That extensive district of park land, the entrances of which are in
Piccadilly and Oxford Street, was far more rural in appearance in 1815
than at the present day. Under the trees cows and deer were grazing;
the paths were fewer and none told of that perpetual tread of human
feet which now destroys all idea of country charms and illusions. As
you gazed from an eminence, no rows of monotonous houses reminded you
of the vicinity of a large city, and the atmosphere of Hyde Park was
then much more like what God has made it than the hazy, gray,
coal-darkened half-twilight of the London of to-day. The company which
then congregated daily about five, was composed of dandies and women in
the best society; the men mounted on such horses as England alone could
then produce. The dandy's dress consisted of a blue coat with brass
buttons, leather breeches, and top boots; and it was the fashion to
wear a deep, stiff white cravat, which prevented you from seeing your
boots while standing. All the world watched Brummell to imitate him,
and order their clothes of the tradesman who dressed that sublime
dandy. One day a youthful beau approached Brummell and said, "Permit
me to ask you where you get your blacking?" "Ah!" replied Brummell,
gazing complacently at his boots, "my blacking positively ruins me. I
will tell you in confidence; it is made with the finest champagne!"
Many of the ladies used to drive into the park in a carriage called a
vis-a-vis, which held only two persons. The hammer-cloth, rich in
heraldic designs, the powdered footmen in smart liveries, and a
coachman who assumed all the gaiety and appearance of a wigged
archbishop, were indispensable. The equipages were generally much more
gorgeous than at a later period, when democracy invaded the parks, and
introduced what may be termed a "brummagem society," with
shabby-genteel carriages and servants. The carriage company consisted
of the most celebrated beauties, amongst whom were remarked the
Duchesses of Rutland, Argyle, Gordon, and Bedford, Ladies Cowper,
Foley, Heathcote, Louisa Lambton, Hertford, and Mountjoy. The most
conspicuous horsemen were the Prince Regent (accompanied by Sir
Benjamin Bloomfield); the Duke of York and his old friend, Warwick
Lake; the Duke of Dorset, on his white horse; the Marquis of Anglesea,
with his lovely daughters; Lord Harrowby and the Ladies Ryder; the Earl
of Sefton and the Ladies Molyneux; and the eccentric Earl of Moreton on
his long-tailed grey. In those days "pretty horsebreakers" would not
have dared to show themselves in Hyde Park; nor did you see any of the
lower or middle classes of London intruding themselves in regions
which, with a sort of tacit understanding, were then given up
exclusively to persons of rank and fashion.