THE CURATE IN SPRING. 193 



a farcical manner of speech — have gone beyond mere 

 protest, and insisted on the adoption of sensible means of 

 escape. With tlie habitmaker — wlio, after all, by his 

 skilful and tortuous cutting that envelopes each leg and 

 pommel with such marvellous closeness, is really the 

 author of half these entanglements — he dare not meddle ; 

 for does not the fit and sit of a habit constitute one of the 

 great, miiversal, and unavoidable, rivalries of the day? 

 Now, the feminine breeches-and-boots of Anno Domini 

 1884 are as little likely to shock the eye of the chance 

 observer, as the mention of them is to bring a blush to 

 tlie face of the fair wearer herself when ordering them. 

 They are known to exist, in all propriety as in all 

 necessity — and, as far as the requirements of delicacy 

 and possibly even of elegance are concerned, might well 

 dispense with their dangerous coverings, the cause of 

 these accidents. Let this be as it may. The order has 

 gone forth ; the method has met with acceptance at the 

 hands of matron and maid ; and, please Heaven, we 

 shall be frightened no more. Habit-skirts are to be 

 fastened loosely at the waist ; and in time of extreme 

 danger ladies must be content, not only for their own 

 sakes but for ours, to cast them adrift. Smile not, ye 

 ancient satyrs — the loosened zone of modern classics will, 

 even to your ribald minds, convey nothing to move your 

 mirth. 



Twelve o'clock meets, and an enormous influx of 

 strangers, as unmistakeably presage the coming end as 

 any less technical symptoms of spring. Could we shut 

 our eyes to lambs, primroses, and the rusty particolours 



