead, robbed him of all that he possessed, and even of his clothes. Every moment we heard some of these unhappy men crying out for assistance. 'My VOL. IV. 55 march.' Every one continued his march without regarding him. Ah! he continued, 'I conjure you, by every thing which is dear to you, do not abandon me to the enemy; in the name of humanity, grant the little assistance I ask; help me to rise.' But those who passed, far from being moved by this touching prayer, regarded him as already dead, and immediately began to strip him. We then heard him crying out, Oh, help! help! They murder me; they murder me! why do you trample upon me? Why do you snatch from me my money and my bread, and take from me even my clothes! If some generous officer did not arrive in time to deliver them, many of these unfortunate beings would be assassinated by their own comrades. "The winter was so severe, that the soldiers burnt whole houses to avoid being frozen. We saw round the fires, the half-consumed bodies of many unfortu nate men, who, having advanced too near, in order to warm themselves, and being too weak to recede, had become a prey to the flames. Some miserable beings, blackened with smoke, and besmeared with the blood of the horses which they had devoured, wandered like ghosts, round the burning houses. They gazed on the dead bodies of their companions, and, too feeble to support themselves, fell down, and died like them. "Misfortune having equalized all conditions, every thing was confounded. It was in vain that the oflicers endeavoured to assert their authority; it was insolently denied. The colonel, who had no food, was obliged to beg a piece of biscuit from the private soldier. The man who possessed provisions, although he were a servant, was surrounded by a crowd of courtiers, who, to obtain food, threw aside their rank and distinction, and condescended to caress him. In short, to form an adequate idea of the dreadful disorder to which famine and cold had reduced us, you must figure to yourself thirty thousand men, of different ranks, marching together, without order and without discipline; ignorant of the road they were going, and only stopping when weariness or caprice impelled them. The chiefs themselves, being accustomed to command, were the most unfortunate. They were shunned, to avoid rendering assistance; for, in our situation, even to give a glass of water, or to raise a fellow-soldier from the ground, were offices of kindness which claimed the warmest gratitude. "The route was covered with soldiers who no longer retained the human form, and whom the enemy disdained to make prisoners. Every day these miserable men made us witnesses of scenes too dreadful to relate. Some had lost their hearing, others their speech, and many, by excessive cold and hunger, were reduced to a state of frantick stupidity, in which they roasted the dead bodies of their comrades for food, or even gnawed their own hands and arms. Some were so weak, that, unable to lift a piece of wood, or roll a stone towards the fires which they had kindled, they sat upon the dead bodies of their comrades, and, with a haggard countenance, steadfastly gazed upon the burning coals. No sooner was the fire extinguished, than these living spectres, unable to rise, fell by the side of those on whom they had sat. We saw many who were absolutely insane." REVOLUTIONARY ANECDOTES. | politician, and an enthusiastick republican, would MRS. CHARLES ELLIOT. THERE was in the legion of Pulaski, a young French officer of singular fine form and appearance, named Celeron. As he passed the dwelling of Mrs. Charles Elliot, a British major, whose name is lost, significantly pointing him out, said, "See, Mrs. Elliot, one of your illustrious allies-what a pity it is, that the hero has lost his sword." "Had two thousand such men," replied the lady, "been present to aid in the defence of our city, Charlestown, think you, sir, that I should ever have been subject to the malignity of your observation ?" At the moment, a negro, trigged out in full British uniform, happened to pass: "See, major," continued she, "one of your allies ;-bow with gratitude for the service received from such honourable associ ates-caress and cherish them-the fraternity is excellent." MRS. RICHARD SHUBRICK. AN American soldier, flying from a party of the enemy, sought Mrs. Richard Shubrick's protection, and was promised it. The British, pressing close upon him, insisted that he should be delivered up, threatening immediate and universal destruction in case of refusal. The ladies, her companions, who were in the house with her, shrunk from the contest and were silent; but, undaunted by their threats, this intrepid lady placed herself before the chamber into which the unfortunate fugitive had been conducted, and resolutely said: "To men of honour, the chamber of a lady should be as sacred as the sanctuary! I will defend the passage to it, though perish. You may succeed and enter it, but it shall be over my corpse." I often enter into discussion relative to passing occur. 66 In her exhibition room, one group of figures particularly attracted attention; and by all who knew her sentiments, was believed to be a pointed hint at the results which might follow the wild ambition of the monarch. The busts of the king and queen of Great Britain, were placed on a table, apparently intently gazing on a head, which a figure, an excel"By God!" said the officer, "if musket were pla-lent representation of herself, was modelling in its ced in the hands of a few such women, our only lap. It was the head of the unfortunate Charles safety would be found in retreat; your intrepidity, madam, gives you security; from me you shall meet with no further annoyance." MRS. JACOB MOTTE. WHEN compelled by painful duty, LieutenantColonel Lee informed Mrs. Jacob Motte, that in order to accomplish the immediate surrender of the British garrison, occupying her elegant mansion, its destruction was indispensable, she instantly replied, "The sacrifice of my property is nothing, and I shall view its destruction with delight if it shall in any degree contribute to the good of my country." In proof of her sincerity, she immediately presented the arrows by which combustible matter was to be conveyed to the building. MRS. WRIGHT. the First. BARON STEUBEN. WHEN General Arnold apostatized and attached himself to the British standard, Baron Steuben, the abhorrence of the traitor, commanded that every solinspector-general of the army, to shew his perfect dier who bore the name, should change it, or be immediately dismissed the service. Some days after, finding a soldier of Connecticut, who had paid no attention to the mandate, he insisted that he should be instantaneously expelled from the rank. 66 soldier," and will willingly renounce a name that "I am no traitor, my worthy general," said the the perfidy of a scoundrel has for ever tarnished, if allowed to assume one which is dear to every American soldier. Let me be Steuben, and be assured that I will never disgrace you.""Willingly, my worthy fellow," replied the baron. "Be henceforth Steuben, and add to the glory of a name that hath At the commencement of the Revolution, Mrs. already acquired lustre, by the partial adoption of a Wright, a native of Pennsylvania, a distinguished brave man." The soldier, at the conclusion of the modeller of likenesses and figures of wax, was ex-war, kept a tavern in New England, exhibiting a hibiting specimens of her skill in London. The representation of his patron as a sign, and, as long king of Great Britain, pleased with her talents, gave as the baron lived, received a pension from him as A her liberal encouragement, and, finding her a great reward for his partial attachment. |