rried. No one could conceive
how the effect was produced--tin, card, a thousand
contrivances were attempted, and innumerable men cut their
throats in vain experiments; the secret, in fact, puzzled
and baffled every one, and poor dandy L------d died raving
mad of it; his mother, sister, and all his relations waited
on Brummel, and on their knees implored him to save their
kinsman's life by the explanation of the mystery; but the
beau was obdurate, and L------d miserably perished.

When Brummel fled from England, he left this secret a legacy
to his country; he wrote on a sheet of paper, on his
dressing-table, the emphatic words, "Starch is the man."

~219 up by a countryman, when he inquires, very coolly, if 't'other
blackguard is not quite dead:' his amours are more distinguished by
their number than attractions, and the first point is, not attachment,
but notoriety; the lady always being the more desirable, in proportion
to the known variety of her gallants; that of all the pleasures of this
life, there is nothing like a squeeze at court (see plate), or being
wedged into a close room at a crowded rout.

[Illustration: page219]

A ruffian was never thought of by our forefathers; the exquisite was;
but he was more sublimated than the exquisite of the nineteenth century.
The dandy is of modern date; but there is some polish on him--suppose
it be on his boots alone. Shape and make are attended to by him; witness
the Cumberland corset, and his making what he can of every body. Then,
again, he must have a smattering of French, and affect to be above old
England. When he smokes, he does it from vanity, to show his _ecume de
mer_ pipe. He may have a gold snuff-box and a little diamond pin; and
when he swears, he lisps it out like a baby's lesson. Sometimes (not
often) he plays upon the guitar; and the peninsular war may have made
a man of him, and a linguist too; but he is far below the ancient
exquisites (who touched the lute, the lyre, and violoncello). And he is
an egotist in every thing--in gallantry, in conversation, in principle,
and in heart. Nor has the deterioration of the gentleman been confined
to England only--polite and ceremonious France has felt her change. The
Revolution brought in coarse and uncivilised manners. The awkward
and unsuccessful attempt at Spartan and Roman republican manners;
the citizen succeeding to Monsieur; the blasphemous, incredulou