KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



2C7 



TO ZILLAH. 



BY THE AUTHOR OF " THE NECKLACE.' 



Maiden ! by that peerless brow, 



Where love has sealed his frequent vow, 



By the memory of the past, 



And the rose-wreaths round it cast — 



Sever not Love's sunny chain, 



Give me back that smile again ! 



By those dove-like eyes of blue, 

 By that breast's transparent hue, 

 By each light and waving tress 

 Whose golden curls thy bosom press, — 

 By that cheek where mine has lain, 

 Give me back that smile again ! 



Bv each deep and burning line 



That wooed and won that heart of thine, 



By those secret feelings known, 



In all their depths, to thee alone, — 



By all of pleasure, all of pain, 



Give me back that smile again ! 



By those vanished hours of love, 

 By all that woman's heai't can move, 

 By all that glistening eye may tell, 

 Of thoughts within its crystal cell ; 

 By every joy in pleasure's train, 

 Give me back that smile again ! 



By the flow'r'ts that once were mine, 

 By the tress that once was thine, 

 By those lips whose honied kiss 

 Clung to mine in murm'ring bliss, — 

 By all that love may yet retain, 

 Give me back that smile again. 



Maiden ! well thou know'st to me 



Thou wert as dew upon life's tree, 



The bud of promise to my heart, 



The spring whose waters reached each part,- 



And wouldst thou make the past all vain ? 



No — give me back that smile again ! 



THE DRESSMAKERS OF LONDON. 



There are but few of us who are un- 

 versed in the nature and occupation of this 

 large class of industrious bees, who toil so 

 in their badly ventilated hives to minister to 

 the caprices of women of fashion. Neither are 

 we ignorant of the low rate of remuneration 

 they receive,nor of the indirect meanswhereby 

 they are compelled to obtain a livelihood- 

 many of them having sick parents to support, 

 and brothers and sisters looking up to them 

 for bread. Of late this subject has been 

 debated ; but we fear little good has resulted 

 from it. People of fashion have no heart, 

 and would consider it infra dig. to lend an 

 ear to cries of distress proceeding from a 

 dressmaker — the vulgar wretch ! 



In our First Volume, we quoted some 

 remarks of the Countess of Blessington on 

 the subject, which did honor to her heart and 

 to her pen. But alas ! her words, like ours, 

 may be read by the votaries of fashion, and 



that is all, They can make no impression 

 on iron and stone. Let us, however, again 

 listen to what the Countess has further to say 

 about our dressmakers. Our readers have 

 hearts— so we'll e'en draw our bow at a 

 venture : — 



What shall I say about our dressmakers and 

 plain work-women ? Do they not require some 

 little fresh air to recruit their exhausted frames ? 

 Yes, they do; but they are of course denied it ! 



Oh ! would the high and noble dames, for 

 the adornment of whose persons these poor 

 creatures toil through the weary day, and not 

 unfrequently through the long night, but reflect 

 at how dear a price the graceful robe that displays 

 the elegance of their forms so well, is obtained ! 

 They would then, let us hope, combine together, 

 and resolve to use their all-powerful influence 

 to change a system introduced through the 

 desire of meeting the unreasonable demands for 

 dresses to be ma*le up at notices too short to 

 admit of their being finished, except by the sa- 

 crifice of the sleep of those who work at them. 

 Could they behold the heavy eyes, the pallid 

 cheeks, the attenuated frames, and care-worn 

 brows of the poor workers on the robes to be 

 made in a few hours, their consciences surely 

 would be lightened of the weight of their having, 

 for the gratification of their vanity, exacted that 

 which could only be accomplished at so heavy 

 a penalty to the maker. 



All Englishwomen are not unfeeling — they are 

 only sometimes forgetful. The fair creature whose 

 delicate throat is encircled by Oriental pearls, 

 thinks not of the risk of those who dive beneath 

 the wave to seize the costly gems. Could she but 

 witness the operation, how would she tremble ! 

 nay, we are not sure that even the warmest ad- 

 mirer of pearls would not thenceforth abjure them. 

 So, when ladies see themselves attired in becoming 

 robes, they reflect not on the weary hours of toil 

 the manufacture of them has occasioned. If they 

 did, and we earnestly hope they will, they would 

 soon do all in their power to lighten the labor, 

 and to ameliorate the condition, of the dressmaker. 



The heart that uttered these sentiments 

 was an amiable one. But it was a heart that 

 knew little of human nature. Not even an 

 angel from Heaven — unless commissioned by 

 the God of angels, could ever work upon the 

 better feelings of a woman of fashion. Why? 

 Simply because they have no heart. They 

 consider the world, and all that is in it, to be 

 theirs by right ; and no argument could 

 loosen that idea. 



EARLY RISING. 



If you would be" happy," quit the pillow at 

 day -break. Then, if ever, are the thoughts pure 

 and holy ; and the mind is open to soft, amiable 

 impressions. The country is so calmly beautiful 

 in the morning, that it seems rather to belong to 

 the world of dreams which we have just quitted — 

 to be some paradise which suffering care cannot 

 enter — than to form a portion of a busy and anxious 

 world, in which even the very flowers must share 

 in decay and death. 



