s of the court of Queen
Anne. Philip Donaldson, with the aid of a bag-wig, for which Mr.
Arlington has written at his request to a friend, in what city I may
not say, and with some of his father's youthful finery, and the shoe and
knee-buckles aforesaid, will make an excellent beau for these belles.
Col. Donaldson, always ready for any harmless mirth, says they must
accept him in his father's continental uniform for another. Mr.
Arlington makes quite a mystery of his costume, but it is a mystery
already revealed, both to Col. Donaldson and Philip, as I can plainly
perceive by the significant glances they exchange whenever an allusion
is made to it. Robert Dudley is to be a page, Charles Seagrove, a
beautiful boy of six years old, an Oberon, and our little Eva a Titania.
Mrs. Donaldson and I were permitted to appear in our usual dress, and
Miss Donaldson strenuously claimed the same privilege, but it was not
allowed. She resisted all entreaties, even from her favorite brother
Arthur; but when her father gravely regretted her inability to
sympathize with the enjoyments of others, she was overcome. Having
yielded, she yielded entirely, and was willing to wear anything her
sisters wished. As she is considered by them all, even in her
thirty-third year, as the beauty of the family, her dress has been more
carefully studied by them than any other. Every book of costumes within
their reach was searched for it again and again, without success; one
was rich, but unbecoming, another pretty, but it did not suit her style,
and a third all they desired, but unattainable at so short a notice. As
a last resource, my engravings were resorted to, and there, to my own
surprise, they found what satisfied all their demands. One of the
historical prints showed the dress worn in her bridal days by Hotspur's
Kate. Miss Donaldson accepted it thankfully, as being less _bizarre_
than any yet proposed to her, requiring nothing more than a full skirt
of white satin, a jacket not very unlike the modern Polka, and a bridal
veil. One condition she insisted on, however, namely, that Arthur should
be her Hotspur. To this he consented without difficulty, not without an
eye, I suspect, to the appearance of his tall, erect, graceful form and
bearing in such a dress as Hotspur's.

The last evening of the Old Year had arrived, our preparations were
completed, and our little party were experiencing something of that
_ennui_ which results from having nothing