who could not afford to purchase a golden chain, made use of silken strings for that purpose. When the Prince of Wales (afterwards Henry V.), went to make his peace with his father, he was apparelled in a gown of blewe satten, fall of smal oylet holes, at every hole the needle hanging by a silke threde with which it was worked; about his arme he wore an hounde's coller, sette full of SS of golde, and the tyrettes likewise being of the same mettal.' 99 It is asserted by some that Edward IV, was under the necessity of issu ing a proclamation to prevent gentlemen from wearing shoes of more than a certain breadth at the toes; but he kindly limited the extent to no less than six inches. Almost immediately after this, in the reign of Elizabeth, their fashion ran on very sharp pointed shoes; and, to abolish this practice, another act of Parliament was passed. "In that time," says Stow, "he was held the greatest gallant who had the deepest ruff and the long. est rapier, which caused Her Majesty to make proclamation against them both, and to place selected and grave citizens at every gate, to cut the ruffes, and break the rapier points of all the passengers, that exceeded a yeard in length of the rapiers, and a naile of a yeard of depth in the ruffes!" In the days of Chaucer the gentlemen had a peculiar fashion of wearing stockings half white and half red. Nay, in plate 33 of the "Regal and Ecclestical Antiquities of England," there is, at the right hand of the plate, (no doubt represented according to the custom of the times in which the original picture was drawn,) a figure with a boot on one leg, and none on the other." "The wild variety of dresses worn by them in the reign of Henry VIII., is alluded to in a print of an Englishman holding a piece of cloth hanging on his right arm, and a pair of shears in his left hand. It bears the following inscription : I am an Englishman-undressed I do stand here, Puttenham has very humourously pourtrayed a beau of Elizabeth's reign. "May it not seem enough for a courtier to know how to weare a feather and set his cappe aflaunt; his chain en echarpe; a straight buskin, al Inglese; a loose à la Turquesque; the cape alla Spaniola; and by twentie manner of new-fashioned garments, to disguise his body and his face with as many countenances, whereof it seems there be many that make a very arte and studie, who can show himself most fine, I will not say most foolish or ridiculous.”—At a more recent period, during the present reign, though the extravagances complained of by Puttenham had ceased to exist, the gentlemen were still as open to ridicule as their predecessors; as may be "A seen by the following account of a buck about thirty years ago. coat of light-green, with sleeves too small for the arms, and buttons too big for the sleeves; a pair of Manchester fine stuff breeches, without money in the pockets; clouded silk stockings, but no legs; a club of hair be • • Hollingshead Chron. p. 1180. † Art of Poesie, p. 239. hind larger than the head that carries it; a hat of the size of sixpence, en a block not worth a farthing." Wishing your readers many happy hours of enjoyment in the society of so eccentric a being, I must for the present bid them and yourself, Mr. Editor, farewell; hoping at some future period to have an opportunity of intro ducing to your notice the modern man of fashion. In the mean time, I am, Sir, yours &c. XANTIPPE. BIGLAND ON THE DETERIORATION OF THE CLIMATE OF GREAT BRITAIN. ་་ལ་ར་•བ།༠་ལ་རབ་ To the Editor of the Northern Star. AS the real or imagined deterioration of the climate of Great Britain has for many years excited complaint, and is now become a subject of discussion, I have ventured to offer a few hints on a matter so generally interesting. Various periodical works exhibit attempts, not only to establish the fact that our climate is altered, but also to investigate the causes; and several conjectures have been offered in order to elucidate the important question, whether it be the most probable that the continued operation of these causes will effect a still greater refrigeration of climate, or that by their cessation the seasons will recover their former temperature. I shall here take the liberty of examining some of the facts and arguments brought forward on this occasion: whether the present remarks be worthy of a place in your highly esteemed and widely-circulated Miscellany, you, Sir, will be the most competent judge. In the "Journal of Science, &c." a paper has lately appeared, in which it is assumed, that for several centuries past, the climate of this country has undergone a very considerable change for the worse. That this has, for some years been the case, is undeniable; but that it has been so during several centuries is extremely problematical, or we should perhaps hazard nothing in saying evidently erroneous. It is also asserted that the grape was once cultivated in England for the purpose of making wine. Wil liam of Malmsbury indeed, who wrote in the twelfth century, affords some authority for this assertion; and it is not inprobable that as soon as the vine was introduced into England, the cultivators of the grape might make some attempts to convert its juice into wine. Our good housewives have even now their gooseberry, currant, &c. wines; and there is no doubt that at this time the grapes produced in this country would afford as good and even much better wine than the fruits already mentioned. But few persons will trouble themselves to make the experi ment, as wines of a far better quality than any that could be produced in England may be imported at a much cheaper rate from abroad; and, for that reason, those who cultivate the grape are contented to eat the fruit as a luxury, while they drink the wines of France, Portugal, Spain, and other countries which enjoy a more genial climate, and produce this de licious liquor with less labour and expense. This was undoubtedly the cause of the making of wine from the grape being disused, if indeed the practice ever prevailed in this country; and we should fall into an egregious error in ascribing the circumstance to alteration of climate. I have seen, not many years ago, excellent grapes produced in considerable abundance on vines under sheltering walls in a southern aspect, a and should not despair of cultivating the vine as a standard in favourable seasons, such as have fallen within my recollection; although, as already observed, the experiment, in the present state of things, could never answer the expense. The culture of vineyards is in every country attended by great labour and cost, and consequently can never answer any good purpose unless where both the soil and the climate are favourable. But the agricultural system of a country is never regulated by the consideration of what it may, with great expense and labour be brought to produce: the great object is to pay attention to the productions most likely to remunerate the cultivator. The Marquis de Pombal used every endeavour, in Portugal, to draw the peasantry from the culture of the vine to that of corn; but he never could bring the Portuguese farmers into his views, as they found wine a more profitable crop than any kind of grain. The plan, indeed, was just as absurd as would be an attempt to oblige the farmers of Flanders or England to convert into vineyards their corn-fields and pastures. Is is certain that if ever any wine was made in this country, the quantity was small and the quality very bad-reasons sufficient to explode the practice, without attribnting its cessation to a deterioration of the climate. From the disappearance of vineyards, Mr. Brande, the author of the paper here alluded to, passes to the deficiency observed in our orchards; and it is certain that for some years, the seasons have been evidently unfavourable both to the production and ripening of fruit. This was so particu larly the case last summer, that had there not been an unexampled importation of apples from abroad, their price would have been so high as entirely to exclude them from all tables, except those of the opulent. regard, however, to the unproductiveness of our orchards, another cause may be assigned, besides that of ungenial seasons. It is evident, that several of our fruits, but particularly apples, have degenerated. Many of the best sorts seem to be worn out; and even the orchards themselves have fallen to decay. In In the district where I was born, I remember many large and productive orchards, which, a little more than half a century ago, (although the trees were then growing aged,) afforded abundance of excellent fruit. But now, when I ramble into that part of the country, I perceive most of those orchards have disappeared. Many of them are thrown open with the paddock, or other adjoining grounds; sometimes there is still seen standing a decayed trunk, with perhaps two or three barren branches, the sad remains of those once fertile groves of Pomona. Amongst the various kinds of apples there formerly produced, I also recollect three or four of superior excellence, which now seem to be lost, as I cannot find any of these sorts either in that district, or in any other part of the country with which I am acquainted. I must also observe, that I see very few new orchards planted in the place of those which, through age or neglect are gone to decay. That part of Nottinghamshire called the Clays, and two or three villages near York, exhibit the greatest number of newly-planted orchards that I have lately met with in my excursions. It appears somewhat astonishing, that the gooseberry is almost the only fruit to the culture and improvement of which any attention has lately been paid. Shows of gooseberries are common, and premiums are distributed to those who produce the largest and finest, while no encouragement seems to be given to the culture of the apple and the pear, fruits of much greater value and importance. The cause of this predilection may perhaps he traced to that propensity of human nature which prompts every one to be desirous of seeing the effects of his labour. The man who plants a gooseberry-garden may, in a very few years, obtain a remuneration of his pains and expense; but he who plants an orchard, unless he be young, can scarcely expect ever to see it attain to perfection. To the uncertainty of life may also be added that of possession. During the last half century, the great advance in rents, the improvements in husbandry, and the competition for farms, have produced a revolution in rural economy. Within that space of time, removals amongst farmers have become exceedingly frequent; and every one has considered his standing as very precarious. In this view of things, agricultural speculation, which has been carried to so great an extent, has been chiefly directed to such objects as promised a speedy return for the money expended. The planting of an orchard and managing the young trees must be considered as a work of great cost and labour. It is indeed attended with a continued expense for some years, before almost any returns of profit can be expected. And in conversing with farmers, I have generally observed that they treated the raising of orchards with a sort of neglectful indifference, as an almost romantic speculation, attended by a great and immediate expense, and promising only distant profits, which others perhaps and not themselves might enjoy. Accordingly I have observed that most of the new orchards which I have lately seen, have been planted, not by farmers, but by proprietors. From these considerations, therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that the total disappearance of wine made from grapes produced in England, and the scarcity of apples, are not sufficient proofs of an alteration in the climate. Some have conjectured that the great increase of ice in the North, or at least the removal of large quantities from the polar regions to more southern parts, which happened in the beginning of the fifteenth century, had a refrigerating effect on the climate of Great Britain. That was indeed a remarkable phenomenon, but its influence does not seem to have extended much farther than those countries with which the ice came nearly into contact. Its effects were the most severely felt in Greenland: that country, which is within four days sail of Iceland, was discovered in the eighth century by the people of that island, and obtained its name from its verdant appearance. A colony of Icelanders was established in the country, and in process of time arose to a flourishing state. Christianity was propagated amongst the colonists as well as in Iceland, by missionaries from Norway; and Greenland had several towns, or at least villages, with churches, convents, and an episcopal see, the bishop being suffragan to the archbishop of Drontheim. Until the year 1406 the Norwegians and Icelanders kept up a constant communication with Greenland. At that time the last bishop was sent over, and soon after, all intercourse between Europe and the colony ceased. The sudden disappearance of this colony, after five centuries of fixed settlement and regular communication with the parent countries, and at so short a distance from Iceland, must be regarded as an extraordinary circumstance. And it appears eqnally astonishing that it should so long have prospered in a country, that now seems so inhospitable. The existence of this colony, however, is a fact of unquestionable authenticity; and it is equally certain that during the space of five centuries it was well known to the European world. The cause of so extraordinary and abrupt a cessation of all commerce and intercourse between Greenland and the rest of the Danish dominions, is not definitively marked by historians. But circumstances authorise a presumption, almost equivalent to positive proof, that an immense quantity of ice from the polar regions, drifted on the coast; intercepted the communication between the land and the sea; and that the colony, being thus imprisoned by the frozen ocean, and consequently deprived of supplies from Europe, while the increased rigour of the cold put a stop to all vegetation, must have necessarily perished. Expeditions have at different times been sent out from Denmark for the express purpose of discovering the remains of the colony, if any such still existed. It was at least expected that the ruins of the cathedral, the churches, and perhaps of some other buildings would be found, and that it might be ascertained whether any descendants of the Icelanders yet re mained. All the vessels however, sent out for that purpose have found the eastern coast, where the principal colony was settled, completely inaccessible by reason of the immense accumulation of ice. In the year 1721, the Greenland Company at Bergen, in Norway, established a colony on the western coast of Greenland, in about 64 degrees of north lat., and Mr. Egede, a Norwegian clergyman, who accompanied the new settlers, being actuated by an ardent desire of ascertaining the fate of the Icelandic colony, made an attempt to reach the eastern district by coasting along the southern shore; but the vast fields of ice rendered the execution of his laudable project impracticable. About the year 1728, the king of Denmark caused horses and every other convenience to be transported to Greenland, in order to facilitate the means of penetrating over land from the western to the eastern coast. The attempt was accordingly made, but the vast mountains of ice and snow in the interior rendered all access to the seat of the ancient colony not less impracticable by land than from the ocean. Thus it appears that soon after the commencement of the fifteenth century a great change took place in the northern regions from the encroachments of the arctic ice. Ever since that period the eastern coast of Greenland, the seat of the ancient colony, which was without difficulty visited |