New-York daily tribune., 1844-06-29
THE 1,RlRUN r.
From Blnckwoosi', Magazine for June
Beau Brusnsncil.
tConunued.J

lo,1s on the memory OF TINS man ci TASTE 10 sup
nose that he at Ill resembled in this important
matter The s;rutting display which we have seen
in ia,er times and winch irresis,ibly strikes the
beholder with surprise, that any man capable OF
seeing hmselfin the glass could exhibit so strong
temptation to laughter; while To the more
knowing in the atf,rs OF costume, 1t betrays IN
srantly the secret that the exhibitor is SIMPLY
walking pacard for tailor struggling Tor en-
employment, ai.d supplying the performer on The
occasion with wardrobe for the purpose. brunl
rneli's dress was finished with perfect Skill, but
without the slightest attempt at exaggerAtion
Plain Hessian boots and pan,aooDs, or top boots
and bucksk:ns, which were then more the fashion
than lhev are now; hne coat and bun color
ed wa'stcoat--or he somewhat leaned 10 FuXii'
politics Cor forms sake, however he desp'sed al
politics as unworthy of man born To give uie
tone TO fash;on-was his morning dress. In the
evening he appeared IN blue coat and whit
waistcoat black pantaloons closely fitting ana
buttoninp tight TO the ankle, striped silk stockings
and opera hat. We may thus observe how much
Brummell went before has sge, for while he thus
originated dress which no modern refinement
has vet exceeded, and which contained all ;ha, Is
de bon ton in modern equipment, he was living in
the midst ola generation almost s,ndousy barha-
ran-the Foxite imjtators of the French Repuh-
hcans-where every mans principle was measured
BY the closeneSs OF his approach tn savagery. and
nothing but the War nterpnsed TO prevent the
sanS-culoftism alik. of the body aud the mind.
Brummell, though not possessing the patronage OF
secretary oi state had the power of making mems
fortunes His principal talors were Schwetzcr
and Davidson OF Cork-street, Weston and Meyer
Of Conduit street. Those names have since dis
appeared, but their memory is Gear 10 dandylsm:
and many a superannuated man OF elegance Will
give "the passing tribute oi "A sigh to the ncon
parable neatness Of their fit and the unrivaed
taste of their scissors; Schwellzer and Meyer
worked for the Prince, and the latter was IN so:;
degree a royal avorite, and one OF the household.
He was d man of genius at his needle; an inven
tor, who even occasionally disputed the palm of
originality with Brunmell himself. The point is
not vet settled to whom was due the happy con-
cepuon OF the trowser opening at the ankle and
closed by buttons. Brummell laid his clam
openly, at least to its improvement while Mey-
er admitting the elegance g ven TO 1t by the tact
of Brumme, persisted IN asserting his right to
the invention. Yet if, as was said Of gunpOwder
and printing the true inventor is the man who
first brings the discovery into renown, the honor
is here Brummell's, ior he was the first who eSta6-
ished the trowser in the Bond-slreet world.
The prince, at this period, cultivated dress
with an ardor which threatened 10 dethrone
Brummel himself and his wardrobe calcu-
Highness had one obstacle TO encounter, which
ultimately drove him from the field, and restrict.
ed all his future chances of distinction 10 wigs
he began to grow corpulent. A scarcely less
formidable evil arose IN his Guarrelng with
Brummell. In the course of hostilltles, the Prince
pronounced the beau of talor's block fit for no.
thing but TO hang clothes on; while the retalla-
ton came in the shape of caricature in which |
a pair of leather breechcs is exhibited lashed up |
between the bed posts, and an enormously 1at |
man is lifted up to them is making desperate
struggle to get his limbs properly seated in Their
capacity another operation OF still more d!til-
cult nature, the making the walstbend meet, st:ll
threatening 10 defy all exertlon.
Rrummeil's style was in !act simplicity, bat
simplicity of the most studied kind Lord By
ron defined ii, :" a certain exquisite propriety q!
dress" .'No perfumes the Beau used to say,
''but fine linen, plenty OF 1t, and country wash
ing" His opinion on this subject, however,
changed considerably in after time; for he used
perfumes, and attributed characteristic iInpor-
tance to their use. Meeting gentleman at Il
ball with whom he conversed for while, some
of the party inquired the strangers Name
"Can't possibly TELL" was the Besus answer
"But he is evidently gentleman-his perfumes
are good" He objected to country gentlemen
being introduced into Walters, on the ground
"that their boots always smelt Of horse-dung and
bad backing"
His taste in matters of uertu was one of the
sources of his profuson ; but 1t always had a re-
ference to himself. He evidently preferred
snufi.box which he could display in his hand, to
Raphael which he could exhibit only on his wall.
His snuff, boxes were numerous and costly. Bat
even in taking snuff he had his style; he alwa,s S
opened the box with hand, the lett. The
Prince initiated him in this tour de grace.
A fashion always becomes more fashionable ~
it becomes more ridiculous People cling to il rs
they pet monkey, for lis deioTmlty. The high
head-dresscs OF France, which must have been
BURDEN made the tour of Europe, and endured
through a century. The high heels, which almost
wholly precluded safe walking, lasted their cen,u-
~. The use of powder was universal until it was
driven out of France by Repubcanism and out
of England by famine. The flour used by the
British army alone for whitening the heads
calculated TO amount to the annual provision l"r
$4,000 people Snuff had been universally in use
from the middle of the seventeenth century; and
the sums spent on this filthy and foolish indul-
gence, the time wasted on il, and the injury done
to health, if they could all have been thrown into
the common form of money, woaid have paid the
national debt Of England. The common people
have their full share III this general abSurdlty.
The pin drunk in England and Wales Annually
amounts 10 nearly twenty millions of pouncs
sterling "a sum which would pay all the poor
rates three times over, and turned 10 any public
purpose, might cover the land with great instl'u-
uons-the principal result OF this enormous ,N-
penditure now being to fill the population with
vice, misery and madness.
In the matter OF coats Brummell had but one
rival, the Prince whose rank of course gave hm
general advantage, yet whose taste was clearly
held inferior by the royal artistes themselves. A
baronet, who went TO Schwe,zer's to get himself
equipped in the first style, asked him what cloth,
he recommended. "Why, sir" was the answer.
the Prince wears supertne, and Mr.. Brummell
the Bath coating. Suppose, sir. we say Bath
coating think Mr. Brumncll has trfle the
preference Brnmmes connection with Tic
Prince, his former rank in the hussars, and has
own agreeable manners introduced MIN into the