Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1816-05-11

laif horst, half alligator-of this latter kind |
propose to treat first, as being the mos
ancient.
It's generally supposed that they made
their first Al appearance among the Vene,ians.
and were worn by all gentlemen citizens,
and commissioned officers of the army
But L know them to be of much earlier
date there being one preserved among the
holy relics at Rome, which was worn by
Noah IN his official capacity as ADMIRAL
they are now worn by some old officers.
clergymen, sheriffs, parish clerks, deacons,
anu oy many OF our most respectable old
men but what their fancy is for encourag-
ing this mongrell race, has never been
clearly ascertained--it is however suppos-
ed they wish to defend their sculls from any
attacks that might be made on them, they
being admirably contIived for the purpose
of defence, having three sides, and three
angles which flank each other. They are
likewise thought to add dignity to mans
appearance, for which reason .No,tntebanIes
sometimes wear them and they were late
y made use OF in our Army to punish
drunken soldiers, who were compelled to
march IN front of the grand parade, with
the,r coats turned wrong side out, and one
OF these fortified hats on, with bottle sus-
pended from each angle, and the fragment
staff.
1 shall next speak of the Hats Military
THIS grand class may be subdivded into an
inhnity OF smaller ones, but will only no.
tee the two kinds in most general USE
these are the Bonaparte and the Yelling
tom Hats. The former made their first an
pearance in France, soon after the revolu-
ton, and were worn by most of the French
army. They are now worn by the officers
OF the American, and of most European
services, but their size is greatly reduced:
and an order was issued from the u. 8.
war Department in 1912, ordering all Bo
naparte hats to be raced to given size.
Most OF our militia however kept up the
original size, and some have even enlarged
them. 1 have seen some not inferior in
size to a common farmers corn fan. The
advantages of being to acindarard i'm a land
engagement, were not fully known till this
hat came into use Napoleon no doubt
owed some of his splendid victories to
them--his infantry who wore them were
aDie to charge the enemy by squaring their
hats, and running down before the wind
with the force of an equal number of dra-
goons--and | am credibly informed that
they were OF immense service to some of
our militia officers during the late war,
who when their men broke aud retreotpd,
were able, by bracing their hats tn the W MI,
10 out-run the men with the utmost ease.
and OF course they could have better on
p"rtuniiy to rally them. The only Difficult
ty was, that some tcho acore such ertra
large hats, got under such head-way that
they could In no wise stop.
The Wellington hats made their first an
pesrance In the British army in SPAIN
IKE the fortified hats, they have three an
giles, but the .fanbed angle disappears when
the hat is of, and the angles Of fianes ar e
much sharper. They are every way sumo
rlor to the Bonaparte hats, excepting when
the wind blows, in which case the Bona
Parte hats have the most decided adyan-
tage. These two kinds ofhats are. we he.
iieve, IN their primitive state, ALWAYS
black; and are variously ornamented. ac-
cording to the taste of the wearer. or the
corps in which he serves.
VIII now say something of the second
grand class, or Hats Civic- when or where
they made their first appearance, is very
uncertain. The general opinion of histo-
rams is, that they are natives of Hornrre.
out II would require the brains of at least
~ " eish geneaiOgists to trace their pedi
gree with any certainty; for my part / be-
i,eve them to be at least cpvaI with the for.
tined hats ; nay, tits confidently asserted
that'a reverend pilgrim lately travelling nm
Mount-Ararat, found cast hat, which had
the initials of Hams name in ia sura
evidence that they were in vogue before the
deluge. But be that as il may, we know
that they first appeared in London about a
century and half agO-tbeir form was
then very like that which Ralpho wears. in
Hogarth's engravings for Hudibrass. THE
form was worn for long time, but by do.
grees was changed for one more cyIindr;.
cal and their height was somewhat redu.
ced, and was worn for ares whom tLs,
were again changed for form resembling
the kaipho hat inverted. There is a GER
tam class OF mechanics and laborers who
work week days and stroll round the coun-
try on Sundays-with them. his inverted
hat was Very popular, by reason of its being
able to hold great store of apples & pears
IN Its top; but they soon grew very unpo.
puiar with the blnOds of the ace for in
those days it was considered a mortal at
front to knock gentIeman's hat off-and
they to give themselves a more raIcish air.
cooked them ON one side, when a yery
slight touch brought them to the groundE
IN fact they could not vibrate much with.
out their falling of their own accord, but il
was long time before the fashion was AL
tered, as those in favor of them were tbe
most numerous. But the bucks at last car-