When he was brought upon the scaffold, he felt the edge of the axe with which he was to be beheaded, and observed, “’Tis a sharp remedy, but a sure one for all ills,” harangued the people calmly, eloquently, and conclusively, in defence of his character, laid his head on the block with indifference, and died as he had lived, undaunted, one of the greatest benefactors of both England and America, judicially murdered by the pitiful spite of the basest and worst of England’s monarchs.  James could slay his body, but his fame shall live forever.

[1] I would here caution my readers from placing the slightest confidence in anything stated in Hume’s History (fable?) of the Stuarts, and especially of this, the worst of a bad breed.

* * * * *

HOPE ON, HOPE EVER.

BY ROBERT G. ALLISON.

  If sorrow’s clouds around thee lower,
  E’en in affliction’s gloomiest hour,
  Hope on firmly, hope thou ever;
  Let nothing thee from Hope dissever. 
  What though storms life’s sky o’ercast
  Time’s sorrows will not always last,
  This vale of tears will soon be past. 
  Hope darts a ray to light death’s gloom,
  And smooths the passage to the tomb;

  Hope is to weary mortals given,
  To lead them to the joys of heaven
  Then, when earth’s scenes, however dear,
  From thy dim sight shall disappear—­
  When sinks the pulse, and fails the eye,
  Then on Hope’s pinions shall thy spirit fly
  To fairer worlds above the sky. 
  Then hope thou on, and hope thou ever;
  Let nothing thee from Hope dissever.

* * * * *

THE DRESSING ROOM.

[Illustration]

Full bodies not gathered in at the top, but left either quite loose, or so as to form an open fluting, are becoming very fashionable; but they require to be very carefully made, and to have a tight body under them, as otherwise they look untidy—­particularly as the age of stiff stays has departed, we trust never to return, and the modern elegants wear stays with very little whalebone in them, if they wear any at all.

In our figures, the one holding the fan has the body of her dress, which is of spotted net, fluted at the top; the skirt is made open at the side, and fastened with a bouquet of roses.  The petticoat, which is of pink satin, has a large bow of ribbon with a rose in the centre, just below the rose which fastens the dress.  The sleeves are also trimmed with bunches of roses; and the gloves are of a very delicate pale pink.

The other dress is of white net or tarlatan, made with three skirts, and a loose body and sleeves.  The upper skirts are both looped up with flowers on the side, and large bows of very pale-yellow ribbon.  Ribbon of the same color is worn in the hair, and the gloves are of a delicately tinted yellowish white.

[Illustration]