abits, were perfumed; shoes were made of Spanish perfumed skins.

Carriages were not then used;[17] so that lords would carry princesses
on a pillion behind them, and in wet weather the ladies covered their
heads with hoods of oil-cloth: a custom that has been generally
continued to the middle of the seventeenth century. Coaches were
introduced into England by Fitzalan Earl of Arundel, in 1580, and at
first were only drawn by a pair of horses. The favourite Buckingham,
about 1619, began to have them drawn by six horses; and Wilson, in his
life of James I., tells us this "was wondered at as a novelty, and
imputed to him as a mastering pride." The same _arbiter elegantiarum_
introduced sedan-chairs. In France, Catherine of Medicis was the first
who used a coach, which had leathern doors and curtains, instead of
glass windows. If the carriage of Henry IV. had had glass windows, this
circumstance might have saved his life. Carriages were so rare in the
reign of this monarch, that in a letter to his minister Sully, he
notices that having taken medicine that day, though he intended to have
called on him, he was prevented because the queen had gone out with the
carriage. Even as late as in the reign of Louis XIV. the courtiers rode
on horseback to their dinner parties, and wore their light boots and
spurs. Count Hamilton describes his boots of white Spanish leather, with
gold spurs.

Saint Foix observes, that in 1658 there were only 310 coaches in Paris,
and in 1758 there were more than 14,000.

Strutt has judiciously observed, that though "luxury and grandeur were
so much affected, and appearances of state and splendour carried to such
lengths, we may conclude that their household furniture and domestic
necessaries were also carefully attended to; on passing through their
houses, we may expect to be surprised at the neatness, elegance, and
superb appearance of each room, and the suitableness of every ornament;
but herein we may be deceived. The taste of elegance amongst our
ancestors was very different from the present, and however we may find
them extravagant in their apparel, excessive in their banquets, and
expensive in their trains of attendants; yet, follow them home, and
within their houses you shall find their furniture is plain and homely;
no great choice, but what was useful, rather than any for ornament or
show."

Erasmus, as quoted by Jortin, confirms this account, and makes it worse;
he gives a curious account