the fair form which nature gave him, it cannot be denied that the
concourse of highly-bred and graceful persons, when viewed as a whole,
was infinitely more picturesque, infinitely more like what the fancy
paints a meeting of the great and noble, than any assemblage
now-a-days, however courtly or refined, in which the stiff dress coats
and white neckcloths of the men are not to be redeemed by the Parisian
finery--how much more natural, let critics tell, than the hoop and
train--of the fair portion of the company.

The rich materials, the gay colors, the glittering jewelry, and waving
plumes, all contributed their part to the splendor of the show; and in
those days a gentleman possessed at least this advantage, lost to him
in these practical utilitarian times, that he could not by any
possibility be mistaken for his own _valet de chambre_--a misfortune
which has befallen many a one, the most aristocratic not excepted, of
modern nobility.

A truly graceful person will be graceful, and look well in every garb,
however strange or _outre_; and there is, moreover, undoubtedly
something, apart from any paltry love of finery, or mere vanity of
person, which elevates the thoughts, and stamps a statelier demeanor
on the man who is clad highly for some high occasion. The custom, too,
of wearing arms, peculiar to the gentleman of that day, had its
effect, and that not a slight one, as well on the character as on the
bearing of the individual so distinguished.

As for the ladies, loveliness will still be loveliness, disguise it as
you may; and if the beauties of King James's court lost much by the
travesty of their natural ringlets, they gained, perhaps, yet more
from the increased lustre of their complexions and brilliancy of their
eyes.

So that it is far from being the case, as is commonly supposed, that
it was owing to fashion alone, and the influence of all powerful
custom, that the costume of that day was not tolerated only, but
admired by its wearers.

At this time, however, the use of hair-powder, though general, was by
no means universal; and many beauties, who fancied that it did not
suit their complexions, dispensed with it altogether, or wore it in
some modified shape, and tinged with some coloring matter, which
assimilated it more closely to the natural tints of the hair.

At all events, it must have been a dull eye, and a cold heart, that
could have looked undelighted on the assemblage that night gathered in
th