marriage have, before now, given occasion
for the production of these appendages of
luxury. There are in this collection fans
commemorative of death, mourning fans
of funereal aspect, and on which are represented
subjects of a lugubrious type, such
as the " Widow of Nabal presenting herself
to David," with appropriate and symbolical
decorations. And, not less unlike
what we are apt to associate with these
frail and unpractical pieces of work, there
are here even specimens of political and,
in a certain way, business-like fans, which
are very curious. What does the reader
think of a republican fan, representing
"l'Assemblée des Etats Généraux," and
having on its reverse side a " statistical
account of the fixed revenue and expenses
of the year?" What, again, of a fan à la
financière, on which are printed "the paper
money and the decrees of the revolution in
contrast with the consulate;" or of a
Mirabeau fan, engraved with a bust of the
great demagogue in its midst, and further
decorated with representations of scenes
from his life? This is a most truculent-looking
fan, and is surrounded by a bristling
red fringe, suggestive of flames, and
bloodshed, and red caps of liberty, and
everything else that is ferocious and un-fan-like.

The practical and business-like fans are
more numerous in this collection than
might be expected. Besides those spoken
of above, there are one or two others of the
same class which should not be left without
mention; as for instance, a Spanish
fan, the property of Mrs. Layard, with, for
all decoration, a calendar, on which are inscribed
the different historical events by
which each day of each month has been
rendered memorable. The signs of the
Zodiac are also introduced to make this very
curious arrangement complete. Another
belonging to this same class, in which the
attempt is made to combine the decoration
of a fan with the diffusion of useful knowledge,
has upon its mount all the laws and
regulations of the game of whist, set forth
in order.

There is a great difference in the matter
of respectability of career between some of
the fans in this collection and some others.
A few of them have doubtless had the luck
to play their part in highly virtuous society,
but not very many. Here is a fan— one of
the oldest in the collection, painted in the
time of Charles the First— which was given
by Princess Anne to her goddaughter, Sarah
Robinson, which has probably had a reputable
time of it, and led a passably decent
life. What an unexceptionable career, again,
must another fan in this collection have
had, once the property of worthy old Queen
Charlotte. There is also a fan here of the
Princess Charlotte's, another which belonged
to good Queen Adelaide, besides
several which are the property of our own
Queen, and some of which must have associations
connected with them rendering
them especially precious in her eyes.

Fans, however, are a scampish lot—that's
the truth of it—and those which are suggestive
of virtue and respectability are in
a decided minority. Wandering from one
to another of the specimens here exhibited,
the impression conveyed is, undoubtedly,
that we have got into rather lax company;
the very presence of Cupids in such amazing
numbers is alone calculated to make one
suspicious. A Pierrot, again, is hardly a
kind of personage in whose respectability
and trustworthiness one is apt to place
much confidence, and what are we to say
of a fan in which are introduced " two birdcages,
the open wire-work contrived as
peep-holes for the wearer," so that the said
"wearer" could hold the fan up before her
face, in guise of a mask, and yet see perfectly
well anything that was going on on the other
side of the rampart. There are actually
two fans " contrived " upon this villainous
principle in the collection, one French and
the other German.

The subjects illustrated in these fans
form a most heterogeneous jumble. Bible
subjects, historical subjects, mythological,
pastoral, bacchanalian, amatory, philosophical
subjects, are all found crammed together,
cheek-by-jowl. Perhaps the greatest
anomaly of all, is a scientific fan, of which
there is a specimen here, the decoration of
this incongruous instrument consisting of
a most elaborate pen-and-ink drawing of
an academy of the sciences, with groups
of students surrounded by all sorts of
scientific appliances, globes, mathematical
instruments, and the like. Any lady possessing
such a fan as this, would, doubtless,
find it very valuable in promoting conversation
at evening parties; a remark
which applies also, in an eminent degree,
to a certain Spanish fan exhibited in this
collection, which is ornamented with a
multiplicity of very small photographs
illustrative of bull-fighting, portraits of all the
most celebrated matadors and other dramatis
personae of the bull-ring being included
among them.

A capacity for promoting conversation,