P. for Frome.
[Illustration: Bag-Wig.]
Here is a picture of an ordinary man; by no means can he be regarded as
a beau. He is wearing a common bag-wig, dating back to about the middle
of the eighteenth century. The style is modified to suit an individual
taste, and for one who did not follow the extreme fashion of his time.
In this example may be observed the sausage curls over the ear, and the
frizziness over the forehead.
We have directed attention to the large periwigs, and given a portrait
of the Earl of Albemarle wearing one. In the picture of the House of
Commons in the time of Sir Robert Walpole we get an excellent indication
of how popular the periwig was amongst the lawmakers of the land.
Farquhar, in a comedy called "Love and a Bottle," brought out in 1698,
says, "A full wig is imagined to be as infallible a token of wit as the
laurel."
Tillotson is usually regarded as the first amongst the English clergy to
adopt the wig. He said in one of his sermons: "I can remember since the
wearing of hair below the ears was looked upon as a sin of the first
magnitude, and when ministers generally, whatever their text was, did
either find or make occasion to reprove the great sin of long hair; and
if they saw any one in the congregation guilty in that kind, they would
point him out particularly, and let fly at him with great zeal.
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