The Women Of Our Time.

bad cook you ve got , Maria ! and evidently votes home slow , and openly announces that ho should have preferred a dinner else where . Do not let us probe too deeply where that elsewhere would be ! What can women do ? Very often they become reckless , often they go their own wayas

very , " Monsieur" goes his ; and if , like the " Devil on Two Sticks , " we could look into the houses and homes in London , how very many sad and severed hearts should we behold 1 Have any of my readers ever read Octave Feuillet ' s " Pour et Contre ? " If

they have , they will remember how well he pourtrays the injured , suffering , magnanimous young wife , full of charms and cleverness , well educated , a delightful companion , whom her husband deserts for his club , and—well , never mind . It ' s not a good thing to be too inquisitive in this life , and

the next worse thing to knowing too little is knowing too much ! I hope , for one , that all this effervescence and exuberance of our " eccentric young ladies" is passing away , and is already on the wane . I have seen lately some of the most charming girls I ever sawand some

, of the best dressed young women I have ever looked upon . On their pleasant faces you find no traces of rouge or paint , or purple , or white . I saw no meretricious ornamentation , and no eccentric attire ! We must not lay too much stress

upon dress . The dresses of one generation are not the dresses of another , and though our grandmothers liked low waists for instance , we do not . Much of this extravagance of the " outward adorning" arises from the mistaken theory that thus it is necessary to attract and please the men i

And so I end this paper as I began it , not denying the fact , but believing it to be greatl y exaggerated . In my opinion our " eccentric young ladies" are the few among the many , and I trust that , even in their eecentvieit y , they will never forget that they are "ladies , " and will , as Mrs . Gamp says so properly , " always endeavour to behave as sich . "

Masonic Amateur Performances At Plymouth.

MASONIC AMATEUR PERFORMANCES AT PLYMOUTH .

iwo Amateur Performances were given a * the Pl ymouth Theatre on the Uth and

16 th instant , by some Members of the Craft , in aid of two most deserving charities namely : —The Royal Masonic Institution for Boys , and the Royal British Female Orphan Asylum at Devonport These affairs were most successfuland gave the

, greatest satisfaction , at least if we may judge by the repeated and long sustained apjilause of a well filled house on both occasions .

The entertainment on the 14 th commenced with the following appropriate prologue , written and spoken by Bro . Major Shanks , KM ., F . R . G . S ., Royal Marines Light Infantry : —

PROLOGUE "A . " Ladies and gentlemen , by fate ' s command ¦ , I now before these footli ghts take my / stand ( As spokesman for our histrionic band ; ' Heream I sent just briefly to foreshow

Unto the crowds I see above , below , ( Who no doubt wonder much , and well they may , What on th' occasion there can be to say , ) Why—especially in such fine weather—In this playhouse we ate met together .

Ours is the task to tread this honoured stage , And yours to give both cash aud patronage , For meagre penury once more demands An ample tribute from all lib ' ral hands : In aid of orphans' homes we play to-night ,

Expecting to afford you great delight , And earn some money for the noble pair Of Institutes named in our bill of fare . There can be none here now but will admit The two Asylums for whose benefit We tread these boards , most richly do deserve That we their interests should warml y serve .

Your eash , you may be sure , will help to save Some wretched children from a pauper ' s grave ; Long might those orphans mourn their fate in vain , Of bitter want , and piercing cold complain ;

Long might those poor ones beg their scanty meal , And still unpitied make their sad aprpeal ; Bat true benevolence with godlike power , As guardian angel , stays the evil hour ; Imparts to poverty a prompt relief , And pours the balm of joy o ' er every grief