ales. He was remarkable for his dress,
which was generally conceived by himself; the execution of his sublime
imagination being carried out by that superior genius, Mr. Weston,
tailor, of Old Bond Street. The Regent sympathised deeply with
Brummell's labours to arrive at the most attractive and gentlemanly
mode of dressing the male form, at a period when fashion had placed at
the disposal of the tailor the most hideous material that could
possibly tax his art. The coat may have a long tail or a short tail, a
high collar or a low collar, but it will always be an ugly garment.
The modern hat may be spread out at the top, or narrowed, whilst the
brim may be turned up or turned down, made a little wider or a little
more narrow, still it is inconceivably hideous. Pantaloons and Hessian
boots were the least objectionable features of the costume which the
imagination of a Brummell and the genius of a Royal Prince were called
upon to modify or change. The hours of meditative agony which each
dedicated to the odious fashions of the day have left no monument save
the coloured caricatures in which these illustrious persons have
appeared.

Brummell, at this time, besides being the companion and friend of the
Prince, was very intimate with the Dukes of Rutland, Dorset, and
Argyll, Lords Sefton, Alvanley, and Plymouth. In the zenith of his
popularity he might be seen at the bay window of White's Club,
surrounded by the lions of the day, laying down the law, and
occasionally indulging in those witty remarks for which he was famous.
His house in Chapel Street corresponded with his personal "get up"; the
furniture was in excellent taste, and the library contained the best
works of the best authors of every period and of every country. His
canes, his snuff-boxes, his Sevres china, were exquisite; his horses
and carriage were conspicuous for their excellence; and, in fact, the
superior taste of a Brummell was discoverable in everything that
belonged to him.

But the reign of the king of fashion, like all other reigns, was not
destined to continue for ever. Brummell warmly espoused the cause of
Mrs. Fitzherbert, and this of course offended the Prince of Wales. I
refer to the period when his Royal Highness had abandoned that
beautiful woman for another favourite. A coldness sprang up between
the Prince and his protege, and finally, the mirror of fashion was
excluded from the royal presence. A curious accident brought Brummell
agai