the consequences which are appended to it, it will appear that every man has an interest in inquiring after the most effectual mode of discharging it. Now that the principle of order, when carried into the various divisions of our conduct, will most essentially contribute thereto, is very evident. Regularity is the great basis of social happiness; and its effects upon our personal enjoyments are incalculable. When this pervades the character, we may anticipate every thing great and valuable from the man. It is connected with every virtue, and with every excellence; while, on the contrary, there is not any vice, nor any evil, to which its opposite does not tend. I confess, Mr. INSPECTOR, that to some, all this may appear the very "foolishness of preaching" but if, by it, others are taught to think more justly of society, and to act more worthily in it, it will not be in vain that I have written, and taken this occasion of subscribing myself, &c.

CANDIDUS,

NUMBER 26.

Of Beauty, long confin'd in Folly's chain,
Misled by Fashion and her glittering train ;
Of evils springing from that thirst of praise
Which fires the youthful dames of modern days;
Which taught them all the various arts they know,
"Brought Dress into the world and all our woe;"
I sing.

AURELIA, OR THE CONTEST.

EVERY person conversant with the writings of our best periodical essayists, must be well aware, that among the subjects which have been considered as falling within their immediate province, that of Dress occupies a very prominent station. The operation of face painting was early animadverted upon in the TATLER, by Mr. Bickerstaff; and the same author, in a solemn manner, took the petticoat under his own particular inspection. His successor, the SPECTATOR, frequently interposed his advice in the important affairs of fans, patches, party-coloured hoods, and naked shoulders. In the GUARDIAN, the venerable Nestor Ironside paid much attention to furbelows and farthingales, and in particular,

wrote several learned dissertations on the tucker, -a part of dress which has since fallen, in a great measure, into disuse, although it is evident that this shrewd judge of human nature was deeply impressed with a sense of its importance. In the RAMBLER, indeed, we seldom find any discussions on subjects of this nature; which may, perhaps, be accounted for from the peculiar disposition of the author, who appears to have paid little attention to exterior circumstances; and has, throughout his writings, endeavoured to point out what mankind should be, rather than enlarged on what they actually were.

My object, in this introduction, is to shew, from the precedents afforded by these celebrated authors, that I have an undoubted right to animadvert upon such peculiarities in dress and fashion as fall under my notice,-a right which I intend to exercise occasionally in future. Upon an attentive consideration of every thing relative to this subject, however, I feel conscious that it would be an act of injustice, were I to neglect the earliest opportunity of declaring my approbation, in general, of the alteration in the modes of dress since the commencement of the last century, especially so far as it regards the female sex. For a degree of stiffness and formality, which detracted greatly from the native charms of

heaven's fairest workmanship, ease and elegance have been substituted; and that person must be utterly unfit for a judge of the beautiful in form, who could, on this account, prefer the starched figures of the days of old Queen Bess, or even of Queen Anne, to the female costume of the present day.

At periods considerably later than the reign of the last named Sovereign, the female shape was frequently disfigured by fashions equally preposterous as those of any preceding era. We are informed, in ancient history, that the courtiers of Alexander the Great carried their necks awry, in adulation of that monarch, who happened to be so formed by nature;-in like manner, the fashionable ladies of Great Britain were, some years ago, all humpbacked and round shouldered, out of compliment to a late celebrated duchess. The head dress was, at one time, carried to such a formidable height, and so artificially constructed, as to afford a pretty tolerable imitation of those prints which are said to represent the tower of Babel. Certain appendages of cork were substituted for the enormous hoops of former days; and, as a counterpoise was soon found necessary, the former made way for false bosoms. Even within the recollection of most of my fair readers, protuberant waists

were all the ton,—a fashion which, though it could not possess any claim to gracefulness, might at least, in many cases, be allowed the merit of utility, and had a right to the praises which I find bestowed upon it in the following stanzas of a poem by a contemporary writer :—

"No curious prying eye can see

"What spinsters would conceal;
"Nor slander's foul envenom'd tongue,
"The secret tale reveal.

"Hail, happy days! when maiden fame
"Is thus so well protected,
"That every wish may be indulg'd,
"Yet wholly unsuspected!"

The tendency of the human mind to run from one extreme into its opposite, has often been remarked; and from this principle it is that the levity and dissoluteness of the court of Charles the Second has been attributed in a great degree to the affected sanctity and austere behaviour of the Puritans, during the commonwealth. Upon the same principle, perhaps, we may account for the lightness of dress, in which my fair countrywomen have lately indulged. For my own part, as I deem it most commendable to err on the side of candour, I have often thought, that this fashionable nakedness was probably meant as an open appeal to the world, against malicious