'TWas a witty expression of Malvezzi; i vestimenti negli Animali sono molto sicuri segni del­la loro natura, negli Huomini del lor cervello [...] Garments (sayes he) in Animals, are infallible signes of their Nature; in Men of their Un­derstanding. Though I would not judge of the Monk by the Hood he wears; or celebrate the humour of Iulians Cou [...]t where the Phi­losophie Mantle made all his Of­ficers appear like so many Conju­rers; 'tis worth the observing yet, that the People of Rome, left off the Toga, an Antient and Noble Garment with their power, and [Page 4] that the Vicissitude of their Ha­bite was little better then a Presage of that of their Fortune. For the Military Saga differencing them little from their Slaves, was no small indication of the declining of their Courage, which shortly follow'd; and I am of opinion, that when once we shall see the Venetian Se­nat quit the gravity of their Vests, the State it self will not long sub­sist, without some considerable al­teration. 'Tis not a triviall Remark (which I have some where met with) that when a Nation is able to impose, and give laws to the ha­bit of another, (as the late Tar­tars in China) it has (like that of Language) prov'd a Fore-runer of the spreading of their Con­quests there; because, as it has something of Magisterial; so it [Page 5] gives them a boldnesse, and an Assu­rance which easily introduces them, without being taken notice of for Strangers where they come; so as by degrees, they insinuate themselves into all those Places where the Mode is taken up, and so much in credit. I am of Opinion, that the Swisse had not been now a Nation, but for keeping to their Prodigi­ous Breeches; and as it was Poli­tickly dissembl'd of Francis the First to flatter this blunt People with the Toy, which for a while he wore, and the Ladies afterward made their Pin-Cushions of; so was it again as wise to abandon that Brutish Shape, for a Habit more convenient and Decent.

Nor do I impute it so much to the Levity in that Protean Nation to Metamorphose themselves so oft', [Page 6] as many are Prone to censure; be­cause it is plainly their Interest, and they thrive by it; besides the plea­sure of seeing all the World follow them, and to be fond of it.

Believe it, La Mode de France, is one of the best Returnes which they make, and feeds as many bel­lies, as it clothes Backs; or else, we should not hear of such Armies, and Swarmes of them, as this one City alone maintains, who hang in the Ears, embrace the Necks, and elegant Wasts of our fair Ladies in the likeness of Pendants, Collers, Fans and Peticoats, and the rest of those pretty impediments, without which Heaven and Earth could not subsist.

It may be thought, I confesse, some mark of Verticity, that these things are alwayes in fluctuation; [Page 7] but tis yet constant as the Tide, and no more a fault then in the Moon, espeeially, since (like hers) the change is profitable, and a Cha­racteristic of their fertil Genius, which is to be busie, Mercurial, and Universal, and like good Prismes, both to multiply, and change the Species to a degree so taking, and so gainfull.

But, be it thus excusable in the French to alter, and impose the Mode on others, for the reasons de­duc'd; 'tis no less a weakness, and a shame in the rest of the World, who have no Dependency on them, to admit them, at least, to that degree of Levity, as to turn into all their shapes without discrimination, so as when the freak takes our Moun­sieurs to appear like so many Farces or Iack-Puddings on the Stage, [Page 8] all the World should alter Shape, and play the Pantomim's with them.

Me thinks a French Taylor with his Ell in his hand, looks like the Enchantress Circes over the Compa­nions of Vlysses, and changes them into as many formes: One while we are made so loose in our Clothes, as if we had alwayes need of the Close-stool, and by and by appear like so many Malefactors sew'd up in sacks, as of old they were wont to treat a Parricide with a Dog, an Ape and a Serpent: Now must our Breeches do homage to the Roses of our Shoes, and be the next Term so short,2. Sam. 10.4. as if we had all been Am­bassadors to the King of Ammon.

[Page 9]Now we are all twist, and the long Pedo has been taken at distance for a pair of Tongs; and anon all Buttock: One Gallant go's so pinch'd in the Wast, as if he were prepar'd for the Question of the Fie­ry-plate in Turky; and another's so loose in the middle, as if he would turn Insect, or drop in two: Now the short Wast, and Skirts in Pye-crust is the Mode, then the Wide-hose, or (which is more shamefull) like Ne­ro's Lacernata Amica, Iuve­nal. Tertul. the Man in Coats again; Monstrum geminum, de viro foemina, mox de foemina vir: So as one that should judge by the appearance, would take us all to be of Kin to the fellow that begs with­out Armes, or some great Mens Fools: Me thinks we should make water sitting, and since we deny our Sex, learn to handle the distaffe [Page 10] too; Hercules did so when he Courted Omphale, and those who sacrific'd to Ceres put on the petty­coat with much confidence; For a Man cannot say now as when Luci­an scoff'd at Cinicus, Quid tu tan­dem barbam quidem habes, & co­mam, tunicam non habes? On the Reverse, All Men now wear coats, and no Beards. O Prodigious Folly.

And I am even astonish'd at the scan­dal of it.

What shall I then say of this mad­ness, or what rather shall I not say? Vterque habitus mutandi malus, al­ter adversus naturam, alter contra salutem, the one of them is so much against Nature, the other against Health; both Praeposterous, both in [Page 11] extreams; so as what Seneca spake of Silk in his dayes, may with e­qual reason be apply'd to these clothes of ours, if Clothes it be lawfull to name them, in quibus nihil est quo defendi aut corpus, aut pudor possit, since there is in them, neither covering for our bodies, nor for our shame?

It was a fine silken thing which I spied walking th' other day through Westminster-Hall, that had as much Ribbon on him as would have plundered six shops, and set up twenty Country Pedlers: All his Body was dres't like a May-Pole, or a Tom-a Bedlam's Cap. A Fregat newly rigg'd kept not half such a clatter in a storme, as this Puppets Streamers did when the Wind was in his Shroud's; the Motion was Wonderfull to behold, and the [Page 12] Colours were Red, Orange, and Blew, of well gum'd Sattin, which argu'd a happy fancy: but so was our Gallant over charg'd, Indutumne an onustum hominem, habere vestem, an bajulare, that whether he were clad with this Garment, or (as a Porter) only carried it, was not to be resolv'd.

I do assure you, that I knew a French Woman (who is famous for Her Dexterity and invention) pro­test, that the English did so tor­ment Her, for the Mode, still doubt­ing that She brought them not o­ver the newest edition of it, that She us'd monethly to devise us new Fancies of her own Head, which were never worn in France, to pa­cifie her Customers: But this was in the dayes of Old Noll, that signal Ver [...]umnus, when the State it self [Page 13] was as seldome above the Age of a Moon without a new face, as the Ladies her faithful Devota's. But I have done with Instances; and whilst I seem to reprove this excess in Men, am so far from disobli­ging the bright Sex, that it is from hence (Fair Ladies) may justly be deriv'd, the esteem which I make of your discretion in this point, be­cause, what you now wear is so de­cent, and so becoming; Nor am I of so Morose and particular a humour, that, with Seleucus, I would allow of no Ornaments, or significant changes: for my part I love Varie­ty, and when I declaim against the ascititious and unnatural, I am Ad­vocate for what is gracefull and put on with reason: But there is a me­diocrity in all things, and though Garments be Superficials, and ex­trinsecal [Page 14] to us, they are yet of such notable presage, that if (as Solo­man) a Wise Man may be known by his gate; a Fantastick may be no less by his Apparel.

There is a certain honestas in ob­servatione decori, which if men could once light on, would be of Infinite more Reputation to us, then this slavish defference of ours to other Nations; and when his Majesty shall fix a Standard at Court, there will need no Sumptuary lawes to represse and reforme the Lux which Men so much condem in our Apparrel.

Mountaine tells us, that at the Death of King Francis, one years mourning for him in Cloth, made Silk to be so despi [...]'d, that had any Man appear'd in it for a long time after, he was taken for a Pedant or [Page 15] a Mountebank, Tacitus in vitae Tiber. ne vestis serica vi­ros foedaret.

Doubtless, would the great Per­sons of England but owne their Na­tion, and assert themselves as they ought to do, by making choice of some Virile, and comely Fashion, which should incline to neither ex­tream, and be constant to it, 'twould prove of infinite more reputati­on to us, then now that there is no­thing fixt, and the Liberty so exor­bitant.

We deride the Spainiard for his odd shape, not for his Constancy to it: Let it be considered, that those who seldom change the Mode of their Country, have a seldom al­ter'd their affections to the Prince: Laws are in credit as they are Anti­ent, and the very alteration of Ele­ments, Weather, and Dyet are full [Page 16] of Perill; 'tis that renders us Weak, Old, Sick, and at last destroyes us: So as twas not without advice, that the Lawes of Plato did descend to the care even of habits in that his perfect Idea, allowing it only to Curtesans and Comedians to vary Dresses: since 'twas but a kind of Hippocri­sie to be every day in a new Shape, and Mascarad.

Tertul. de Cultu faem. Quomodo praecepta Dei custodi­etis (sayes Tertullian) lineamenta corporis non custodientes? How can we expect that men should keep the Commandments of God, or of the King, that preserve not the Linea­ments of their Bodies? Thus he to the Gallants of his time; and though he do's somewhere,De pal. as ingeniously apologize for the Pallium, (which the Proselytes had then newly reas­sum'd) by instances deduc'd from [Page 17] the common Vicissitudes of Nature, and of the World; yet he proves its Antiquity from the Old Lydi­a [...]s, and Noble Pelasgi, and from the Decency, and Simplicity of the Garb; so as what was then said by way of Sarcasme to the new Christi­ans, a Toga ad pallium, may now with more just reproch be applied to the old, ab Equis ad Asinos.

For my part, I professe that I de­light in a cheerfull Gaity, affect and Cultivate Variety; The Universe it self were not beautifull to me with­out it; but, as that is in constant and Uniforme Succession in the natural, where Men do not disturb it; so would I have it also in the Artificial.

If the Kings of Mexico chang'd four times a day, it was but an up­per Vest, which they were us'd to honour some Meritorious Servant with. Let Men change their Habits [Page 18] as oft as they please, so the change be for the better: I would have a Summer Habit, and a Winter; for the Spring, and for the Autumne: Something I would indulge to Youth, something to Age and Hu­mour, Sed quaenam illac avis est, Plaut. in poe­nullo. quae huc cum tunicis advenit? What have we to do with these Forreign Butterflies? In Gods name let the change be our Own, not borrow'd of others; for why should I dance af­ter a Monsieurs Flajolet only, that have a set of English Viols for my Consort? We need no French in­ventions or for the Stage, or for the Back; we have better Materials for Clothes, They, better Taylors: Strange! that Men should come to value themselves from a sort of Wretches, of which Nine go but to the making of one Man. I hope to see the day when all this shall be re­form'd, [Page 19] and when all the World shall receive their Standard from our most Illustrious Prince, and from his Grandees, and make Prognosticks even from those little Accidents and all that is extrinsical to them, that there is a glorious, a steady and a Wise Director within, and that it shall be as presumptuous for any forreign Nation to impose upon our Court, as it is indeed, ridiculous it should, and its greatest diminuti­on.

Lampridius tells us that Alexan­der was in this point so nice, that he would have all his Subjects distin­guish'd by their Habit; ne servi in­genuis miscerentur: How many times have I saluted the fine Man for the Master, and stood with my hat off to the gay Feather, when I found the Bird to be all this while but a Daw? arripitur persona, Lucre [...] manet res. A Ly­ons [Page 20] Skin will not cover an Asses Ears.

Servants had alwayes amongst the Romans a peculiar Habit, till the Common-Wealth grew dissolute, sayes Tacitus: And for my particu­lar, I am so great a Friend to this or­der, that I could be contented all de­grees of Men whatever, had some Badge to distinguish them by. Thus all Mechanicks should be known by their Cognizance, all Gown-men, and all the Military: How would this conduce to publick Frugality, Peace, Humility? and, if to any Emulati­on, to that only of exceeding one a­nother in Vertue and Obedience: For it is Prodigious only to consi­der, the impolitick Wast which this promiscuous Bravery draws a­long with it: That no lesse then two Millions of Treasure (as I am inform'd) has in so short a time been [Page 21] lost in Gold and Silver Lace; and, that to feed this sole exorbitance, the Goldsmiths should give so con­siderable a rate for Bullion above the Mint, to imploy it in this trifling Fabric, which is plainly consum'd, worn out, and never returnes again; so as in a few Years to endanger an Universal Penurie.

Let us suppose that the finest Cloth of Wooll, and which may be made thin, light, and glossie for Summer; Thick, and more substan­tial for the Winter, and inferiour to no covering under Heaven, were more in use, and esteem: Or, that there were a general prohibition, that persons beneath such a degree, should wear either Silk, Forreign Stuffs, or Cloth, with a reasonable Tassa impos'd by the Magistrate up­on the price of our own manifa­cture amongst us; How would this [Page 22] bring down the rates of those exo­tick impertinences, how many thou­sand hands imploy? how glorious be to our Prince, when he should behold all his Subjects clad with the Production of his own Country, and the People Universally inrich'd, whilst the Species that we now con­sume in Lace, or export for forreign Silks, and more unserviceable Stuffs would by this means be all sav'd, and the whole Nation knit as one to the heart of their Soveraign, as to a Provident and Indulgent Father? If Riches, and Plenty with the love and prosperity of a People, be the glory of a Prince, and the Nerves of a State; if all other considerati­ons be noyse, and empty shadows ministring only to Lux, and the Va­nity of a few Young insignificant Triflers, whose brains are as Tran­sparent as their Clothes; what are [Page 23] those Arts which a Prince should cul­tivate, but by exorcising these Ap­paritions and Fantosme's of a Court and Country, to procure the esta­blishment of what is Material, and most perfective of those solid bles­sings. With what facility this is ef­fected, our Illustrous CHARLES will one day shew his contemporary Mo­narchs, by provision of such Sum­ptuary and other wholsome Lawes for the Publick, and making such a Collection of Vertuous persons to dispense them; that as his Court shall become the universal Idea for the rest of Princes to reform by, so shall his People and the whole Nation be the envy of the World for their fe­licity.

Were I the Censor for regulation of this excess, I should recommend the Best, and most commodious Ha­bit; and Calculate for the several [Page 24] Meridians and Degrees of the Wea­rer. There may be much said (I con­fess) concerning custom, and opinion, which render all things supportable; but we in this Nation can plead nei­ther of these for our Fantastical and often changes: the very frequency of altering the Mode, contradicts the Custome of being addicted to One, and so we are constant only by be­ing inconstant, which if allowable in the weaker, becomes not the Viri­ler Sex; 'twas yet not ill observ'd of Sr. Philip Sidney, that Ladies though they were Naturally affraid of a Sword, were yet soonest in love with the men of Iron, whose shape is the most unalterable of all the Metals, and the noblest emblem of constancy.

Behold we one of our Silken Ca­melions, and aery Gallants, making his addresses to his Mistress, and you would sometimes think your self in [Page 25] the country of the Amazons, for it is not possible to say which is the more Woman of the two Coated Sardana­paulas. But how may we remedy this? shall we descend to some particulars?

I would choose the loose Riding Coat, which is now the Mode, and the Hose which his Majesty often wears, or some fashion not so pinch­ing as to need a Shooing-horn with the Dons, nor so exorbitant as the Pantaloons, which are a kind of Her­maphrodite and of neither Sex: and if at any time I fancy'd them wider, or more open at the knees for the Summer, it should be with a medio­crity, and not to set in plaits as if I were supported with a pair of Ionic pillars or the gatherings of my Gran­nams loose Gown; I would neither have my Dublet, or my Skirts so short, as if I were one of Sir Iohn Mandivils Dobys, whose eyes and [Page 26] mouthes are in their shoulders and breasts; no [...] again so long as to act Francatripe in the Farce: I would not conceal the shape of a goodly leg under a Hoop and Canopy, be­cause some bow-legg'd Monsieur would disguise his deformity to the reproch of Nature. Are our Knees, like Esops Pots, affraid of meeting, because of the same frail Metal? I am neither fond of the round Shoe, nor of the long, but for that which best fits my foot, and is most easie, and had rather have my Last a little too Wide, then to make it a case for my Almanack, which I will sooner wear in my Pocket, then in my shoes: Slender feet are for the Queens of China, and for those who delight to be awak'd by the Corn-cutter. I like the Noble Buskin for the Legs, and the Boucle better then the formal Rose; and had ra­ther [Page 27] see a glittering stone to hasp it there, then the long cross hilted knots now worn; because 'tis more glorious, and (like that Manicodiata which Queen Elizabeth tyed there at an Audience of a Moscovite Embassadour, who had stuck one in his Hat,) shews a kind of con­tempt of Riches.

The Wisest, and most Healthy of the Antients went continually bare headed; so Massinissa, Caesar, so Hanibal us'd to go; But when I must be cover'd, I infinitely prefer the Buchingamo, or Montero lately re­form'd, before any other whatever, because it is most manly, useful and steady. I have heard say, that when a Turk would execrate one that dis­pleases him, he wishes him as unsta­ble as a Christians Hat; and in effect 'tis observ'd, that no man can so plant it on another mans head, but [Page 28] the Owner do's immediately alter it, nor is it ever certain: All that can be reply'd in its behalf, is, that it Shades the Face; but so would a Tuft of Feathers in the Montero, which is light and serviceable, when the Sun is hot; and at other times Ornamental.

I would neither have my Band so Voluminous as a Frokins Night­raile, nor yet so strait and scanty as a Negro's coller; in Short, I wish any thing might supply it that were not made of Hemp; and for that piece of Wainscot which supports it about our Necks, if it be too high the man looks as if he were impall'd; if too low, as if the Dublet were borrow'd, at least I wish that part were defended with something lesse rigid then Past-bord; and if the Cra­vet did still succeed it, there would be no misse of the other. To co­ver [Page 29] all with two words; I like the Stately and easy Vest within Doors, and the Cloak without. In summe I affect whatever is comely, and of use, and to that I would be canstant, choosing nothing that should be Capricious, nothing that were sin­gular, and therefore have made this Collection out of all; For see­ing we are oblig'd to none, we in­jure none, and since there is so much variety, our choice is the Freer. Mode is a Tyrant, and we may cast of his Government, without im­peachment to our Loyalty: But if we will rather expect (and which I most Approve of) the injunction of our Superiours for this Regulati­on also, we shall do wisely and best avoid the censure. Those who follow'd the great Alexander held indeed their necks awry, because he most inclin'd it to one side; and [Page 30] when his Father Philip wore a fillet about his forehead for a wound which he had receiv'd, all the Court came abroad with the like till the cure was compleat: But we have a Prince whose shape is elegant, and perfect to admiration; so as I know not whither there was ever upon the Throne, a Personage who had lesse need of Art to render him more graceful, and whose Mine makes all things to become him; and there­fore certainly (of all the Princes of Europe) the most fit to give the Standard now to the Mode we next expect, and that not only to his own Nation, but to all the World be­sides.