lead and iron in full swing over, her head? and perhaps a torrent of
rain and dirty water falling near from a projecting spout, ornamented
with the mouth and teeth of a dragon. These dangers and distresses
are now at an end; and we may think of them as a sailor does of a
storm, which has subsided, but the advantages derived from the
present uniformity and cleanliness can be known only in their
full extent by comparing them with the former inconveniences."

When to this description is added the fact that the hoop petticoat
and another article of dress monopolised the whalebone, it will be
seen how much had to be got over before an Umbrella could be carried
out by the citizens of London, as a walking-staff, with satisfactory
assurance of protection in case of a shower. The earliest English
Umbrellas, we must also remember, were made of oiled silk, very
clumsy and difficult to open when wet; the stick and furniture were
heavy and inconvenient, and the article very expensive.

At the end of the century allusions to the Umbrella are not
infrequent. Cowper, in his "Task" (1780), twice mentions it, but
seems to mean a Parasol:--

"We bear our shades about us; self-deprived
Of other screen, the thin umbrella spread,
And range an Indian waste without a tree."
--B. i.

And again:--

"Expect her soon, with footboy at her heels,
No longer blushing for her awkward load,