ENGLAND. 



543 



form. Generally, in other countries, the higher orders are less hardy and athletic than the 

 lower, but it is the reverse in England. The human race dwindles not, either in mind or body, 

 in England. On (he whole, the English may be pronounced the handsomest and best formed 

 people on the lace of the earth. They are, perhaps, in the average, nearly an inch shorter than 

 the Americans. 



9. Classes. In England, the nobility are a highly privileged class. They are comprised in 

 the following orders: — Dukes, Marquises, Eails, Viscounts, Barons. The Baronets have 

 an hereditary title ; the Knights have not. Knighthood is a common reward of public service. 

 The Bishops, and other dignitaries of the church, constitute a favored class. The distinctions 

 of the two general classes of men, the rich and the poor, are far greater than in other coun- 

 tries. The wealih of the world seems to be brought into England, as it once was to Rome ; 

 but there is no countrj' where poverty is so general and so hopeless. 



10. Dress. The general costume of the English is neat and convenient. In fashionable 

 life, the fashions are constantly changing, though more in details than general forms. This 

 variableness of taste has been expressed in a picture of an Englishman without his coat, but 

 holding his cloth and shears as in doubt what fashion to make it in ; or unwilling to cut it at all, 

 lest the fashion should change before the coat were finished. The general mode of dress is 

 that which we adopt from England, in the United States ; though some of the more extreme 

 fashions do not cross the Atlantic. The Americans, however, indulge in some anomalies of 

 dress, that would not be tolerated in London. The changes of English dress seem to have 

 been exhausted, and there is nothing new in it that has not once been old. The same gar- 

 ments have indeed been used at every era ; and the change operates chiefly on the forms of 

 these. At one time the collar is low, at another it is raised ; the skirts are varied in length 

 and breadth, and the waist is sometimes long, and at others short. If an Englishman is 

 obliged by change of fashion to sacrifice a good coat for the present, he may lay it by, and 

 be sure that in time it will come again in fashion. The mail-coach guaids wear the royal 

 livery, which is scarlet and gold. The clergy wear generally a large liat, and some have 

 wigs, but the time is past when a wig was "supposed to be as necessary a covering for a 

 learned head, as an ivy bush for an owl." In wet weather the women who go abroad, wear 

 clogs, raised an inch or two from the ground, and these make a great clattering on the pave- 

 ments. In London, there is, every day, a Rag Fair, where the lower class may buy a dress 

 according to their means. It is held principally by the Jews, who go about buying old 

 clothes, which they display at the Fair. The dead are buried in woolen, to encourage agri- 

 culture and manufactures. 



The Welsh, though they have long lived under the English government, still remain an 

 unmixed race, and adhere to the customs of their forefathers. The hi£;her class dress like the 



English ; but in more humble ranks the national 

 costume is preserved, which, for both men and 

 women, is composed of home-made woolen 

 cloth. The coat, breeches, and stockings of 

 the men are always blue, and their waislcoats 

 red ; their shirts are of blue or red flannel, ex- 

 cept m some parts of the norlhern counties, 

 where they are striped. The common dress 

 of the females in South Wales consists of a 

 jacket made tight to the shape, and a petticoat 

 of dark brown or striped linsey-woolsey, bound 

 with different colors. Young women wear tnop- 

 caps pinned under the chin, and small, round 

 felt or beaver hats like the men. The elder 

 women commonly wrap up their heads in two 

 .Ancient Welsh Harpers OY three Colored handkerchiefs, over which 



they put a large felt hat. Both young and old 

 throw a scarlet whittle across their shoulders, which completes their dress. In North Wales 

 the costume is similar, except that the whittle is superseded by a large blue cloak, descending 

 nearly to the feet, which is worn at all seasons, even in the hottest weather. Linen is rarely 

 used ; flannel being substituted in iis place ; nor are shoes or stockings worn, except some- 

 •imes in fine weat\,f-r, and ilipn they nre carried in !hf bnntl, if tiie wnmaii be going any dis 



