X 



^T^HE women of the past, dimly discerned through 

 the mists of time, acquire in our eyes a charm 

 which is without doubt heightened by the beautiful 

 portraits of Romney, Gainsborough, and Reynolds, 

 whose models would seem to have been very paragons 

 of femininity. Whether such was in sober reality 

 the case may be open to doubt, but beyond all 

 question the beauties of the eighteenth century were 

 essentially real women, and had not the slightest 

 desire to pose as imperfect men — the ideal of some 

 portion of the sex in more modern times. 



From a physical point of view the girl . of the 

 eighteenth century would seem to have been of a 

 somewhat different type from her sister of to-day, 

 who is generally dowered with a willowy figure not 

 very robustly developed. Woman's height also is 

 said to have increased within the last fifty years, 

 though in connection with this it should not be 

 forgotten that boots are now more scientifically 

 made than in the past, and heels more artfully de- 

 vised. 



The English lass, as pictured by Rowlandson, an 

 artist who knew a good deal about women, would 

 seem to have been rather squat, very well developed, 

 and brimming over with vitality and life, whilst 



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