Transcribed from the L. B. Seeley 1817 (eighth) edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org, using scans made available by the British Library.
THE
Fashionable World
DISPLAYED.
BY THE
REV. JOHN OWEN, A.M.
LATE FELLOW OF CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE;
AND RECTOR OF PAGLESHAM, ESSEX.
VELUTI IN SPECULUM.
THE STAGE .
Eighth Edition.
LONDON:
PRINTED
FOR L. B. SEELEY, FLEET STREET.
1817.
TO
THE RIGHT REVEREND
BEILBY PORTEUS, D.D.
LORD BISHOP OF LONDON ,
NOT MORE DISTINGUISHED
BY
HIS ELOQUENCE AS A PREACHER,
HIS VIGILANCE AS A PRELATE,
HIS SANCTITY AS A CHRISTIAN,
AND
HIS VARIOUS ACCOMPLISHMENTS
AS
A SCHOLAR AND A MAN,
THAN BY
HIS INDEFATIGABLE EXERTIONS
TO DETECT THE ERRORS,
REBUKE THE FOLLIES,
AND
REFORM THE VICES,
OF THE
FASHIONABLE WORLD,
THE FOLLOWING ATTEMPT
TO BENEFIT THAT PART OF SOCIETY,
BY MEANS TOO FREQUENTLY EMPLOYED
TO CORRUPT IT,
IS
RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED,
BY
HIS LORDSHIPS FAITHFUL
AND
DUTIFUL SERVANT,
The AUTHOR.
Fulham.
ADVERTISEMENT
TO THE
EIGHTH EDITION.
The following little Work was originally published in the Spring of 1804, under the assumed name of Theophilus Christian, Esq. From the high commendation bestowed on it by the late Bishop Porteus, the Author was induced to avow himself in the second impression, and to prefix a Dedication, in which he endeavoured to do some justice to the merits of that Prelate, whose character he united with the public in revering, and whose patronage and friendship he had the honour to enjoy.
The Author is not insensible to the degree of improvement in the general tone of society, which has rendered certain strictures on the grosser qualities of a Fashionable character, somewhat less appropriate than they were at the period of their first publication. He wishes, however, he could convince himself, that the improvement to which he alludes, and of which he desires to speak with becoming respect, were not to be interpreted as originating more in humour than in principle, and as indicating rather the progress of refinement than the influence of virtue. The peccant evil, he is sorry to observe, continues to exist; and, however the form of its operation may have been varied, its spirit remains the same. On this account, it did not appear to the Author expedient to tamper with his text. He felt persuaded that its application will be found sufficiently accurate for every practical purpose; and he could not consent to weaken its force by over-scrupulous concessions to the pleadings of candour, or the requirements of temporary accommodation.
If an apology should be thought necessary for the little place which has been allowed for remarks of a purely religious description, that apology will be furnished by the nature and design of the Work. To produce a disaffection to a life of sense, with all its blandishments, and under all its modifications, was the end which the Author proposed to himself; and his means were chosen with a reference to that end. In whatever degree he may succeed in effecting it, he will think that he has gained no ordinary point; inasmuch as they who despair of happiness in the ways of sin, are so far prepared to embrace that godliness, which is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.
Fulham, February 28, 1817.
INTRODUCTION.
I have often been surprised, that among the many descriptions which ingenious writers have given of places and people comparatively insignificant, no complete and systematic account has yet been written of the Fashionable World. It is true, that our poets and caricaturists have honoured this people with a great share of their notice, and many particulars, not a little edifying, have been made known, through the medium of their admirable publications. It is also true, that our prose-writers have occasionally cast a very pertinent glance over this fairy ground. Some of these latter have even gone so far, as to write absolute treatises upon certain parts of the Fashionable character. Mrs. More, for example, has delineated the religion, and Lord Chesterfield the morals, of this singular people with the greatest exactness and precision. Nor would it be just to overlook the very acceptable labours of those writers who, in their Court-calendars and Court-almanacks, bring us acquainted, from time to time, with the modes of dress which prevail in the Fashionable World, and the names of its most distinguished inhabitants. But after all that has been done, towards exhibiting the manners, and unfolding the character, of this splendid community, much remains to be done: for though certain details have been well enough handled, yet I repeat, that a complete and systematic account of the Fashionable World, is still a desideratum in Cosmography.
I am far from pretending to either the ability or the design of supplying this deficiency. The utmost that I propose to myself, is to bring more particulars into a group, than former writers have done; and to exhibit an outline, upon which others of more enlarged experience may improve. It seems to me of great importance to the interests of society, that its members should be known to each other: and of this I am persuaded, that if there be one description of people, the knowledge of whose genuine character would be more edifying to mankind than another, it isthe people of Fashion.
CONTENTS.
CHAP. I.PAGE .
SituationBoundariesClimateSeasons.
CHAP. II.PAGE .
GovernmentLaws, &c.
CHAP. III.PAGE .
Religion and Morality.
CHAP. IV.PAGE .
Education.
CHAP. V.PAGE .
MannersLanguage.
CHAP. VI.PAGE .
DressAmusements.
CHAP. VII.PAGE .
Happiness of the People estimated.
CHAP. VIII.PAGE .
Defect of the SystemPlans of ReformConclusion.
CHAP. I.
SITUATIONBOUNDARIESCLIMATESEASONS.
Though I do not undertake to write a geographical account of the Fashionable World, yet I should think myself highly culpable were I to pass over this interesting part of the subject wholly in silence. My readers must be at the same time cautioned, not to form their expectations of the geography of Fashion from that of other countries. The fact is, that the whole community which sustains this appellation, extensive as it is, can scarcely be treated as having any peculiar or exclusive locality. The individuals who compose it, are not, it is true, absolute wanderers, like the tribes of Arabia; nor yet are they regular settlers, like the convicts at Botany Bay: but moveable and migratory to a certain degree, and to a certain degree stationary and permanent, they live among the inhabitants of the parent country; neither absolutely mixing with them, nor yet actually separated from them.
This paradoxical state of the people renders it not a little difficult to reduce their territory within the rules of geographical description. They have, it is true, their degrees and their circles; but these terms are used by people of Fashion in a sense so different from that which geographers have assigned them, that they afford no sort of assistance to the topographical enquirer. It is, I presume, on this account, that in all the improvements which have been made upon the globe, nothing has been done towards settling the meridian of Fashion; and though the Laplanders, the Hottentots, and the Esquimaux, have places assigned them, no more notice is taken of the people of Fashion, than if they either did not exist, or were not worthy of being mentioned.
