Misson, in his "Travels in England," 1697, speaks of Fig. 267. Tom Brown, in his Fig. 268. 1 He the beaux who frequented our public places. describes them somewhat contemptuously as "creatures compounded of a periwig; and a coat laden with powder as white as a miller's, a face besmeared with snuff and a few affected airs." He adds, "They are exactly like Molière's 'Marquises,' and want nothing but that title, which they would assume in any other country but England." "Letters from the Dead to the Living," speaks of one whose periwig "was large enough to have loaded a camel, and he bestowed upon it at least a bushel of powder;" he adds, that his long lace cravat " was most agreeably discoloured with snuff from top to bottom." To take snuff and offer a box gracefully was one part of a beau's education. There is a curious wood-cut of a full blown exquisite thus employed, on the title-page of a rare pamphlet of four leaves, published in 1703, called "The Beau's Catechism; which is here copied. He is accused in the text of having "more Periwig than Man," with "the necessary additions of Vigo Snuff," and his employment in the theatre In "The Cornish Comedy," 1696, mention is made of "A Gay Modish spark with long beau peruke and gawdy snuff box." 1 is defined to be "to chat an hour with a mask in a side box, then whip behind the scenes, bow to a fool in the pit, take snuff, and talk to the actresses." In Baker's comedy, "Hampstead Heath" (published 1706), a song describing "the Beau's character," gives him these peculiar features: "A wig that's full, To comb these monstrous perukes in public was the delight of the dandies, who carried about with them elegant combs for the purpose; and the theatre, coffee-house, or park, was the scene of their performances in this way.1 That those harmless beings should have some such occupation for their time is surely reasonable enough; but these bushels of hair look very odd upon the heads of such men as Duke Schomberg, General Ginckle, and others of William's soldiers; it flows over their steel breastplates as if in search of the velvet upon which it would more fittingly repose; but young and old, military or civil, joined in a crusade against natural hair, and ruthlessly cropped it for the very opposite reason which actuated the Puritans: the latter could never get it short enough; the former could never get enough of it, and so preferred wigs. What arguments might be adduced to prove there's wisdom in the wig," it will not be our place here to inquire; but a zealous perruquier of those days, anxious to uphold even their utility, hired his sign-painter to depict, with due pathos and expression of attitude and face, Absalom hanging by his hair in the tree, and David weeping beneath, as he exclaimed, 66 "O Absalom! O Absalom! O Absalom, my son ! If thou hadst worn a periwig, 1 This custom is noticed in "The Tatler," and Molière in his "Impromptu de Versailles," also alludes to it. In "Some observations on the Answer to an (Echard's) Enquiry on the grounds of Contempt of the Clergy," 1696, the habit is also mentioned. Colley Cibber's flowing peruke in his character of Lord Foppington in Vanbrugh's "Relapse," was so large as to prevent his absence from under it being noticed when in a sedan chair. The lady in fig. 267 wears a remarkably heavy headdress, which succeeded the elegant flow of ringlets in which the beauties of Charles II.'s court luxuriated. Certainly this was a change for the worse; the hair was now combed upward from the forehead, and surmounted by rows of lace and ribbons; a kerchief or lace scarf being thrown over all, and hanging nearly to the waist; stiff stays, tightly laced over the stomacher, and very long in the waist, became fashionable; and to so great an extent was this pernicious fashion carried, that a lady's body from the shoulders to the hip looked like the letter V. This becomes very striking in the prints of the period, where the figures are drawn upon a small scale. In fig. 269 are three ladies copied in fac-simile from Sutton Nicholls' View of Hampton Court; Fig. 269. 66 and the exaggeration, as it now appears to us, was a plain every-day sight, seriously and faithfully delineated. The thinness of the waist appeared still more striking by the sudden fulness of the gown round that part of the body, where it was gathered in folds, as well as down the entire front, which opened to display the rich petticoat beneath, and small apron deeply fringed with lace; the gown streaming on the ground behind. That the ladies' gowns were a yard too long for their legs" is noted by D'Urfey. Jewelled brooches were used by the richer classes, to secure the central opening of the gown at the waist, and also to gather the fold down its sides; and the sleeves were sometimes similarly ornamented. During the early part of the reign the sleeves were short, reaching but a few inches below the shoulder, and edged with lace, beneath which puffed forth the full rich lawn sleeve of the under-garment, edged with rows of lace to the elbow. After a time the sleeve became tight, like those of the gentleman's coat, with an upturned cuff reaching to the elbow, from whence flowed a profusion of lace in the shape of lappets or ruffles. All this finery and formality gave the ladies a stiff appearance, that contrasts most unpleasantly with the beautiful, because simple, cos tume of the fair dames of King Charles the Second's court. One cannot conceive a Nell Gwynne existing in such strait lacing, or of the possibility of anybody being otherwise than as Lady Grace describes them in the old comedya leetle dissipated-soberly!" 66 The ordinary walking dress of ladies, at the close of this century, is seen in the lady on the left in fig. 270, whose dress is entirely enriched by furbelows, which now became greatly the fashion. The black silk scarf and petticoat is covered with them; the gown of dark silk being drawn up in a heap behind, that the petticoat be seen clearly. Fre quently portions of male costume were adopted, particularly for riding and hunting; but sometimes as a walking-dress, as in the lady on the right, whose ample train sweeps the ground. A man's jacket, cravat, and laced hat are here adopted as well as the male mode of wearing the hat beneath the arm. The ladies sometimes hung a light rapier at the girdle, so that they might be addressed in the words. of the poet : "Sir, or Madam, choose you whether This affectation of male costume was objected to as early as the reign of Elizabeth, by Stubbes (see p. 247), and helped to confuse Sir Roger de Coverley (see p. 361), and was re-introduced for a short time a few years ago, when waistcoats and silk jackets were the height of taste." 66 In the second volume of the Roxburgh Ballads in the British Museum, is one entitled, "The invincible pride of women, or, The London Tradesmen's lamentation," begins with: "I have a wife, the more's my care, "The lofty top-knots on ber crown, With which she sails abroad withall In such a flaunting wife as she." The innocent country maid's delight; or a description of the lives of the lasses of London." "Each lass she will paint her face And powder their hair To make them look fair That gallants may them embrace. "The more to appear in Pride Their jewels and spots, And twenty knick-knacks beside." But we must not dismiss the ladies without considering their head-dresses a little more in detail, particularly as they are remarkable enough to deserve it. The reader must, then, first allow me to direct his attention to the "tower," which surmounts the head of No. 1 of fig. 271; for by that name it was sometimes designated.1 Rows of 1 Its proper native name is fontange, which it obtained at the court of Louis XIV., where it was first introduced by Mademoiselle Fontange, in 1680. As Mademoiselle Fontange died in 1681 this fashion, in France at |