The Man of Fashion. "The external graces, the frivolous accomplishments of that impertinent and foolish thing called a man of fashion, are commonly more admired than the solid and masculine virtues of a warrior, a statesman, a philosopher, or a legislator. All the great and awful virtues, all the virtues which can fit either for the council, the senate, or the field, are, by the insolent and insignificant flatterers who commonly figure the most in such corrupted societies, held in the utmost contempt and derision. When the Duke of Sully was called upon by Lewis the Thirteenth to give his advice in some great emergency, he observed the favourites and courtiers whispering to one another, and smiling at his unfashionable appearance. "Whenever your majesty's father,' said the old warrior and statesman, did me the honour to consult me, he ordered the buffoons of the court to retire into the anti-chamber."" FEMALES, ANECDOTES OF. LADIES have sometimes distinguished themselves as prodigies of learning. Many of the most eminent geniuses of the French nation have been of the female sex. Several of our countrywomen have also made a respectable figure in the republic of letters. Queen Elizabeth, by a double translating of Greek, without missing, every forenoon, and of Latin every afternoon, attained to such a perfect understanding in both tongues, and to such a rea dy utterance of Latin, and that with such judg ment, as there were few in either of the universities, or elsewhere in England, that were comparable to her. Of Lady Jane Gray it is said, that, beside her skill in the Latin and Greek languages, she was acquainted with the Hebrew also; so as to be able to satisfy herself in both the originals. Mary Cunitz, one of the greatest geniuses in the sixteenth century, was born in Silesia. She learned languages with amazing facility, and understood Polish, German, French, Italian, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. She attained a knowledge of the sciences with equal ease; she was skilled in history, physic, poetry, painting, music, and playing upon instruments; and yet these were only an amusement. She more particularly apphed herself to the mathematics, and especially to astronomy, which she made her principal study, and was ranked in the number of the most able astronomers of her time. Her astronomical tables acquired her a prodigious reputation. Anna Maria Schurman was born in the year 1607. Her extraordinary genius discovered itself at six years of age, when she cut all sorts of figures in paper with her scissors without a pattern. At eight she learned, in a few days, to draw flowers in a very agreeable manner. At ten, she took but three hours to learn embroidery. Afterwards she was taught music, vocal and instrumental, painting, sculpture, and engraving; in all which she succeeded admirably. She excelled in miniature painting, and in cutting portraits upon glass with a diamond. Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, were so familiar to her, that the most learned men were astonished at it. She spoke French, Italian, and English, fluently. Her hand-writing, in almost all languages, was so inimitable, that the curious preserved specimens of it in their cabinets. Constantia Grierson, born of poor parents in the county of Kilkenny, in Ireland, was one of the most learned women on record, though she died at the age of 27, in 1733. She was an excellent Greek and Latin scholar, and understood history, divinity, philosophy, and mathematics. She proved her skill in Latin, by her dedication of the Dublin edition of Tacitus to Lord Carteret, and by that of Terence to his son; to whom she also addressed a Greek epigram.. Mary Queen of Scots, at an early period, is said to have pronounced with great applause, before the whole court, a Latin harangue, in which she proved that it was not unbecoming the fair sex to cultivate letters, and to acquire learning. She plied also, with great success, to the study of the French, Italian, and Spanish, which she spoke not only with propriety, but with fluency and ease. ap Margaret, Duchess of Newcastle, if not a learned, is known, at least, as a voluminous writer, for she extended her literary productions to the number of twelve folio volumes. These instances are not selected to imply that a learned education ought to be given to females in general. They are sufficient, however, I think, to decide the controversy respecting the intellectual talents of women, compared with those of men: enough to prove that there are radical powers in the female sex as well as the male. Females, however, would do well to embrace: every opportunity of enlarging their minds with useful knowledge. Instead of losing time by perusing novels and plays, in which so many take delight, and by which so many are actually rendered dissolute, how much better to see them employed in studying the pages of history, of grammar, of morality, of useful literature in general, and of religion! And here I cannot help recommending to my female readers, Mrs. Hannah Moore's admirable Strictures on Education; "which (says Dr. Porteus, the present Bishop of London) presents to the reader such a fund of good sense, of wholesome counsel, of sagacious observation, of a knowledge of the world and of the female heart, of high-toned morality and genuine Christian piety; and all this enlivened with such brilliancy of wit, such richness of imagery, such variety and felicity of allusion, such neatness and elegance of diction, as are not, I conceive, easily to be found so combined and blended together in any other work in the English language." See the bishop's charge to his clergy in 1798, 1799. Industrious Females. I once knew a lady (observes one,) noble by birth, but more noble by her virtues, who never sat idle in company, unless when compelled to it by the punctilio of ceremony, which she took care should happen as rarely as possible. Being a perfect mistress of her needle, and having an excellent taste in that as in many other things, her manner, whether at home or abroad with her friends, was to be constantly engaged in working something useful or something beautiful; at the same time that she assisted in supporting the conversation with an attention and capacity which I have never seen exceeded. For the sake of variety and improvement when in her own house, some one of the company would often read aloud, while she and her female visitants were thus employed. I must add, that during an intimate acquaintance of several years, I do not remember to have seen her once driven to the polite necessity of either winning or losing money at play, and making her guests defray the expence of the entertainment. What a happy simplicity prevailed in antient times, when it was the custom for ladies, though of the greatest distinction, to employ themselves in useful and sometimes laborious works! Every one knows what is told us in scripture to this purpose concerning Rebecca, Rachel, and several others. We read in Homer of princesses drawing themselves water from springs, and washing with their own hands the finest of the linen of their respective families. The sisters of Alexander the Great, who were the daughters of a powerful prince, employed themselves in making clothes for their brothers. The celebrated Lucretia used to spin in the midst of her female attendants. Among the Romans, no citizen of any note ever appeared in public in any garb but what was spun by his wife and daughters. It was a custom in the northern parts of the world, not many years ago, for the princesses who then sat upon the throne, to prepare several of the dishes at every meal. The depravity of the age has indeed affixed to these customs an idea of meanness and contempt; but, then, what has it substituted in the room of them? A soft indolence, a stupid idleness, frivolous conversation, vain amusements, a strong passion for public shows, and a frantic love of gaming |