In the full strength of years, matron, and maid,
And the sweet babe, and the gray-headed man--
Shall one by one be gathered to thy side
By those who in their turn shall follow them.

So live that when thy summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan which moves
To that mysterious realm where each shall take
His chamber in the silent halls of death,
Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night,
Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.

PRE-EASTER PHILOSOPHY.

A Few Reflections, Pertinent and Impertinent, on the Subject of Clothes,
Their Cost, and the Consequences of Sartorial Splendor.

Dwellers in huts and marble halls--
From shepherdess up to queen--
Cared little for bonnets, and less for shawls,
And nothing for crinoline.
But now simplicity's not the rage,
And it's funny to think how cold
The dress they wore in the Golden Age
Would seem in the Age of Gold.

HENRY S. LEIGH--_The Two Ages_.

Nothing is thought rare
Which is not new, and follow'd; yet we know
That what was worn some twenty years ago
Comes into grace again.

BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER--_Prologue
to the Noble Gentleman_.

Dress drains our cellar dry,
And keeps our larder lean; puts out our fires,
And introduces hunger, frost, and wo.
Where peace and hospitality might reign.

COWPER--_The Task_. Bk. II.

He that is proud of the rustling of his silks, like a madman, laughs at
the rattling of his fetters. For indeed, Clothes ought to be our
remembrancers of our lost innocency.

Fuller--_The Holy and Profane States_.

I'll be at charges for a looking-glass,
And entertain some score or two of tailors,
To study fashions to adorn my body:
Since I am crept in favor with myself,
I will maintain it with some little cost.

_Richard III_. Act I. Sc. 2.

So tedious is this day,
As is the night before some festival
To an impatient child, that hath new robes,
And may not wear them.

_Romeo and Juliet_. Act III. Sc. 2.

Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy;
For the apparel oft proclaims the man.

_Hamlet_. Act I. Sc. 3.

The