It was now, therefore, that he commenced the profession of a beau, and
as he is the Prince of Beaux, as his patron was the Beau of Princes, and
as his fame has spread to France and Germany, if only as the inventor of
the trouser; and as there is no man who on getting up in the morning
does not put on his clothes with more or less reflection as to whether
they are the right ones to put on, and as beaux have existed since the
days of the emperor of beaux, Alexander the Macedonian, and will
probably exist to all time, let us rejoice in the high honour of being
permitted to describe how this illustrious genius clothed his poor
flesh, and made the most of what God had given him--a body and legs.

The private life of Brummell would in itself serve as a book of manners
and habits. The two were his profoundest study; but, alas! his impudence
marred the former, and the latter can scarcely be imitated in the
present day. Still as a great example he is yet invaluable, and must be
described in all detail.

His morning toilette was a most elaborate affair. Never was Brummell
guilty of _déshabille_. Like a true man of business, he devoted the best
and earliest hours--and many of them too--to his profession, namely--
dressing. His dressing-room was a studio, in which he daily prepared
that elaborate portrait of George Brummell which was to be exhibited for
a few hours in the club-rooms and drawing-rooms of town, only to be
taken to pieces again, and again made up for the evening. Charles I.
delighted to resort of a morning to the studio of Vandyck, and to watch
his favourite artist's progress. The Regent George was no less devoted
to art, for we are assured by Mr. Raikes that he often visited his
favourite beau in the morning to watch his toilet, and would sometimes
stay so late that he would send his horses away, insisting on Brummell