GEORGE II.

319

“ Long lappets, the horse-shoe cap, the Brussels head, and theprudish mob pinned under the chin, have all had their day,” saysthe “Connoisseur,” in 1754. Now we have first mention of lacecardinals; trollopies or slammerldns 16 come in at the sameperiod, with treble ruffles to the cuffs; writers talk, too, of a“ gentle dame in blonde lace,” blonde being as yet a newly in-troduced manufacture.

Though history may only be all false, 17 as Sir Robert Walpolesaid to that “ cynic in lace ruffles,” his son Horace, yet the news-papers are to be depended upon for the fashion of the day, or, asLady Mary would say, “ for what new whim adorns the ruffle.” 18

The lace apron, 19 worn since the days of Queen Elizabeth,continued to hold its own till the end of the eighteenth century,though some considered it an appendage scarcely consistent withthe dignity of polite society. The anecdote of Beau Nash, whoheld these articles in the strongest aversion, has been often related.“ He absolutely excluded,” says his biographer, ” all who venturedto appear at the Assembly Room, at Bath, so attired. I haveknown him at a ball night strip the Duchess of Queensberry, andthrow her apron on one of the hinder benches among the ladies’women, observing that none but Abigails appeared in white aprons ;though that apron was of the costliest point, and cost two hundredguineas.” 20

George II. did his best to promote the fabrics of his country,but at this period smuggling increased with fearful rapidity. Itwas a war to the knife between the revenue officer and society atlarge : all classes combined, town ladies of high degree, withwaiting-maids and the common sailor, to avoid the obnoxiousduties and cheat the government. To this subject we devote thefollowing chapter. _

16 Slammerkin, a sort of loose dress.This ugly word, in course of time, wasused as an adjective, to signify un-tidy. The author recollects to haveheard it so applied in her youth. Fortu-nately it is now obsolete.

17 “ Don’t read history to me, for thatI know to be false,” said Sir R. Walpoleto his son Horace, when he offered toread to him in his last illness.

18 Lady M. W. Montagu, “Letterto Lord Harvey on the King’s Birth-day.”

19 “The working apron, too, from

F ranee,

With all its trim appurtenance.”

Mundus Muliebris.

20 Goldsmith, “ Life of Richard Nash,of Bath,” London, 1762.