1797+] 
drawn along with them, by an irrefiftible 
impulfe, which grew ftronger every mo- 
ment: {[ afked, whither we were hurry- 
ing, with fuch eager fleps? and was 
told, that we were going tothe court of 
the Queen FasHION, the great Diana, 
whom ‘all the world worthippeth. I 
would have retired, but felt. myfelf im- 
pelled to go on, though without being 
fenfble of any outward force.—When 
I came to the royal prefence, I was af- 
tonithed at the magnificence I {aw around 
me! The queen was fitting on a throne, 
elegantly fafhioned, in the form of a 
fhell, and inlaid with gems and mother- 
of-pearl. It was fupported by a came- 
lion, formed of a fingle emerald. She 
was dreffed in a light robe of changeable 
filk, which fluttered about her ina pro- 
fufion of farntaftic folds, that imitated 
the form of clouds, and like them, were 
continually changing their appearance. 
In ont hand, fhe held a rouge-box, and 
in the other, one of thofe’optical glaffes, 
which diftort figures in length or in 
breadth, gccording, to the ofition in 
which they are held. At the foot of the 
throne was dilplayed a profufion of the 
richeft produdtions of every quarter of 
the globe—tributes from land and fea— 
from every animal, and plant—perfumes, 
{parkling ftones, drops of pearl, chains 
of gold, webs of the fineft linen, wreaths 
of flowers, the produce of art, which 
vied with the moft delicate productions 
of nature—forefis of feathers, waving 
their brilliant colours in the air, and ca- 
nopying the throne ;—gloffy filks, net- 
work of lace, filvery ermine, foft folds 
of vegetable wool, ruftling paper, and 
fhining fpangles ; the whole intermixed 
with pendants and ftreamers, of the gay- 
eft tinétured ribbon. All thefe, toge- 
ther, made fo’ brilliant an appearance, 
that my eyes were at firft dazzled ; and 
it was {ome time before I recovered my- 
felf enough to obferve the ceremonial of 
the court. Near the throne, and its 
chief fupports, ftood the queen’s two 
prime minifters, CAPRICE on the one 
fide, and VANITY on, the other. 
officers feemed chiefly bufy among the 
attendants. One of them was aman, with 
a pair of fheers in his hand, and a goofe 
by his fide, a myfterious emblem, of 
which I could not fathom the meaning : 
he fat crofs-legged, like the great Lama 
of the Tartars ;—he was bufily employ- 
ed“in cutting out coats and garments, 
not, however, like Dorcas, for the poor 
s-nor, indeed, did they feem intended 
t 
: Fafhion, a Vifion. 
Two 
: 255 
for any mortal whatever, fo ili were they 
adapred to the fhape of the human body ; 
fome of the garments were extravagant ~ 
ly large, others as prepofteroufly {mall ; 
of others, it was dificult to guefs to: 
what partof the perfon they were meant 
to be applied. Here were coverings, 
which did not coyver—orhaments,, which 
disigured—and defences againft the wea- 
ther, more flight and delicate than what . 
they were meant to defend; butall were 
eagerly caught up, without diftinétion, 
by the crowd of votaries who were waii- 
ing to receive them. ‘The other officer 
was drefled in a white fuccinét linen 
garment, liké a priefi, of the lower order. 
He moved in a cloud of incenfe, more 
highly fcented than the breezes of Ara~ 
bia; he carried a tuft of the whicef 
down of the {wan in one hand, and in 
the other, a {mall iron inttrument, heat- 
ed red-hot, which he brandifhed in the 
air.. It was with infinite concern, I be-~ 
held the Graces bound at-the foot of the 
throne, and obliged to officiate, as hand- 
maids, under the direction of thefe two 
officers. .I now began to enquire, by 
what laws this queen governed her fub- 
jeéts, but foon found her adminitration 
was that of the moft arbitrary tyrant 
ever known. Her laws are exaétly the 
reverfe of thofe of the Medes and Per- 
fians ; for they are changed every day, 
and every hour; and what makes the: 
matter itill more perplexing, they are 
in no written code, nor even made pub- 
lic by proclamation ; they are only pro-- 
muigated by whifpers, an obfcure fign, 
or turn of the eye, which thofe only, 
who have the happinefs to ftand near 
the queen, can catch with any degree 
of precifion, yet the {malleft tranferef- 
fion of the laws is feverely punifhed, not 
indeed by fines or tinprifonment, but 
by a fort of interdict fimilar to thar 
which, in fuperftitious times, was laid by 
the Pope on difobedient princes, and which 
operated in fuch a manner, that no one 
would eat, drink, or affociate with the for- 
lorn culprit; and he was. almoft deprived 
of the ufe of fire and water. This dif- 
ficulty of difcovering the will of the 
goddefs occafioned fo much crowding to 
be near the throne, fuch joftling and 
elbowing one another, thar I was glad to 
retire, and obferve what I could among 
_ the fcattered crowd: and the firft) thing 
I took notice of, was various inftruments 
of torture which every where met my 
eyes. ‘Torture has, in moft other go. 
vernments of Europe, been abolifhed by 
the 




















