and of luxury.
Subject-matter for grave historians might be found in the various
indications, direct and suggested, of the points of contact between the
daily life of the eighteenth century and our own, as well as of the many
divergences. Long before 1789, the Parisians of the _ancien regime_ were
in the enjoyment of many of the modes, the whims, and the absurdities
which constitute so large a part of the existence of their successors.
They were even, almost, supplied with fashion magazines, the first of
these very important publications to appear, the _Courrier de la Mode_,
under Louis XV, in 1768, not being appreciated, and coming to an early
end. In 1785, however, appeared the _Cabinet des Modes_, transformed in
the following year into _Magasin des modes nouvelles francaises et
anglaises_, for English fashions disputed the sovereignty with Parisian
ones, and journals published on the banks of the Thames spoke with equal
authority. Among these latter was the _Gallery of Fashion_, founded in
1794. The Germans, on the other hand, originated nothing, and the _Moden
Zeitung_ of Berlin reproduced slavishly only that which had already been
approved in Paris and London.

[Illustration: CARD. Design by Guillaume.]

Much as in the present day, English tastes were followed in many things,
not all of them feminine. The _Tableau de Paris_, published by Sebastien
Mercier, lamented that "it is to-day the fashion among the youth to copy
the English in their clothes." The large stores, the _magasins_, called
themselves _anglais_; and the sport of horse-racing, which was beginning
to be popular, and which was largely a matter of importation, naturally
brought in alien words to shock the purists. The _jockei_ was sweated
down to his proper weight to mount the _bete de sang_ [blooded animal];
_cheval de race_ was antiquated, and bad form. In the present day,
there is a _Ligue d'honnetes gens preoccupes de maintenir le bon
francais_, and who quote Beranger:

"_Redoutons l'Anglomanie,
Elle a deja gate tout._"

[Beware of Anglomania, it has already spoiled everything.] These "worthy
people" admit that for such words as "jockey," "lawn-tennis," and
"sport," for which there are no equivalents in the French language,
there is some excuse, but why, they ask, is "turf" better than
_pelouse_; "flirter," meaning "to flirt," than _fleureter_ (_conter
fleurette_, to say pretty, gallant things); "garden-party" than _une
partie de jardi