176 IN THE RIDING-SCHOOL. 



into ugliness by a very few hours of trotting. 

 Be thankful, therefore, that fashion says that 

 woollen cloth is the most costly material which 

 may be used. 



In India, during the last two or three seasons, 

 Englishwomen have worn London-made habits 

 of very light stuffs, mohairs and fine Bradford 

 woollens, and there is no reason why any Ameri- 

 can woman should not do the same. In Hyde 

 Park, for three summers, in those early morning 

 hours when some of the best riders go, attended 

 by a groom, to enjoy something more lively than 

 the afternoon parade, skirts of light tweed and 

 covert coats of the same material worn over 

 white silk shirts, with linen collars and a man's 

 tie, have made their wearers look cool and com- 

 fortable, and duck covert jackets, with ordinary 

 woollen skirts and linen shirts have had a similar 

 effect, but American women have rather hesi- 

 tated as to adopting these fashions, lest some 

 one, beholding, should say that they were not 

 correct. Thus did they once think that they 

 must wear bonnets with strings in church, no 

 matter what remonstrance was made by the 

 thermometer, or how surely they were deafened 



