the head, as fardingales made the clothes stand out in
Queen Elizabeth's reign." A woman thus attired, leaning upon the arm
of a gallant with head adorned by the periwig worn by the men of the
day, was ready for any fashionable function. As hospitality on a large
and generous scale was a circumstance of the times, it might be that
she would pass into the hall, with its massive, carved furniture,
magnificent tapestries, sumptuous furnishings, glittering crystal,
elegant plate, and beautiful wall paintings, to assume her position of
mistress of a household and do the honors at a table generous with
its viands and ample in all the varied range of English and French
cookery. In doing so, she would be governed by the etiquette in
whose precepts she had been schooled, and of which the following is a
sample: "_Instruction to British Ladies When at Table_--A gentlewoman,
being at table, abroad or at home, must observe to keep her body
straight, and lean not by any means on her elbows, nor by ravenous
gesture disclose a voracious appetite. Talke not when you have meate
in your mouthe, and do not smacke like a pig, nor eat spoone-meate so
hot that the tears stand in your eyes. It is very uncourtly to drink
so large a draughte that your breath is almost gone, and you are
forced to blow strongly to recover yourself; throwing down your
liquor as into a funnel, is an action fitter for a juggler than a
gentlewoman. In carving at your table, distribute the best pieces
first; it will appear very decent and comely to use a forke; so touch
no piece of meate without it."

The table furnished an opportunity for many pleasant passages of
repartee, which, however, were apt to be broader in their point and
more undisguised in their language than would be tolerated in any
society of to-day pretending to the least gentility. Here, too, was
engendered frequently the tender sentiment which gave rise to proper
attentions to ladies or to gallantry, according to the character
of the courtier and his lady-love. When gallantry palled upon
the satiated spirits of the courtiers, to preserve their unsavory
reputations they had nothing more difficult to do than to stuff their
pockets with billets-doux, which they paraded in view of their fellows
as evidence of their successful intrigues. When love took a more
creditable form, and the lover in formal and open fashion went to
pay his addresses to his lady-love, he sallied forth in the evening,
accompanied b