ler,
Jealous of office, fond of platform-posing,
Seeking that bubble She-enfranchisement
E'en with abusive mouth. Then County-Councillor,
Her meagre bosom shrunk and harshly lined,
Full of "land-laws" and "unearned increment";
Or playing M.P. part. The sixth age shifts
Into the withered sour She-pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and "Gamp" at side,
Her azure hose, well-darned, a world too wide
For her shrunk shanks; her once sweet woman's voice,
Verjuiced to Virgin-vinegarishness,
Grates harshly in its sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange new-fangled history,
Is sheer unwomanliness, mere sex-negation--
Sans love, sans charm, sans grace, sans everything.

* * * * *

[Illustration: A BIRD OF PREY.]

[Despite the laudable endeavours of "The Society for the Protection
of Birds," the harpy Fashion appears still, and even increasingly,
to make endless holocausts of small fowl for the furnishing forth of
"feather trimmings" for the fair sex. We are told that to obtain the
delicate and beautiful spiral plume called the "Osprey," the old birds
"are killed off in scores, while employed in feeding their young, who
are left to starve to death in their nests by hundreds." Their dying
cries are described as "heartrending." But they evidently do not rend
the hearts of our fashionable ladies, or induce them to rend their
much-beplumed garments. Thirty thousand black partridges have been
killed in certain Indian provinces in a few days' time to supply the
European demand for their skins. One dealer in London is said to have
received, as a single consignment, 32,000 dead humming-birds, 80,000
aquatic birds, and 800,000 pairs of wings. We are told too that often
"after the birds are shot down, the wings are wrenched off during
life, and the mangled bird is left to die slowly of wounds, thirst,
and starvation."]

* * * * *

ART IN THE CITY.

(_A SKETCH IN THE CORPORATION GALLERY AT THE GUILDHALL._)

_The Gallery is crowded, and there is the peculiar buzz in the
air that denotes popular interest and curiosity. The majority
of the visitors are of the feminine sex, and appear to have
come up from semi-detached villas in the less fashionable
suburbs; but there is also a sprinkling of smart and Superior
Persons, prosperous City Merchants, who regard pictures with
respect, as a paying investment, youn