Customs Of The Women In Olden Times

It s sometimes a matter of piensan) recrea'.ion lo look hack upon the customs of the olden time, and cempare them wilh oür own. In this we noté llie progresa ofcivilizaiion and refinemenf. - We copy the fullowing (Vorn .Mis. Child's "History of ihe condition ofwonen n Various ages and Nations." " During the middle agos, the FVench vvore gowns quite high n the nee!?, nnd fitted closely to the shnpe. The fight side was embl'oidered with theiihusbnnd'.s coat 01 anns, and the lel'twilh tjbeir own. Phecustom of display ing their shoulders was unknown before Ihetime of Charles ho sixth, Widows wei-eclosely mutllod, and wore caps and veils ve'-y miu;ii like nuns. Henry IV. found himself obliged o restrain extnivngance by sumptuary !aws; yet 1 U mistress, Gnbriella, was sometimes so loaded with pearls and diamonds, that she was not able to support her own weight. A taste for rich and elegant dress dis[ilayed tself first and most con.spicuously in ltalyand France, and then spread int n more Norlharn nations. Pelrnrcli's Launa is doscribed as wearing gloves l;rooaded witri gold, and dressed magnificently in silk, though a pöund of silk waa valued in those dnys at four poundi sterling. Sparish ladies Wore neoklaces of steel to which tbift ron rods were fnstenfid, curving upwerds to c.vpand the veil when thrown over the liead, en ps more thnn a Toot high were a!so much in "vogue; Ihey were dressed in the forrn of a toupee on the top of the head, and overed with a black veil. These caps niay Mili be seen in some of the Spnnish provinces. Both in Scotlnnd and Spain it was customary for women to wear mourning lint il they died or married ogain.