BE

Thus saith

Fashion, and Fashion is an imperious mistress; at times, it must be said, whimsical and unreasonable, albeit in the main considerate for her devotees and their requirements. Nor is he a wise man who holds it unbecoming to follow Fashion's laws, and year by year to pay no heed to the changes which take

place, for on the contrary it is just the strict observance of the tenets laid down that should assuredly emphasise any natural gifts that are already his.

No doubt there are men whose aim and object it is to be looked upon as being bizarre, as standing aloof from the common herd of humanity, and these are the men who, for a transient gleam of cheap notoriety, succeed in making themselves and fashion, whom they have thus distorted, ridiculous.

"What's this?" I hear the cynic say; "Why this fuss about dress? Clothes do not make the man!" And doubtless Shakespeare in a bagman's coat would have seemed trebly more distinguished than Beau Nash tricked out in all his finery, but then-we are not all Shakespeares.

All right cynic! scoff away! Grovel on as you will in your obsoleteness. I for one will endeavour to keep pace with the times.

I have just got my new winter overcoat, and I must say it strikes me as being particularly smart. In tailor's parlance it is known as "a frock overcoat, made to button four," of warm milled cheviot, and cut to reach a trifle more than half way down the calf of the leg.

Satinette makes a beautiful lining, being light and stylish, in addition to wearing well, while as to buttons none look better than those of fancy silk.

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For travelling - and weather prophets predict a hard winter-I saw a remarkably stylish check homespun ulster, with detachable cape. It reached nearly to the feet and was lined with warm check angola, of a somewhat startling hue, be it said, which nevertheless was en règle and most effective.

The Newmarket and Paddock coats are greatly en évidence just about this time, and for a tall, well-proportioned man they are undoubtedly very becoming.

But I saw a horsey little scrap of humanity the other day - height about 5 ft. 2 in. arrayed in one of these, a huge bandanna tie around his neck, a brown bowler poised jauntily on his head, and white-topped boots as a finale. Since then I have been rather prejudiced against Newmarkets!

In evening dress there is no startling development. The roll silk collar for the coat seems to be steadily gaining in favour, though it is by no means incorrect to wear the ordinary lapel collar turned down with rich ribbed silk. The tails of the coat should reach fully down to the bend of the knee.

Simplicity is always to be advocated, and I feel convinced that nowhere is it more commendable than in the matter of evening dress.

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The butterfly tie was doomed-thank heaven-some time ago, and now a simple self-tied white bow is all that is necessary

to ensure one's tie being irreproachably fashionable.

Now that the butterfly is dead I sincerely hope it will not be long before the new collar - the variation, I mean, which resembles a stuck-up Eton-follows it to its grave. It has nothing, so far as I can see, to recommend it, and, is worn, for the most part, by the "bizarres" of the beau monde.

Piqué shirts have cropped up again, while I saw a man at a dinner-party the other night with a snowy frill running down his front, which I must say impressed me as looking rather neat.

For ordinary shirts the one and two hole varieties are mostly worn, and good taste dictates that the studs should be of the plainest.

For morning wear coloured shirts are still to be seen, though it is as well to choose a shade which suits the complexion. I saw a sallow man some time ago with a pale green shirt and a flaming red tie! The effect was heartrending! Had he not a solitary relation or a friend to take pity on him, I wondered.

Now as to ties. Two new varieties, which I saw in Messrs. Drew's window, in the Burlington Arcade, are worth recording.

Both are based on the ordinary sailor's knot and are not so difficult to tie as they look. No. 1 is very simple, but requires two

No. 1.

safety pins to keep it in good shape, though only one need be of gold.

Get a soft wide tie, say, the Marlborough, and having made your knot, take the under end, twist it rather tightly, and arrange as shown in the illustration, clipping each end

the tie then hanging straight is turned up and twisted through, the silk pulled into shape, and the inevitable safety pin adjusted.

As to other forms of neck-gear the only startling innovation seems to be the revival of bandannas of fearful and wonderful hues, which personally I am content to admire at a distance.

The gold safety pins which should accompany these are about two inches long, while of other forms of scarf pins some are exceedingly pretty. A single pearl, having the hilt of the pin buried in the tie, is extremely fashionable.

A rather fascinating colour for a bow tie is a combination of dull reds and green, though it is perhaps needless to point out that this mixture would not suit everybody. Black and white hopsack is always safe.

I have as yet said nothing about boots. Pointed toe caps do not seem to be so fashionable, broadish toes and wide welts being displayed in most of the shop windows. At Moykoff's, in the Burlington Arcade, I "spotted" some really striking evening boots. They were of course of the shiniest and plainest patent leather, with neat silk bows and silk tops to simulate silk stockings. These ought to be a decided improvement on the ordinary dancing pumps.

As to winter gloves no one could do better than to buy a pair of Fowne's English-made and of the finest leather. Sick makes a beautiful lining, being warm and light, and besides this, the facility with which the gloves are then put on and off is another argument in their favour.

I have heard it said that a large proportion of the betterclass English gloves are made by hand for the manufacturers, in the cottages of Warwickshire and Worcestershire.

I have myself been into one of these lovely old homes of rural England, and have seen gloves in the process of being made with the help of the

old-fashioned and primitive "glover." I once asked an old woman to sell me a pair of calf-skin riding gloves at which she was working, but she shook her head and told me that she was under contract toMessrs.

And here I should like to put in a word of warning against buying cheap gloves. When I was young and inexperienced, I was once tempted to buy a pair of "reindeer," "made in Austria," for 1s. 6d. I incautiously went out in the rain, wearing my newly purchased treasures. I wished afterwards that I had given my 1s. 6d. to the Home for Lost Dogs. I should have had more for my money.

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BRUMMEL.

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a savage; but it seems possible that the immutability of aspect of his little wooden god may sometimes touch him with an astounded awe; even when, and indeed especially after, he has thrashed it.

"Rhoda Fleming "-GEO. MEREDITH.

Let me especially warn the reader, particularly the newly-married reader, against the type of friend from the country who, so soon as they learn you have set up a house in London, suddenly discovers an interest in your fortunes which, like certain rivers, has run underground further than you can remember. They write and tell you they are thinking of coming to town, and would like to spend a few days with you. They leave their London address vague. It has the look of a blank which you are expected to fill up. You shrewdly surmise that, so to say, they meditate paying a visit to Euston, and spending a fortnight with you on the way. But if you are wise, and subtle and strong, you cut this acquaintance ruthlessly, as you lop a branch. Cut it away and cast it into the oven of oblivion. Don't fear to hurt it. These people care as little for you as you for them. All they want is board and lodging, and if you give it to them you may be an amateur hotel-keeper all your days.

"Prose Fancies "- LE GALLIENNE.

INGS are with us usually associated with marriage or the giving in marriage, but in the past they appear to have been used for many other purposes than as a symbol

of marriage. Though the early Athenians were given to luxury, and were used to appear in public with their hair done up in a bunch and decorated with a cigale of gold and other ornaments of that metal, they did not wear finger rings; yet later on Greek luxury went to its furthest lengths in this form of ornamentation.

Rings found in Greek tombs are hollow and light and set with round convex pastes, and were made not for the living, but the dead-the economic invention of ages when faith was waxing dim, and when therefore a cheap make-believe served the purpose of an expensive reality. Many of these rings, indeed, are so thin that it was necessary to fill them with mastic varnish to preserve their shape.

and opium, prepared by Cabanis, and produced death by apoplexy without spasm or pain.

In ancient Babylonia and Assyria finger rings were not used, but cylinders with a cord through them were worn on the wrist like a bracelet. The earliest rings found in Egypt of the 18th to the 20th dynasty are of pure gold, and have usually the name of the owner deeply sunk in hieroglyphic characters on the oblong gold bezel. The ring Fig. 1 is a massive gold ring with a revolving scarab of glazed carthenware partially encased in gold, and is of the 11th or 12th dynasty. Fig. 2 is a black stone with a broad thick hoop, the bezel carved in the form of a scarab, and is Egypto-Roman.

These hollow rings of the Romans were used to contain poison, and Pliny relates the story that after Crasseus had, stolen the gold treasure from under the stone of the Capitoline Jupiter, the custodian, to escape torture, broke the gem of his ring in his mouth and expired immediately from the effects of the poison secreted in it. The gems themselves were even hollow at the back in order to make the ring hold a large dose. The most remarkable modern instance of a similar refuge from persecuting fate is that of Condorcet, who, proscribed by the convention and arrested, swallowed the dose he carried in readiness for such an emergency inclosed within his ring, and was found dead next morning in his cell. The poison was a concentrated mixture of stramonium

Fig. 1.

The earliest use of rings and the form which they most generally took was of the nature of a signet, for when the art of writing was unknown, except to professional scribes, the signet was used to give authenticity to documents, and also to hand to representatives as a token that power was delegated to the holder of the ring. Rings soon became symbols of power and authority, and we remember the Duke in "Twelfth Night" sent his ring by Viola to his mistress Olivia.

Fig. 2.

In more recent times we find that merchants used rings with their own private marks, equivalent to our modern trade marks, to stamp documents instead of signing their names. Indeed the signet was the form that