"Oh! here are Romeo and Juliet in the tomb scene!" cried Marianne. "Look, mamma, is it not lovely?--the very play in which we saw Cooper and Mrs. Merry. Oh! do let me paint Romeo and Juliet for the dinner set! But stop--here's the Shepherdess of the Alps! how magnificent! I think I would rather do that for the china. And here's Mary Queen of Scots; I remember her ever since I read history. And here are Telemachus and Minerva, just as I translated about them in my Telemaque exercises. Oh! let me do them for the dinner set--sha'n't I. Mr. Gummage?" "I don't see any figure-pieces in which the colours are bright enough," remarked Mrs. Atmore. "As to that," observed Gummage--who knew that the burthen of the drawing would eventually fall on him, and who never liked to do figures--"I don't believe that any of these figure pieces would look well if reduced so small as to go on china plates." "Well,--here are some very fine landscapes," pursued Mrs. Atmore; "Here's the Cascade of Tivoli--and here's a view in Jamaica--and here's Glastonbury Abbey." "Oh! I dote on abbeys," cried Marianne, "for the sake of Amanda Fitzalan." "Your papa will not approve of your doing this," observed Mrs. Atmore: "you know, he says that abbeys are nothing but old tumble-down churches." "If I may not do an abbey, let me do a castle," said Marianne; "there's Conway Castle by moonlight--how natural the moon looks!" "As to castles," replied Mrs. Atmore, "you know your papa says they are no better than old jails. He hates both abbeys and castles." "Well, here is a noble country seat," said Marianne--"'Chiswick House.'" "Your papa has no patience with country seats," rejoined Mrs. Atmore. "He says that when people have made their money, they had better stay in town to enjoy it; where they can be convenient to the market, and the stores, and the post-office, and the coffee-house. He likes a good comfortable three story brick mansion, in a central part of the city, with marble steps, iron railings, and green venetian shutters." "To cut the matter short," said Mr. Gummage, "the best thing for the china is a flower piece--a basket, or a wreath--or something of that sort. You can have a good cipher in the centre, and the colours may be as bright as you please. India ware is generally painted with one colour only; but the Chinese are submissive animals, and will do just as they are bid. It may cost something more to have a variety of colours; but I suppose you will not mind that." "Oh! no--no," exclaimed Mrs. Atmore, "I shall not care for the price; I have set my mind on having this china the wonder of all Philadelphia." Our readers will understand, that at this period nearly all the porcelain used in America was of Chinese manufacture; very little of that elegant article having been, as yet, imported from France.