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    BONNETS , MANTLES , DRESSES , AND BOOTS . The East becomes less Eastern daily , and the West more Oriental . The Grand Tut ! forsakes the magnificence of Stuliman ; the Shah is dingy ; the MIogul is a pale pensioner . The silver battle-axea have disappeared from the pageants of Tartary ; the Graces of Persia are abandoning their hair * binding nets of gold ; the ' ivory-wristed ' girls of Circassia no longer attire themselves

    an celestial rosy red ! ' But , as the Eae fades the "West brightens . The Oolouristi are among us once more . Our ceilingi are frescoed ; on our walls are the or namenta of Pompeii ; if the Hindus wca the sunrise , we wear the sunset ; ou gold ia doubly-gilded ; our lilies ar painted so richly that all the epithets c all the poets would not describe them . "W <

    womanly speaking , are a saffron-mantlei violet - embroidered ! , rose - crowned , goldei zoned , impearled , pmk-and-azure pcopl ' Our language fails to express how gorgeoi wo aro . "We walk in gold-bordered shawl we have basques or bretelles on ourdresse we dine in dove-coloured taffeta , with lii rows of flounces , liATKAEii boddices , Grie < sleeves ; our young Euphrosynjes omcrj from , ball-rooms and theatres in mantles blue or ruby velvet , embroiderod in whi silk , lined with white plush , and orientaliz with a gold medallion fringe . The cml ) i ' dory , our chronicle of beauty affirms , " : semblcs rivers of pearls or the rich shades ruby , purple , sapphire , or emerald grcei Euphiiosyne wears , in the morning , bonnet of cborry colour or Louise i > l

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    in Parliament by its present Liberal members , but a feeler has already been put out in favour of the young Mr . Smyth , whose qualifications are a large fortune , and a mind not preoccupied by views' on public questions . He may be tempted to invest some of his loose capital , after co-operating in the Docks and other ' schemes ' , and completing the Suspension Bridge , in the free and independent electors of the city of Bristol . Under the auspices of so many influential and

    disinterested advisers , we see no reason why he should not succeed in achieving a seat in the Legislature of his country . Let this be his ambition . His convivial speeches , as reported in the Bristol Times , display a seasonable modesty and a tolerable syntax . His feelings do not appear to have got the better of his grammar more than might be expected of a young man who , after all , has a right to be independent of Lindley Mubray . "With a WiiiiiAM : Miles for his political , a Shaw for his commercial , and the " Family Solicitors "

    for his home department , a Smyth is well recommended to the public service . At allevents , we invite our foreign contemporaries to a view of this picture of English society . A . young man has only to step into an . estate to find himself encumbered with friends , readyto assist in the distribution of his patrimony . One man suggests a pack of hounds , another co-operation in docks and other schemes , ' another and another the Suspension Bridge , while the " Family Solicitor" caps it all with an expression of ' unbounded confidence . ' Here are all the conservative

    elements of our institutions . Ah well I Thrones totter and aristocracies decay , but th « dynasty of Smith—we beg his pardon—Smyth- —is not extinct , nor is the worship of wealth among the religions which have passed away . " O ! what a precious comfort it is to have so many like "brothers commanding one another ' s fortunes . "— "No doubt , my good friends , but the gods themselves have provided that I shall have help from you . How had you been my friends else ?"

    considerable estate in the neighbourhood of Bristol ; In . short , this amiable young man has conferred upon his friends and neighbours the inestimable service of stepping into some 26 , 0001 . per annum . Now this , in itself , is rather a personal and domestic fact than , one of general interest , and it is only through the pages of the local journals that it falls into the domain of publicity . Many other Smyths or Smiths ( for the y is tout a feeble distinction ) might have come

    and gone without attracting the pen of that votes sacer of provincial celebrities , the Local Organ . It is the estate and the 25 , 000 ? . a year tha , t bring fame and troops of friends . Two columns are devoted to the report . of a dinner of J . H . Obeville Smyth , Esq ., to his tenantry ; and it is really deligTitful to observe how any young man who is good enough to step into a large estate is

    surrounded by troops of friends . We entreat the attention of foreign publicists to this pleasant chapter of English rural life . As rnany as a hundred and seventy are present at the dinner . The Chureh , the Services , the House of Parliament , the Law , in short , all the respectable institutions which are ou . r pride and glory , are represented at the table . But decidedly the most cheering ' feature of the entertainment to the lover

    of his kind , is tlie abundance of good counsels so liberally bestowed upon the interesting hero of the feast . The Prodigal of Athens was not better surrounded ( in the first act ) than the adolescent Smyth of our day . If TiMOir had his crowd of senators , his poet , his painter , his tailor , and the rest , about his ante-chamber , the modern Smyth' has his Tory M . P ., Ms ' manager , ' his ' family solicitors , ' his Bristol merchants , his agriculturists , and other purveyors of soap and ' sawder , ' to crowd his festal banquet when he comes of age . Smyth , like Timon , has the world as his confectionary .

    : —— You see how all conditions , how all minds , As well of glib and slippery creatures , as Of grave and austere quality , tender down Their services " The burden of the song of the friends of Smyth , as of the friends of Timzon , is , that " we are born to do benefits , and what better or properer can we call our own than the richea of out friends ? " Mr . " William

    trates . Next , we find Mr . "William Mixes again , who now appears in a new character . He has played with his accustomed ability the " Farmer ' s TViend" in the earlier part of the evening , and has now dressed for the part of the " Bristol Merchant . " Proposing the " Trade and commerce of Bristol , " " He hoped to see the commerce of Bristol not only maintain its ground , but expand ; and referred to the projects ofdocks at the mouth of the river , and the de ~ sirability of completing local worTcs like the Suspension Bridge ) he hoped that 3 fr . Smyth would be willing to co-operate with the citizens , so Jar as in him lay , in

    doing what he could to advance suchlike works , and all undertakings for the benefit of Bristol . I trust ( said the Chairman ) that Providence will accord to your ' youthful host prosperity and length of days , and that he may live to see and participate in many schemes which will greatly conduce to the social improvement and commercial prosperity of the city of Bristol . I hope that he may live to see the two counties , Gloucester and Somerset , united by a noble bridge at Clifton , and that he will call in the hand of the architect to join art to nature on that lovely site . I hope he may live to see a railroad constructed from the present docks to new and more commodious docks at the mouth of- our beautiful river . "

    These are valuable hints for a young man who lias just come of age . He is recommended to '" co-operate" in sehemes which all the enterprise of Bristol merchants has been hitherto unwilling to attempt ; and we note the persuasive figure of speech by which the schemes are introduced : " I trust he may live to see . " The Suspension Bridge is an especially favourite topic with the many friends of this young gentleman . It is certainly , a very pretty cure for a plethora of cash , this said

    Suspension Bridge , which has been so long suspended . The Corporation , of Bristol , we believe , spent all the money that was bequeathed for the bridge by some misguided enthusiast , in a couple of brick piers , and tried by its piers the Corporation of Bristol is most assuredly found wanting . Apparently they have waited for the coming of age of a nice young man to complete their precious bridge . The bridge meets us at every turn in the report of the dinner . A

    Mr . Shaw , who , of all the speakers , seems to have the finest capacity for ' producing a lather , ' conducts the youthful Smyth through " the freshness and beauty of creation , " " the sylvan scenery and soft vales of Somersetshire , " only to bring him , by a circuitous approach , to the Suspension Bridge ! The toast of " Speed the Plough" brought up Mr . Mixes ( who is always ready to proceed to the nfost square-toed extremities of Bucolicism ) once more ; and at this period of the entertainment the excellent Farmer ' s

    MmES , for instance , is the distinguished parliamentary sponsor of the ingenuous youth , and promises and vows that he will take the " lead in rural matters ; " which "being interpreted , signifies that the Smyth interest will back the " Farmer ' s Friend , " and support Mr . Mixes in his favourite impersonation . Mr . Mixes is one of that faithful band of Derbyifces who at the last general election nailed the colours of Protection to the mast

    Friend grows scientific , talks familiarly of steam-ploughs , and calls upon a Mr . John Shattock to return , thanks . Mr . John Shattook . makes the very sensible , if not strictly novel , remark , that there are three essentials to good farming , " well- selected , manures , good clean seed , and plenty of labour , " and sits down . Thereupon the domestic toa ' sts . The ' family solicitors' handsome enough to express unbounded confidence in their employer , and to compliment a Mr . Way , who it appears has been * manager' of the estate , on his satisfactory

    adminism support of a Ministry whose first act in office was to throw Protection to the winds ; the war and other causes have kept up prices , ' however , and . the farmers have not yet ' found out * Free Trade , or Mr . "William Miles . The High Sheriff of Bristol returned thanks for the municipality ; and in reply to some graceful allusions , from another speaker , to his peculiar functions , he proceeded to improve the occasion in the following style :

    m * iir ? h SLeriff returned thanks , and assured Mr Fitz Way that his -wish should he attended to . If he had to execute upon him the last penalty of the law it Bhould bo performed with na delicaU a consideration aa possible to that gentleman ' s feelings . Even the courtesy of a silk ropo might be conceded him when , llko the Spaniard , ho came to tako hia last drop ( &xt ^ lter ) , and 1 t should not bo his ( tho High Sheriff V ) fault if ho wanted for any civility that was consistent with the proper discharge of that paiirful duty . ( Jte newed latujhtcr and cheers . ')"

    tration ; in other words , impressing upon the mind of Smyth that his "WayB were Ways of pleasantness , and all their paths were peaco . "What an admirable institution , we pause to exclaim , ia the " Family Solicitor ! " At onco a Conservative and a Radical institution . Is it not to the Family Solicitor that wo owe that landed property in this country is even as much divided as it ia , and does not perpetuate itself in families ? Tho Pumily Solicitor is your true skeleton nt the feast ; an amiablo , smiling skeleton , no doubt . The City of Bristol is capitally rcx > resonted

    A very edifying after-dinner contribution to the crime and punishment discussion , and hkely to impress the youthful Smyth with an exalted conception of the duties of magis-

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    62 THE LEADER . [ No . 356 , Satubday ,

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 17, 1857, page 62, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2176/page/14/