Fashions have for a long time been considered as of great importance among the French, and their neighbours have often reproached them with it.[3] If a new fashion appear, the whole nation is in an uproar: all are infatuated, mad: every one is in a hurry to have it; the contagion soon reaches all ranks; they seem as if they could never be soon enough more ridiculous than they were the day before. Taste is out of the question; ’tis opinion alone that decides. Were the new fashion ever so silly, not a word would be said against it, because of this sole and powerful reason: _It is what is worn at present._ Footnote 3: Baptist Mantuan, an Italian and Latin Poet, said of the French: ——_Cito mobile pectus Cordaque largitus, rerum sitibunda novarum._ Another Italian said, about two centuries ago: _E Natione la Franceze che mai persiste ne sta ferme in una sorte d’habito, ma lo varie secondo i caprici. De gli habiti antichi & moderni._ The motive that actuates people to be at the height of the mode, is the vanity of being thought a person of consequence. How many are there who are penetrated with respect at the sight of a fine coat! how many are there who owe all the consideration they have to their outward appearance, and who might justly say: _Ah! my coat, how much I am obliged to you!_ Their whole merit is in their wardrobe; and there is many a Frenchman, who, had he but that to his mind, would envy no one. One sole form of a coat, let it be ever so elegant, would be insufficient to preserve the veneration of so many stupid asses; their idol must be differently set off every day: without that precaution their admiration would soon be over; this perhaps is what most contributes to keep up the love of novelty among the French. Peter the Great, emperor of Russia, was struck, when at Paris, with this national character; not being much accustomed to see a variety of dresses, he said, on seeing a lord in a different coat every day: _Surely that man is dissatisfied with his tailor._ Why should we not have a dictionary Of Fashions? Surely it would be of as much use as many others. The different denominations which we give them would not be the least entertaining part of the work. Among the names of old hoops we find the _Gourgandine_ (the flirting hoop), the _Boute-en-train_ (the leading-mode hoop), the _Tatez-y_ (the groping hoop), the _Culbute_ (the flying-top-over-tail hoop), &c. Hats and shoes would likewise afford long articles. Then again there would be the great wigs worn in the reign of Lewis XIV.[4] and which so much employed the attention of the courtiers and periwig-makers of that age: not only the head, but half the body was buried under this heap of curls. It was then only the outside of a Frenchman’s head that was ridiculous; now-a-days things are changed.