he side of a
civilian, with his loose and open frock, and the contrast is so decidedly
in favour of the former, that the point, as a matter of taste and effect,
will not admit of a dispute. The one is a regular sloven compared with the
other. If any thing can be said against this buttoning, it is on the score
of inconvenience in civil life:--is a man at his library-table or his
office-desk always to be fastened up in buckram? where are we to stow away
our watches, our knives, our toothpicks, our loose cash (when we have
any--_par parenthese_)? There is some weight in these objections; for
these little articles of comfort cannot be dispensed with; and we have no
better answer than to propose small external pockets with lapels, which
would not spoil the symmetry of the figure; or else, if you are
obstinate, good reader, and are determined on throwing away your money
upon waistcoats--then keep your frock-coat open; but have a waistcoat
either of the same colour, or of some respectable hue, and have it made
jacket-fashion, as good behind as before. For ourselves, however, we
confess we shall prefer

"That you, my friend, whatever wind should blow,
Might traverse England safely to and fro,
An honest man, close-button'd to the chin,--
Broad-cloth without, and a warm heart within."

Any quantity of ornament that might be deemed requisite, could easily be
applied to this kind of coat--so as to make it a fit habiliment for
occasions of ceremony: in its present state, it retains the stiffness of
its military origin, (for it may be called an invention of the Great
Duke's, of him who wore it on the glorious fields of Salamanca and
Waterloo, and it came into fashion at the close of the Peninsular war:)
but it may be embroidered as much as you please, or its stuff may be
varied _ad infinitum_, from Manchester fustian to the finest Genoa velvet.
Not that embroidery is always consonant with good taste, when applied to
male attire. A plain, dark, close-buttoned coat, whether of cloth or
velvet, fastened with a single row of diamond or steel buttons in front,
would be far more effective, as an object of good taste, than if its seams
were all covered with gold lace.

As for the colour of coats, we do not intend to speak of this till we come
to the subject of military costume. We leave it awhile to the taste of the
nation,--colours have always served as marks of national differences. We
beg leave to subjoin a few words in behalf