than the other, and so called because cotillions are then danced, for which the parties go into regular training. I attended the dress-ball and found the spectacle nearly as brilliant as any thing of the kind can be in this country. The magic of such a scene in France surpasses all description. The benefit-ball of the master of the ceremonies (a lucrative job) could boast of twelve hundred “fashionables.” So minute or contemptible is their attention to money matters at these assemblies, that six pence is exacted from each person, on entering, for the tea which is furnished. Besides the balls there are in the course of the week two public concerts and three performances at the theatre. The latter admits about a thousand persons and is fitted up with great taste and elegance. The pride of birth and wealth is gratified as well here as in the theatres of the metropolis, by private boxes ornamented with silk or damask curtains, and by "loges grillées" (E. will explain the term) for those who wish to enjoy the representation in an undress. The actors are of the highest repute. I was induced to visit the theatre twice in order to witness the performance of Master Betty, of whom we formerly read so much in the newspapers. My expectation was naturally raised to the highest pitch by the renown of the young Roscius. All England had flocked to the exhibitions of his premature genius, and celebrated his transcendent excellence. He is now but eighteen and has already amassed a fortune of 30,000 pounds. I saw him in the parts of Rolla and Percy, and was thoroughly satisfied of the egregious "cullibility" of the British public. Imagine a tall awkward with a chubby unmeaning face, and a voice most disgustingly harsh and unmusical, bellowing and strutting on the stage, and you have a true picture of this spoiled child of Fortune, who has been so generally compared, nay, even preferred to Garrick. His sole merit appeared to me to be a correct conception of his part, which, however, his total want of ear, altogether disqualified him from declaiming with propriety. He may have been better in his outset, but I shall always be of opinion, that any lively intelligent boy at school, would succeed as well, if instructed with equal care. He no longer appears in the capital, but wanders among the country theatres, collecting tribute from audiences which must from fashion, affect to be in an ecstasy of delight and admiration. His friends mean to place him at the university of Cambridge to finish his education. Public gardens constitute an essential appendage to a city whose staple commodity is pleasure. Whatever deference may be due to the established habits of the metropolis, I cannot but think, that, instead of looking for Euphrosyne "the fair queen of smiles and gladness" amid the pressure or the suffocation of a masquerade, we should rather, in the month of May, seek for her "in the bowers of Valclusa" or along the myrtle borders of Arno." Bath can boast of scenes not less captivating in her Sydney Gardens, which lie at the extremity of the principal street, and comprise, within the compass of many acres, all that can be desired of "rural haunts, deep umbrage, blooms and odors." I was fortunate enough to be in the neighbourhood, when the harmonic society gave their annual fête champetre to the ladies of Bath and Bristol. It took place in Sydney Gardens; and as such entertainments are unknown to us in the United States I shall beg leave to offer a sketch of this. As soon as fifteen hundred tickets were issued to the bon ton, the weather became an object of great solicitude, and if many prayers were preferred, they were attended to, for there could not have been a finer day for the purpose. About eleven o'clock in the morning, the company to the number above stated, collected in the garden, and found under bowers decorated with all the flowers of spring and distributed in the most picturesque manner, tables spread out for breakfast, loaded with every delicacy suited to such a repast. A numerous orchestra was performing the best morceau of Hayden and Handel, at the entrance, and bands were stationed in different parts. Among the rest a regimental selection of wind instruments the finest in England. Tea, coffee, and chocolate were plentifully served, without the smallest confusion, and it was difficult not to enjoy the repast, while you were at the same time, regaled with soft music, polite conversation, and all the gay verdure and delightful freshness of the gardens. The business of wandering was then resumed, and I cannot paint in colors too lively the interest which these scenes were calculated to impart. Five or six hundred women, richly attired, with the roseate hue so peculiar to the complexion of English beauties mixing indiscriminately with as many gentlemen, conversing with freedom, and inspiring the confidence and good humour which they seemed to feel, more than realized Burgoyne's descriptions in his "maid of the oaks;" and assimilated this fête, as nearly to the wild creations of his fancy as any meeting I have ever witnessed. At half past one, the tables were again crowded with ices, and cooling drinks served in good order and great abundance. The signal was soon after given for the dancing to commence. When the garden was planned, a large circle was marked out and destined for this purpose. The spot was most romantic; almost moated by a "babbling brook" and overhung with oak and ash. Here the throng soon appeared either ranged along the boundary-lines, stretched on the green banks, or scated in arbours erected for the occasion. The young girls and boys fancifully dressed were blended with the bells and beaux who engaged in the country dances; the beauty of the weather, and the picturesque appearance of the whole group, threw an air of enchantment over the scene, and made me repeat with rapture the lines of Collins which you well recollect: "They would have thought, who heard the strain "To some unwearied minstrel dancing, &c. About four o'clock the entertainment finished. The intellectual eye takes a wider range, on such occasions, than the passing scene; and my recollection was busy, in tracing similar festivities which I had witnessed in the woods of St. Germaine, and on the banks of the Loire. I was called back to the spot, where Goldsmith was " the rude minstrel" of many a gay, simple group and where I have seen the same display of character, and contemplated the same rural diversions, that he so feelingly describes in his Traveller. I found that the leading traits of character by which a people is distinguished, that the constitutions of nature are not to be fundamentally affected by any external influence, and could survive the fury of any political revolution. My observation has led me to conclude that the peasant or the inhabitant of the country of whatever class, in France, is now what he was before the subversion of the monarchy; and in this opinion, I was fortified in viewing the villagers, on the Sunday evening, after the devotions of the day, dancing on the green, for many hours in succession with all the recorded gayety, the simple merriment, and rustic courtesy of earlier times, and forgetful of the past, and careless of the future, unsubdued by the terrors of the conscription, and triumphing by the force of native vivacity, over the gloomy genius of a military despotism. It is not true, as is often asserted, and but too generally believed, that the charities of social life are forgotten among them, and the qualities of the heart almost extinct. The former may have been suspended and the latter impaired in the tempest of their revolution, but every stranger knows that nowhere is there at this moment more of " the milk of human kindness." Doubtless you are by this time surfeited with Bath. Let me, then, shift the scene, and unfold the modish drama of London, where I returned on the 23d May to engage in the same social and literary pursuits which circumstances had compelled me to intermit. On this theatre all is show and bustle, sage trick, and faux brilliant, a mere pantomime with many seducements for the imagination, but no gratifications for the heart. The succession of new faces in the world of fashion produces such an effect upon the mind, as do the images reflected by the camera obscura on the various classes of a long procession. The recollection of the one is banished by the presence of the other, and all are ultimately forgotten or indiscriminately remembered. I abandon the country with reluctance, and must halt for one moment, to renew my exclamations of delight at the beauties which it now exhibits. I do not think we can be said to understand the pleasures of a country life, ne more than we can witness the magical effects of agricultural labours perfecting the rough draught of Nature. Here "Dressed by their hand, the wood and valley smile, And Spring diffusive, decks th' enchanted isle." In the metropolis, there are three consecutive months, of which this is the last, particularly allotted to the intercourse and divertissements of the great: a hallowed quarter, selected by all those who can afford to migrate from a rustic home, and during which all the woodland-noblesse and opulent squires figure in the capital. They make their periodical entrée with great pomp, but many a “sir Francis Wronghead” is forced to make a silent retreat, and do penance during the rest of the year for the vanity of his own hopes, and the ambition of his "good lady." There were, in times past, at Athens, annual meetings of all the inhabitants of Attica, for the purpose of celebrating games, and solemnizing certain rites in honour of the goddess of Wisdom. These great festivals bore some affinity, but I cannot undertake to say, that they served as models, to that of which I am about to speak. As there is a special term, so there is a peculiar space assigned for the recreations of the haut-ton. The west end is the Olympus; and as none but of divine race could sit at the tables of the gods, a like exclusion obtains here. There are some exceptions, it is true, some favoured mortals, some subaltern divinities created; but, in general, the interdict extends to all who reside beyond certain limits, to the merchant, the son of the merchant, the physician and the lawyer, unless of the first eminence. The city dame may give routs to her neighbours; contract a noble acquaintance or two, dash in Hyde Park, and display her jewels at the opera; but to have her claim generally acknowledged is quite impossible; the boast of heraldry eclipses the splendor of wealth, and she is at length compelled to relinquish her pretensions in despair. It is well that the term of fashionable existence does not extend beyond three lunar revolutions; otherwise it would be too much for any human constitution. A distinguished member of the haut-ton has to attend to five or six engagements a night, on an average, and has but a few hours to dedicate to sleep in the middle of the vulgar day. Concerts, routs, balls, converzationés dejeunés, dinners, &c. constitute the private amusements, and for these invitations are emitted about a month or three weeks beforehand. I shall beg leave to give you the outlines of a rout, the most usual and stylish entertainment. I accompanied Mr. P. to one given by the marchioness of L at her man sion in Berkely Square, on the first of June, and as it was the most brilliant of the kind, shall select for description. We went at an early hour, (near midnight) and found five spacious saloons, on one floor, open for the reception of company and illuminated "in the most tasteful manner." The library, the most extensive and magnificent octagon in England, without books, it is true, but adorned with statuary estimated at twelve thousand guineas, was hung with small lamps, reflecting the light of day. We were, for an hour, occupied in gazing, and conversing with those whom we knew, when the crowd began to appear. You never think of being seated on these occasions, as you rarely remain more than half an hour, being supposed to have many other engagements on hand. There is no ceremony, and can be none, on entering and going out. We were desirous of paying our respects to the marchioness, but could not discover her; the marquis did not make his appearance: if the husband do show himself it is only as a stranger. At length the rooms were completely filled; in such a manner as almost to preclude locomotion. The heat and squeeze became exceedingly irksome, and then the entertainment reached the summit of its excellence. I was wedged, by accident, next to the prince of Wales, and for fifteen minutes, was content to listen to a panegyric on the merits of a horse, which he was pronouncing with much energy, to the earl of Suffolk. Two of his royal brothers, and "all the rank and fashion" of the west end, were present. The whole number was from a thousand to fifteen hundred. Refreshments were placed on tables at the end of one of the apartments, but were not thought of. About two, we made our way through the crowd, and proceeded on foot to the carriage, which it is sometimes extremely difficult to reach. Such is a rout-an amusement that sets all the world in motion. In order to be completely apart, the aristocracy of fashion have created an establishment, called the Argyle-street institution, of a peculiar nature, and strikingly illustrative of the spirit by which they are animated. Finding that the high prices of the great opera did not keep the bourgeois at a proper distance, they resolved to have a body of amusements under their own guidance, and conducted upon a rigid system of exclusion. An association was formed for this purpose, regulated by the maxim of admitting no persons as subscribers, who were not of the first fashion. From among the peeresses of high rank was chosen a certain number of "lady patronesses" to whose severe scrutiny the name of every aspirante must be submitted through the medium of a member. This plan, aided by a subscription enormous ly dear, has succeeded, and the elect, the elletti and elegantissimi, to use the Italian terms in vogue, now meet together once a fortnight, without any other alloy than that of stranger to whom a ticket isocc asionally VOL. III. T |