In a Newspaper of May 12, 1817, we read--"The _rigorous rule_ of entry established at Almack's Rooms produced a curious incident at the last Ball. The Marquis and Marchioness of W----r, the Marchioness of T----, Lady Charlotte C----, and her daughter, had all been so imprudent as to come to the rooms without tickets; and, though so intimately known to the Lady Managers, and so perfectly unexceptionable, they were politely requested to withdraw, and accordingly they all submitted to the injunction." Again, at the beginning of the season of 1819 we find these female tyrants issuing the following _ukase_: "An order has been issued, we understand, by the Lady Patronesses of Almack's, to prevent the admission of Gentlemen in _Trowsers_ and _Cossacks_ to the balls on Wednesdays--at the same time allowing an exception to those Gentlemen who may be _knock-kneed_, or otherwise deformed." But the male sex were equal to the occasion, as we find in the following lines:-- "TO THE LADY PATRONESSES OF ALMACK'S. Tired of our trousers are ye grown? But, since to them your anger reaches, Is it because 'tis so well known, _You_ always love _to wear the breeches_?" I have collected a quantity of _ana_ respecting ladies' dress of this period, but some would take too long to explain their point, and others are too _risqué_ for the modern Mrs. Grundy. However, here is one which can offend no one: "August, 1814. The Wife of a respectable citizen has excited a good deal of curiosity at Margate. She bathes in a green dress, without a cap; and, attached to the shoulders of the dress is something resembling fins. She swims remarkably well, and the peculiarity of her paraphernalia, together with her long black hair, have occasioned many to believe that she was a _mermaid_." Women were not, as a rule, what we should now term, highly educated: they knew very little of the "ologies," but they were good women, and true. Their music had not reached the sublime height of the weird discord of Wagner, and they knew nothing of the "Higher Cult;" but they had as pretty ballads to sing as ever were sung, from which we are glad to borrow, and which are refreshing to hear. They did beautiful needlework, and vied with each other in this respect, they painted a little on velvet and satin--sometimes did a little mild water colour on paper--but their efforts were hardly commendable as works of art, according to our modern standard. But they were notable house wives, and there were female servants in those days who were not above their position, but knew their work, and did it. There were no five o'clock teas, no reception days; all had their circle of acquaintances, who were welcome to call whenever they chose, and were received without fuss: in fact, as a rule, the women were helps-meet for their spouses--thrifty, caring for their husbands and children, and were, essentially, home makers.