bordered; black real lace is a good deal employed, but blond only is used if the trimming is white: in the latter case the sleeves are always of blond, they are of the gigot form, very large, and sometimes terminate in a tight cuff of the material of the dress. The bodies are always cut low and square, and in general pointed at the bottom. A good many are bordered round the top with a ruche of blonde illusion.

Gauze, organdy, and blonde illusion are all in favour in ball dress. This last beautiful material is the most elegant novelty of the season; it is blond of the most transparent kind. Some robes have the ground plain, with a rich but exceedingly light and deep border. Others have the ground thickly strewed with small bouquets also of a light pattern, and a deep border à jour, of the shell kind. A dress of this latter description, in which Madame Thiers lately appeared at a court ball, excited universal admiration: it was worn over a pink satin under-dress, the corsage fitting tight to, and distinctly marking out the shape, was bordered with a shell pattern; it descended a little in the centre of the bosom, but rose at the sides. A knot of pink gauze ribbon partially screened the bosom, and was attached by a brooch of fine brilliants; the ends of this knot descended perpendicularly through the ceinture, and from thence extended obliquely down each side of the dress, as far as the knees, being arranged in puffs by agraffes of brilliants. trimming terminated in a full bow with long floating ends. Beret sleeve, surmounted by a cluster of bows of ribbon, with long floating ends which fell over the shoulder in the style of a mancheron, and was attached by an agraffe of brilliants. The coiffure was à la Clotilde, the hair braided in loops at the sides, and arranged something in the form of a crown on the summit of the head. A wreath of roses intermingled with diamond opis encircled the hind hair.

The

Dresses of white organdy, lightly sprigged in coloured silks are also fashionable for balls; they are worn on white satin. The corsages draped à la Tyrolienne, and double sabot sleeves, the falls of which are separated by a band and bow of ribbon of one of the colours of the sprigs. The ceinture must correspond with this ribbon, a bouquet a la jardinière is placed in it on the left side, and a similar bouquet loops the skirt almost half way to the knee on the

right. This still is also adopted for gauze dresses. Scarfs of blonde illusion, or of ribbon are favourite accessories to ball dress, and a fan of the form and size of those worn in Louis the XIV.'s day, is indispensable; those of ivory cut in blond lace patterns, are in very great request, but not so much so as those painted in the same style, but in better taste than those of the gallant monarch's day. Although flowers are the prevailing ornament of ball head dresses, yet we see several decorated with ribbons. One of the most fashionable coiffures of this kind is composed of a cluster of bows placed at the back of the head, and surmounting those of the hair, ends from this nœud descend at the sides, and terminate in small tufts of bows, which mingle with the curls of the front hair. The favourite colours are ramona, flame colour, dark brown, purple, azure, and various shades of green and rose.

M. DE TALLEYRAND.-On the second of February this extraordinary man completes his eighty-first year, and he often repeats that this will be the last year of his life.

MUSICAL GENIUS IN PARIS.-Rosini, Mayerbeer, Donizetti and Belline, four of the most eminent composers of the age are now in Paris. Donizetti has just arrived to superintend his new opera of Marino Faliero, at the Theatre Italien.

THE OPERA-COMIQUE in Paris, is about to rival the gaieties of the Grand Opera; and if we may calculate the future by the past, the attempt will not be altogether unsuccessful. A prospectus has been issued, printed on rose-coloured paper, announcing a Venetian ball. The museum is to be so perfect that the visitors may imagine themselves transported from the Place de la Bourse to Venice, in view of the lagunes. The baignoirs will represent gondolas moored along the shore, and as if impatient to get afloat. The upper boxes will be filled with Venetian cavaliers armed with poignards, and dark-eyed Venetian dames. In the horizon, at the further end of the Theatre, one corner of the Piazza di St Marco will be discerned. A suspended bridge will unite the two sides of the proscenium, and, from the summit of this Rialto, Musard, with his baton de mesure, will command a numerous band. Finally, the amusements are to be crowned by the indispensable tombola. Whether all the promises of this prospectus will be fulfilled remains to be seen.

The above represents the last residence of the proud Car. dinal Wolsey. It was here that he was arrested by the Earl of Northumberland, who was sent from London by Henry VIII, for the purpose of conveying him to the Tower of London. At this period he was scarcely able to walk across the chamber. By slow degrees he reached Leicester Abbey, and the whole convent came out to meet him, when he only said, "Father Abbot, I come to lay my bones among you." A few days after he expired, deeply regretting in his last moments, that he had not served God with the same fidelity that he had served his king.

L. 35, 1.

THE CASTLE.

(Concluded from page 65.)

"Thus time passed away, and at length the Count began to recover his spirits. The cloud that had obscured his mind gradually dissipated, and once more the Countess looked cheerful, and smiled as was her wont. She almost feared to learn the strange mystery-the first secret which her husband had feared to confide to her. She tried to ba nish from her thoughts the uneasy impression which it had at first excited; and, secure in his love, and rejoicing in his renovated health and spirits, she reposed on her present happiness, and in the future saw nothing but brightness.

One day, as they wandered together in the deepest rccesses of the woods, towards the close of a soft afternoon, they heard the sound of a cascade, growing louder as they proceeded, and the Countess felt the arm on which she leaned, tremble violently. Still they walked onwards, till they came upon an irregular amphitheatre, where the woods rese upon each other, until they crowned the summits of the hills. The noise of the water grew louder, and they perceived a swollen waterfall, with a bare and leafless trunk stretching its branches across the torrent.

"At the sight of the water, a universal trembling seized the frame of the Count, and with a convulsive shudder he fell to the ground. Fly, Nina, fly!' said he, the hour which I dreaded has arrived!'

"Overwhelmed with terror and surprise, the Countess fell upon her knees beside her husband. In a few moments the spasm passed away;-he rose, and taking her arm, hurried her hastily from the spot. As the sound of the water died away, he grew calmer: at last he stopped, and sinking exhausted on the grass, motioned her to sit down beside him.

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Sum

The

“Nina!' said he, I had hoped that heaven had relented, and spared me to you and happiness, but it is not so. mon all your fortitude for my sake and for your own. time has come when I must disclose to you the secret which has for months lain heavy on my heart. The wolf that bit me was in a rabid state! I knew it at the time. Leolf, my nob'e bound, was torn by the fierce animal, and died with

every symptom of madness: I concealed it from you and from every one. As time passed on, I began to hope that the dreadful sentence would be reversed this hour has shown me that I hoped in vain!'

The Countess was sick at heart, but she did not faint: for every muscle of her body, and every fibre of her mind, vibrated with quick and living agony. Now swear to me,' said the Count, that you will keep the promise which I am. going to require of you. Nina, when I am reduced to that frightful condition, so degrading to the dignity of man, let no eyes look upon me, not even those orbs of purity and tenderness. Let me remain alone, secured by bolts in the turrets of the castle, until death shall take pity on me. During the intervals which they say succeed to the paroxysms of madness, come to me, and let me hear your sweet voice, like the song of the bird, bringing joy to the heart of the prisoner. Nina, will you swear?'

"I swear,' said the Countess; and they rose and returned together to the castle.

"An unnatural force seemed to support the unfortunate lady. Surely it was the hand of heaven which granted this last consolation to Leonardo. She knew that there was no hope; that the most skilful physician in the world could not even protract his agonies. By his desire she dismissed the servants, and remained with him alone. She tried to inspire him with calmness and fortitude, and as she sat with him at the window of the turret, which he had chosen as the scene of his final sufferings, and they gazed together, for the last time, on the glories of nature, she talked to him of the consolations of religion, and he listened to her voice as to the words of an angel.

"At length he felt the paroxysm approaching, and taking her hand, he led her gently from the room. She knelt before the door, all pale and tearless; and when she heard his groans of agony and shrieks of madness, she tried in the impulse of the moment, to burst open the door : but the bolts were drawn. Alone, and in the power of a maniac, she felt no fear. On her knees-the crucifix in her handher eyes almost bursting from their sockets-it was thus, that when, alarmed by vague rumours which had reached us,