what comparison is there between the guilt of the poor uneducated wretch, who ventures, in rags and misery, to steal from the apparent superfluities of his neighbour a portion for his starving family, and the crime of the well-fed, well-dressed, much-accomplished lady, who sails into the shop of the unwary tradesman for articles of useless luxury; and, under cover of the respectability of her appearance and the address she gives, "defrauds him of property to a considerable amount!" The ragged culprit is watched and driven from the window - fashionable thief is welcomed in complacently and bowed out gratefully, with the promise that "her esteemed orders shall be attended to immediately." When the goods she has nominally purchased are sent home, and they, like their real owner, are readily taken in, the grand piano is, perhaps, heard in her elegantly fur nished villa, or the carriage of some wealthier friend is standing at the door. The lady's place in church and in so ciety is gaily filled, and, for a certain, or rather uncertain period, the custom and the company of "such a highly-respectable family," are considered an acquisition in the neighbourhood. But "a change comes over the spirit of the dream:" in course of time, the lady who ordered with the greatest ease, is discovered to pay with the greatest difficulty, and her commands are not so much esteemed as formerly. The dishonest beggar, if detected, is committed to prison; but. when things come to a crash with the fashionable thief, the lady's husband is simply de-clared "unfortunate;" and if forced to remove into a humbler dwelling, in a district in which she is not known, the lady is at liberty to pursue her former practices of shop-lifting, as far as circumstances will allow ! It is certainly not too much to assert that every one of the articles which have been thus foolishly and fraudulently obtained, and the possession of which appeared so indispensable to the vanity or the consequence of those who longed for them, has, in its turn, helped to lessen their consideration, and to expose them to ridicule, if not contempt. What, in fact, has the costly time-piece, "the curtains likeMrs. Pimlico's," the "love of a looking-glass like that next door," which cost nearly a quarter's income - what have these and similar inconsistent belongings brought upon their unlucky owners ? Literally, nothing but censure and ill-will; and yet or these, conscience and comfort have been bartered, and the elegant lady will expose herself to tremble before the humblest tradesman in the street, lest he should deny her thecommonest necessaries of life!