Before finishing with point de France, we must allude to the équipage de bain, in which this fabric formed a great item. As early as 1688, Madame de Maintenon presents Madame de Chevreuse with an "équipage de bain de point de France" of great magnificence. It consisted not only of a peignoir, but a broad flounce, which formed a valance round the bath itself. You can see them in old engravings of the day. Then there were the towels and the _descente_, all equally costly,[497] for the French ladies of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries admitted their _habitués_ not only to the _ruelle_,[498] but also to the bath-room.[499] In the latter case the bath {170}was _au lait_, _i.e._, clouded by the mixture of some essence. "Aux autres temps, autres moeurs." The "fameuse poupée" of the reign of Louis XIV. must not be forgotten. The custom of dressing up these great dolls originated in the salons of the Hôtel Rambouillet, where one, termed "la grande Pandore," at each change of fashion was exhibited "en grand tenue"; a second, the little Pandore, in morning _déshabille_. These dolls were sent to Vienna and Italy, charged with the finest laces France could produce. As late as 1764 we read in the _Espion Chinois_, "Il a débarqué à Douvres un grand nombre de poupées de hauteur naturelle habillées à la mode de Paris, afin que les dames de qualité puissent régler leurs goûts sur ces modèles."[500] Even when English ports were closed in war-time, a special permission was given for the entry of a large alabaster doll four feet high, the Grand Courrier de la Mode.[501] In the war of the First Empire this privilege was refused to our countrywomen; and from that time Englishwomen, deprived of all French aid for a whole generation, began to dress badly. Pitt has much to answer for. With this notice finishes our account of the reign of Louis XIV. PLATE LII. [Illustration: BRUSSELS. MODERN POINT DE GAZE.--Actual size. Photo by A. Dryden.] _To face page 170._ {171}CHAPTER XI. LOUIS XV. "Le luxe corrompt tout, et le riche qui en jouit, et le pauvre qui le convoite." --J. J. Rousseau. Louis XIV. is now dead, to the delight of a wearied nation: we enter on the Regency and times of Louis XV.--that age of "fourchettes," manchettes, and jabots--in which the butterfly abbés, "les porte-dentelles par excellence," played so conspicuous a part. The origin of the weeping ruffles, if Mercier[502] is to be credited, may be assigned to other causes than royal decree or the edicts of fashion. "Les grandes manchettes furent introduites par des fripons qui voulaient filouter au jeu et escamoter des cartes." It never answers to investigate too deeply the origin of a new invented mode,--sufficient to say, ruffles became a necessary adjunct to the toilet of every gentleman. So indispensable were they, the Parisians are accused of adopting the custom of wearing ruffles and no shirts.