apostolic tour in 1655, was taken to task about his long hair. He observed: "I take no pride in it, and I did not put it on." It is only important and worth noticing in a separate chapter as being one of the marks by which much persecution and misery was effected. We in these days may say what we will about the overbearing and persecutions of the Catholics; we may "Distort the truth, accumulate the lie, And pile the pyramid of calumny !" "More stress in those days was laid upon wearing the hair or the beard, and the innocent amusements of the day, with other insignificant customs, than upon the most outrageous offences against humanity and the rights of their fellow-creatures." The head-dress and its adornments were conspicuously expressive of the party. In 1572 the ladies had periwigs of all colours. They knew the effect a good head of hair has upon the other sex; they knew "Fair tresses man's imperial race ensnare, And beauty draws us with a lock of hair." HoWELL. "The wealthy curled darlings of the Isle" wore their hair in long curled ringlets dangling upon their brawny shoulders; and, as a compliment to Queen Elizabeth, whose hair was red, this was with them the fashionable tint; if not naturally of that colour, it was dyed till it was so. It continued that colour through the early part of the reigns of the Stuarts, the Scotch having their hair mostly of that colour.* The republican party, to make a distinction, cared nothing about the colour; but they had their hair cropped, and thus acquired the name of Roundheads. The mustache and peaked or dagger beards were common to both as military appendages.† The beards of judges and justices were called the formal cut. The rough and bushy was the shape of the clowns. "Their tawny beards, uncomb'd and sweeping long, All down their knees in shaggy ringlets hung." MICKLE. In 1628 the Puritan Prynne wrote against love-locks and * Flaxen hair was much admired by the ancients, for this colour Homer commends Helena and Virgil Dido. The fashionable tint of the present day being black, that may be produced by using a paste composed of three ounces of litharge and one ounce of quick lime mixed with a little water, and applied to it all night; the lime should be previously slacked in the open air, to lessen its causticity. † See engraving, p. 138 long womanish hair; and their pulpits resounded with their anathemas. The ladies added jewels and roses, tied to their hair with ribands. In 1664 the periwig or peruke was reintroduced from the court of Louis XIV., no natural head of hair being considered sufficiently luxuriant. "It is a rule with courtiers of all countries to ape their king or ruler; thus full-bottomed wigs were introduced, to conceal the Duke of Burgandy's hump back."* "To poise this equally, he bore A paunch of the same bulk before, To keep well crammed with thrifty fare." HUDIBRAS. It might be an amusing piece of history (if worth the while) to chronicle these conceits. As a few occur to my memory which I have met with in my readings, I will introduce them. Alexander the Great was wry-necked; this turned the heads of all his courtiers. One of the Dukes of Saxony was potbellied; all his courtiers, to keep him in countenance, strutted about with well-stuffed clothes, like so many Falstaffs. Queen Isabella, fair and frail, displayed her neck and shoulders, which, I am sorry to say, was too soon adopted by the rest of her sex. O, tempora! O, mores! "But I must historie, and not divine." After this digression, it will be right to notice that the tying of the hair is attributed to the "all-accomplished Bolingbroke." About this time came forth, among all this cranium decoration, hair powder, which was at once one of the filthiest and one of the most troublesome fashions ever introduced, because every man was really for hours in the morning tributary to the dilatoriness or negligence of his hair-dresser coming to dress him. If this was to revive again, which it may do, half the men of business will be ruined, unless the hair-dressers, like the couriers of old, are put under martial law. I have read that the origin of powdering the hair commenced with the German gipsy girls, to give them a grotesque appearance when dancing. Its discontinuance in England was occasioned by William Pitt, who imposed a tax of one guinea per year (about $5) upon those who used it, at the commencement of the French republican wars, which was the only good act that war-loving minister ever caused to be passed. About 1700 there came in fashion the campaign wig, from * Ensor. curled eighteen inches in There were also ridingSome of these were very France. They were made very full, length to the front, with deep locks. wigs, bag-wigs, and night-cap wigs. high priced one cost £50; it was all white, naturally to save powdering. They were called "silver fleeces." Hair was very scarce, and much was imported; but, in consequence of this scarcity, much horse-hair was used. 66 Perukes now stuck so firm and steadfast, As tho' they were riveted to head fast." COTTON. The following is a copy of a London barber and perukemaker's sign: "Witness my shop, where now the splendid showe Of princes, heroes, ladies-all a rowe Of waxe and plaistere, rosy rede, Proves how a wig maye grace an emptie heade." The French, who excel in every specie of refinement, had, before the revolution, three hundred different methods of dressing, curling, powdering, and ornamenting the hair. No wonder, therefore, if these embellishments excited the fancy of the poets. Two jeu-d'esprits I will introduce, not being aware of their having been printed. SONNET TO AN OLD WIG. "Hail thou who lies so snug in this old box! Like my poor aunt, thou hast seen better days; Oft hast thou heard e'en Madame Mara sing, Alas, what art thou now! a mere old mop, With which our house-maid, Nan, who hates a broom, Then slyly hides thee in this lumber-room. Such is the fate of wigs and mortals too; Vain man! to talk so loud and look so big! Some years past the writer had an opportunity to peruse a diary of an ancient family, once of some power and consequence; and could he, without breach of confidence, disclose, it would tend greatly to enrich these pages. But the following jeud'esprit on a locket, and the Scriptural account of his wife's party, are too good to remain any longer in obscurity. Being asked why he wore a locket with a lock of hair in it, he replied: "This lock of gentle Delia's hair I do not without reason wear; Within the breast on which it's shown The power which holds possession there." 1684. This lady was possessed with considerable talent. She used every year to have what she called her party, which consisted or all the oddities of her acquaintance, whether relatives or riends, rich or poor, and whether they were friendly to each other or not. She used to watch the conduct of each to the other; and in many instances, through this amiable display of her hospitality, has she been the means of bringing about reconciliations for "Adversity finds ease in complaining, and it is a solace to relate it."-Isidore. After one of these meetings a neighbour of his asked him to give a description of it. His reply was: "I think that would be hardly proper; but," said he, "this much I can inform you; except in the number, you will find a very full description in the second verse of the twenty-second chapter of the 1st Book of Samuel: And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves together, and there were with her about four hundred, and I became a captain over them.'" IMPROMPTU To a lady inquiring why beards were NOT worn, as in former times. "To brush the cheeks of ladies fair, With genuine charms o'er spread, Their sapient beards with mickle care Our wise forefathers fed. * I regret that I am not able to chronicle the author of this moral jeud'esprit. It was written about 1784, that being the year Madame Mara first sung in England. But since our modern ladies take Such pains to paint their faces, As the gentlemen have again taken to wearing beards, pernaps the author may be permitted to advise the ladies to be cautious when a gentleman " holds out his foolish beard for thee to pluck." How fully do these changes illustrate the following Latin couplet : "Men change with fortunes, manners change with climes, FURNITURE. "THE palaces erected in the reign of Elizabeth by the memorable Countess of Shrewsbury and Elizabeth of Hardwicke, were exactly in this style: The apartments were lofty and numerous, and they knew not how to furnish them," &c.-WALPOLE. THE WOOD-cuts will give some idea of the furniture of this magnificent age; for, as regards furniture, it has not been excelled. Our ancestors seem to have studied the first chapter of Esther, and to have followed the sixth verse pretty accurately: "And there were hung up on every side sky-coloured and green and violet hangings, fastened with cords of silk and of purple, which were put into rings of ivory, and held up with marble pillars. The beds also were of gold and silver, placed in order upon a floor paved with porphyry and white marble, (Mosaic work,) which was embellished with painting of wonderful variety." Of many of these old buildings we may say: "Time, which brings the mighty low, And level lays the lofty brow, In which we may still observe: "And all the hinder parts, that few could spy, Were ruinous and old, but painted cunningly." SPENSER. Bringing to mind the reflection of the old poet Webster: 66 I do love these ancient ruines. We never tread upon them but we set our foot |