which is its natural contrast, as purple of yel- ranged, so as to improve particular complex low, or blue of orange. The relieving color ought not exist in too great a quantity, because it would then surpass the other by effect. Indeed, that the relieving color should be in small quantity, is evident from its very name. The relieving color should not be darker than the color it is intended to relieve, for it then presents an opposition, which should always be avoided. Contrast, skillfully managed, gives force and lustre to the color relieved, while opposition mars its effect. THEIR MANAGEMENT IN RELATION TO THE FACE. quan If the preceding principles be true, it is certain that the color relieving by contrast ought not to be brought in contact with the face, where its strong and direct contrast would heighten the faulty tint in the face. Near to the face, indeed, the smallest tity of that color should exist, while a broad border or flounce of the relieving color may be at the bottom of the dress, or a lining, which is often shown by turning up; a narrow margin, or mere ties, should alone mark the edges as they ascend, and this color should give place to white near the face. This rule is enforced by actual practice, though it is followed without system or rule, and almost instinctively, as it is at the bottom of dresses chiefly that broad borders of relieving colors are used, and near the face that white is employed. COLORS RELIEVING BY HARMONY. ions. Many ladies, however, bestow almost scrupulous attention upon the selection of shades in the choice of a flower or ribbon, which will last a few months, perhaps a few days; but when it is some article of furniture, which will last for some years, they altogether neglect the influence of color. In general, the color of the walls of any apartment, against which the face is seen, and with which it is compared, will operate by contrast; for though the other walls will also reflect, yet that will be a general and vague reflection on all that the room contains, while the contrast between the face and opposite walls will be particular and striking. On the contrary, when a lady's face is placed amidst hangings of any color, they will, from their nearness on all sides, operate by reflection; and this will be the more striking, because the observer will probably be remote from their influence. Thus, by the reflection of yellow hangings, a blonde will acquire a hopeless insipidity; close to green window curtains, a dark brunette will look as though waiting for the nurse or doctor. In the next article we shall have something to say in relation to General form of Dress; its principles, &c. OUR PLATE. There is not, perhaps, in the whole world a greater variety of river scenery than can be found in our country. In Maine there are streams remarkable almost as the Rhine for the picturesque grandeur of their banks. The Hudson has become almost arcadeon by the thousand cultivated groves and beautiful dwellings that are interspersed amid its magnificent scenery. The Valley of Wyoming, where the Susquehanna winds through its verdant bosom, is unsurpassed for the luxuriance and sublimity of meadow, grove and precipice, arranged and grouped like a picture. The Dele ware is also remarkable for varied and rich scenery, and from its association with the great events of our revolution, is particularly an object of interest. A thousand beautiful sketches might be taken along its banks for the embellishment of our perodical; but the plate which we give our readers this month represents one of its most picturesque features, and is from one of the best engravers of our country. ANCIENT DIET.-Wheat bread with olives, figs, and other fruits--and less seldom with cheese and eggs--constituted the diet of the Athenians, in their most flourishing days. THE AGED PRISONER. I have read, heard or dreamed, of an old man, long imprisoned-I think for debt-who, on hearing a bird that flew, singing, over his prison walls, was, at first, evidently delighted; but soon, as he contrasted the bird's liberty with his own restraint, the desire for freedom grew so strong within him, that he became deranged. THE SINGING OF A BIRD MADE HIM A MANIAC! For years a haggard prisoner sate Within a dismal cell, Where faintly through the heavy grate E'en hope refused to dwell. Old age and grief had bleached his hair, The eye might plainly trace— Immured in such a place! Twelve times the earth around the sun Had urged her steady flight— Twelve times their race the seasons run, And he shut from the sightTwelve lingering years!—to him as one Long, dark and dreary night! The spring in "robes of living green"— Nature's awakening hymnBright summer, with its skies serene, Cheered not his dungeon dimNor autumn with her brilliant sheen- 'Twas winter all to him! The grating of his prison door Was all the sound he heard, Save once, above his walls did soar A little warbling bird ; And while its song did sweetly pour, Oh, how his heart was stirred! Oh, how he longed to break away, Like that young bird as free ! No bounds his onward flight should stay, He recked not where his steps should stray, 'Twas then he cursed the iron fate That bound him to his kind- Like one with frenzy blind : THE POETRY OF SUMMER. There is poetry in the hum of bees, when the orchards are in bloom, and the sun is shining in unclouded splendour upon the waving meadows, and the garden is richly spangled with spring flowers. There is poetry in the hum of the bee, because it brings back to us, as in a dream, the memory of by-gone days, when our hearts were alive to the happiness of childhood-the time when we could lie down upon the green bank and enjoy the stillness of summer's noon, when our hopes were in the blossoms of the orchard, our delight in the sunshine, our untiring rambles in the meadows, and our perpetual amusement in the scented flowers. Since these days, time has I rolled over us with such a diversity of incidents, bringing so many changes in our modes of living and thinking, that we have learned, perhaps at some cost, to analyse our feelings, and to say, rather than feel, that there is poetry in the hum of bees. But let one of these honey-laden wanderers find his way into our apartment, and while he struggles with frantic efforts to escape through the closed window, we cease to find pleasure in his busy hum. There is poetry in the flowers that grow in sweet profusion upon wild and uncultivated spots of earth, exposing their delicate leaves to the tread of the rude inhabitants of the wilderness, and spreading forth their scented charms to the careless mountain wind-in the thousand, thousand little stars of beauty looking forth like eyes, with no eye to look again; or cups, that seem formed to catch the dewdrops; or spiral pyramids of varied hue shooting up from leafy beds, and pointing faithfully to the shining sky; or crowns of golden splendor mounted upon fragile stems; or purple wreaths that never touched a human brow; all bursting forth, blooming and then fading, with endless succession in the midst of untrodden wilds ;-in rain and sunshine, in silent night, and glowing day, with an end and purpose in their brief existence inscrutable to the mind of man. SLAVERY.-One of the best things we have yet seen, is a statement in the Health Journal implying that the worst form of human slavery is that slavery to ourselves which every where exists; and which, until it is removed, is an insurmountable obstruction to the real, practical emancipation of others, even from their exC.P.L.ternal bondage. MISANTHROPIC HOURS. BY E. D. BAKER, JR. I feel that life is ebbing fast; Each varying hour, each fleeting breath, Alas! how soon we die. I will not murmur or repine— Why should I wish to stay? My youthful brow is seared with careDisease has left an impress there, Which ne'er will pass away. My only hopes on earth are dead, They tell of joys beyond the sky- Of fields with constant verdure green, Then let me quickly, quickly fly, For I have found no pleasure here- How varying every thing around! The little bird whose plaintive note, Is hovering in the air; Oh, had I the wings as fleet, as free, A FRAGMENT. I saw her in the bloom of youthful beauty. The blush of modesty was on her cheek, and sensibility sparkled in her azure eye. I will not attempt to delineate the beauties of her person, much less to portray the graces of her mind. Suffice it to say, she was all that is good and lovely in woman. Again I saw her. She stood beside the altar, pale and lovely; her dew-lit eye was raised to heaven, and her slight frame trembled with emotion, as she took upon her the holy vows of wedlock. Years passed on, and again I beheld her. She was bending over the coffined clay of a lovely infant! A mother's anguish was swelling her heart and heaving her bosom with convulsive sobs, as she pressed her lips, for the last time, to the marble cheek of her child. With a trembling hand she wiped the gathering tears from her eyes, and raising them to heaven, said, “Thy will, oh! God, be done; what is one of thy creatures that she should dare to complain?" A more than mortal calmness came over her. She stood in the dignity of a superior being, gazing on the dead form of her beautiful child. Again I saw her. She stood beside the bier of him who had been her friend, her soother, her counsellor the bier of her husband. He had been called in manhood's pride to lie down by his lifeless child, and she, his beloved one, was left to weep his premature death. It is true when she felt his last breath on her cheek-when she met his last dying look of love, she thought life a burden! But heaven was still her support-on that she leaned, and that soon taught her to be resigned to this last and greatest affliction. Calmly the bereaved, but lovely mourner, took her last farewell of him she had loved with the constancy of wowan, and with a serene brow, took her fatherless babes to her bosom. more I saw her. Still fair was that lovely brow, over which the dark hair parted in luxuriant brightness. But ah! how strangely cold-how awfully still! She too was dead! She too had died in youth's bright hour! With a tearless eye had she clasped her orphans to her heart and commended them to heaven.— Then, even then, her faith failed her noteven at that trying moment, when death was busy at her heart, her faith failed her not. She was a Christian. Once G. F. A contented mind and a good conscience will make a man happy in all conditions. Wine has drowned more than the sea. OUR CHRONICLE. The last month has been marked with few events worthy of record. President Tyler's veto of the Tariff bill, and the subsequent struggle to settle the revenue of the country has created considerable excitement in the political world. Meantime business never was so depressed, nor commercial confidence so completely prostrated. It is possible that our pros pects may brighten up a little during the autumn, but every thing is uncertain. The treaty between this country and Europe has been ratified by the Senate, and so far as it is made known, appears to give satisfaction, but it will not become public in all its details until sanctioned by the British Government. Since our last number, melancholy news has reached our shores from France. The Duke D'Orleans, heir to the throne, came to a sudden death by a fall from his carriage, a circumstance which has overpowered that great nation with mourning and has excited much sympathy throughout other nations. The trouble and consternation which fell upon the court the high promptings of nature, which made the royal house of France forget both dignity and station in their new anxiety to look upon the dying Prince-as described in the Paris journals-conveyed a touching and sorryful picture. We forget the Sovereign Lady in the woman and the mother, when we read of the afflicted Queen rushing from the saloon on foot to receive the last breath of her son. In this death France has received a melancholy blow from which she will not soon recover. In England some lunatic young gentleman has been snapping flints at the queen, but this seems to be a sort of monthly recreation, which the young gentlemen of London delight to indulge in, and it will be difficult to get up much of an excitement on such occasions on this side the Atlantic, unless some battery is found powerful enough to blow up the state carriage in which her Majesty has encountered so many perils. THE LITERARY WORLD has little new in it, except a monthly magazine, which we hear mentioned as very beautiful in its imbellishments, called "The Artist." We have not seen the work and hear nothing said of its literary contents. THE CROTON WATER is now refreshing our city, and in this sultry weather it is delightful to witness the improvement made by the streams of pure water used for purifying the gutters. In a short time this inestimable blessing will be generally introduced into our dwellings, and New York will stand second to no city in America for comfort and cleanliness. We took a drive around the great reservoir a week since, and a more beautiful sight cannot well be imagined, or a more gratifying one, when all the grand associations connected with this stupendous undertaking are considered. Lord Ashburton has visited our city, and received the hospitality of its inhabitants. The Governor's room at the City Hall was offered for his use by the proper authorities, but his lordship preferred to receive his friends at the Astor House. The important errand on which he came being accomplished, the peacemaker will soon be in old England again, highly gratified, we doubt not, with the success of his mis sion. Toppin, the man who was to have been hanged on the fifth of this month, has received a commutation of his sentence from the Governor. Through the exertions of a lady of this city evidence of his insanity was collected, and placed before Governor Seward-evidence which was unfortunately omitted at the trial, and which justified the Executive in instituting a commission for examining more thoroughly into his case. This commission resulted in a commutation of the unfortunate man's punishment into imprisonment for life. The decision was transmuted by Governor Seward to the lady who had applied for executive clemency, in a manner most complimentary and gratifying, and which conferred on her the pleasure of furnishing the first intelligence of the commutation to the prisoner and his suffering family. We are informed that Mr. Hart, who acted as attorney for the prisoner, during the investigation, exerted himself to the utmost in his behalf, with no hopes of remuneration, and throughout the whole affair omitted no opportunity of aiding to place the wretched man's case in a proper light before the ExThe friends of Toppin, we learn, express much gratitude to Mr. Hart, for his benevolent and gratuitous exertions in behalf of a man too infirm of intellect to act in his own behalf, and without a farthing to pay for legal aid. ecutive. LATEST PARIS FASHIONS. BONNETS.-The form of bonnets is much the same, still slightly shading the face; the crowns made round materials, such as crape, tulle, or fancy gauzes, and and large; they are composed of light silk or zephyr tissue, bordered round the edges with folds of the same, trimmed with rich flowers of divers colours, the interior decorated with light flowers. The bonnets of fancy gauzes, either white, rose or blue, are mostly trimmed with lace or blonde, the crown being prettily decorated with very light roses, each rose being surrounded and divided by the lace; the interior trimmed to match; we must not, also, forget to mention, that the capes of the bonnets behind, are commencing to be worn more shallow. the rage amongst our elegantes, as well as those beauMATERIALS FOR DRESSES.-Light stuffs are still all tiful light silks of different rays and stripes; then, there are batistes of Surat, mouselines de laine, tissue bayaderes of every sort, and, lastly, those delicate balso rines, amongst which we have remarked a very pretty fantasie, the ground being of different shades, covered with lines at convenient distances, and striped with palm leaves, having a very good effect. The heavier materials are les moires Ninon, les moires Pompadour, les Pekins, covered with narrow stripes shaded, intermixed with small flowers of a paler shade, and les taffetas glaces, bearing the pretty names of rose et ciel and rose et myrte. EVENING DRESS.-Nothing is so much worn at the present moment, as white for evening dresses; we see it everywhere; at the theatre, at balls, at concerts, white is everywhere visible, the favorite material being mousseline or tarlatan; the form of the corsage round, and a la vierge; plain sleeves demi-longues, and mostly covered with the cardinal or lace crispin, forming the sole ornament to the dress. We have also remarked some pretty robes of organdy, having the band attached with a buckle, from which depend two ends descending to the knee, where they are met with two immense flounces which decorate the skirt, broad flounces being now much in favor. The dresses of foulard glace and the barege de Bagegory, with its soft shades, but plain, varies the monotony of so much white, and is certainly more becoming to some complexions. COLORS.-The fashionable colors of this month are much the same as those last month, being the different shades of violet, green and peach; pink and blue are also much worn; white, however, predominates over all, both as regards outdoor costume and full dress. MUSIC 3 hear the Robin's Morning Cay. BY J. S.-WORDS BY THE LATE REV. JOSEPH RUSTLING. 2. The mountain's bluff, the valley's low, 3. The distant horn, the sounding flai', The flocks and herds in throng; I recollect these rural scenes, 4. The circling round of youthful friends, As vines with clusters hung; The fire that in their bosom glow'd, 5. Sweet little Redbreast, how I love 6. But scenes and friends of earlier days And memory only calls to mind The years when I was young. 7. Life with its varied scenes have changed I feel it in my song; ut Robin warbles just the same As when I once was young. |