Page:Notable Irishwomen.djvu/70

 worn by the strict Friends when going to meeting, also a black silk hood with long ends or lappets, and no bonnet.

The less strict Friends blossomed out into those pale fawns and drabs, and those pure white bonnet-strings which are such a refreshment to the eye.

Charles Lamb, in one of the "Essays by Elia," waxes enthusiastic about the Quakers and their spotless array. He exclaims:—

"Every Quakeress is a lily, and when they come up in bands to their Whitsuntide conferences whitening the easterly streets of the metropolis, they show like troops of the Shining Ones."

The Ducketts were considered very genteel, at the yearly meetings in Dublin, all dressed in silk.

Molly Haughton, in her large black satin cloak, was something of a gossip.

"Well, what news?" she used to say. "Did thee hear so and so was married? And, by all I hear, it was a poor match enough. They tell me she had a fine fortune, but there's no believing the half one hears."

Our little Quakeress had her moments of naughtiness, which she takes pains to relate in full:—

"I was working a pair of pockets for myself in a shell pattern with green worsted. My