ly
women with considerable leisure moments at disposal, daily throng the
rooms of Mr. Brady, and give himself and his shop-woman more to do than
either bargained for, when a lady, with face concealed with a veil,
called and arranged for the sale of the superabundant clothing of a
distinguished and titled, but nameless lady. Twenty-five dresses, folded
or tossed about by frequent examinations, lie exposed upon a closed
piano, and upon a lounge; shawls rich and rare are displayed upon the
backs of chairs, but the more exacting obtain a better view and closer
inspection by the lady attendant throwing them occasionally upon her
shoulders, just to oblige, so that their appearance on promenade might
be seen and admired. Furs, laces, and jewelry are in a glass case, but
the 'four thousand dollars in gold' point outfit is kept in a
paste-board box, and only shown on special request.

"The feeling of the majority of visitors is adverse to the course Mrs.
Lincoln has thought proper to pursue, and the criticisms are as severe
as the cavillings are persistent at the quality of some of the dresses.
These latter are labelled at Mrs. Lincoln's own estimate, and prices
range from $25 to $75--about 50 per cent less than cost. Some of them,
if not worn long, have been worn much; they are jagged under the arms
and at the bottom of the skirt, stains are on the lining, and other
objections present themselves to those who oscillate between the dresses
and dollars, 'notwithstanding they have been worn by Madam Lincoln,' as
a lady who looked from behind a pair of gold spectacles remarked. Other
dresses, however, have scarcely been worn--one, perhaps, while Mrs.
Lincoln sat for her picture, and from one the basting threads had not
yet been removed. The general testimony is that the wearing apparel is
high-priced, and some of the examiners say that the cost-figures must
have been put on by the dressmakers; or, if such was not the case, that
gold was 250 when they were purchased, and is now but 140--so that a
dress for which $150 was paid at the rate of high figures cannot be
called cheap at half that sum, after it has been worn considerable, and
perhaps passed out of fashion. The peculiarity of the dresses is that
the most of them are cut low-necked--a taste which some ladies attribute
to Mrs. Lincoln's appreciation of her own bust.

"On Saturday last an offer was made for all the dresses. The figure
named was less than the aggregate estimate p