188 CASTING ACCOUNTS. "How much do you think?" 66 'Fifty thousand dollars at least; and, now that he has succeeded in England, he will make a great deal more.” "How much do you suppose he makes tonight ?" "Let us count the boxes, and I will tell you in an instant. Have you got a piece of paper and a lead pencil ?" 66 I won't stay here either," said my friend. "Let us see whether we cannot find a place up stairs. When these fellows once begin to talk about money, they are not likely soon to change their conversation: and, besides, I can only stay another act; I have a particular reason for being early at Mrs. * * *ʼs.” I willingly consented to the proposition; and, the first act being over, accompanied my friend to the second tier of boxes. This time we took our seats among a set of people evidently "from the Western country," from the natural sagacity of whose remarks my friend and I anticipated a great deal of amusement. They seemed to be in the best humour; and, FOREST AND RICE CONTRASTED. 189 though somewhat noisy, (for they looked upon the theatre with little more deference than upon a public-house, and "upon the fun that's going on there" in the light of "an election spree,") enjoyed the play better than the people of fashion who had congregated to endorse the opinion of the British public. I had not, however, much time to listen to them, as I had promised to meet a friend at half-past eight; but the little I heard satisfied me that, much as they liked Forest, they loved Rice more,—the latter being, after all," the real genuine nigger, the very bringing down of whose foot was worth the price of a ticket.” CHAPTER V. - Description of an American Rout. A Flirtation.-The Floor kept by the same Set of Dancers. Fashionable Characters.-An Unfortunate Girl at a Party.- Inquiry instituted in her Behalf.-Anecdote of two Fashionable Young Ladies at Nahant.- Aristocratic Feelings of the Americans carried Abroad.-Anecdotes.-Reflections on the Manners of the Higher Classes.-Anecdotes illustrative of Western Politeness and Hospitality. - Kentucky Hospitality.-Hypocrisy of the Higher Orders of Americans.-Aristocracy in Churches.-An American Aristocrat compared to Shylock.-A Millionnaire.-Two Professional Men. - Stephen Gerard. A Gentleman of Norman Extraction.-Different Methods resorted to for procuring Ancestors.-American and the English contrasted.-A Country Representative.-Method of making him desert his Principles.-Political Synonyms.-Contempt for Democracy. Expectations of the American Aristocracy.-Objections to Waltzing.-Announcement of Supper. Imperial Waltz! imported from the Rhine, And hock itself be less esteem'd than thee !" BYRON. It was half-past ten when I made my appearance at Mrs. ***'s "rout." The rooms AN AMERICAN FLIRTATION. 191 were richly decorated, and the company in excellent spirits. My friend had already arrived, and was talking to a young lady in one of the corners of the dancing-room; which was called "a desperate flirtation," inasmuch as the young lady appeared to be past sixteen, and not yet twenty, and the gentleman in circumstances which enabled him to support a wife. Similar flirtations were going on in other parts of the room; the married ladies being seated on benches or settees near the walls, and acting, if not as judges, at least as recorders of the events. The music, consisting chiefly of clarionets, flutes, and horns, was stationed to great advantage in the entry; leaving not only more room for the dancers in the parlour, but softening also the harmony of sounds by the greater distance. The ladies, especially those who danced, were, in point of dress, the exact copies of the patterns issued weekly in the French metropolis; and the gentlemen, though apparently timid in the presence of so many beauties, looked, nevertheless, sufficiently smart and enterprising for men of business. 192 AMERICAN DANCERS. I looked for a while on the group of dancers, in hopes of perceiving some slight variation, but was not a little annoyed by seeing continually the same figures and the same dancers. I afterwards communicated my surprise to my friend, but was told that I was in a fashionable house, in which none but fashionable young ladies and gentlemen could be expected" to have the floor;" and that if, from courtesy, some other people had been invited, it was expected they would have sufficient good sense not to obtrude themselves on the notice of the company, and least of all to make themselves conspicuous by joining in a quadrille or a waltz. "There are," added he, "some dozen of young girls here dying to show their steps,' but none of the fashionable young men would risk his standing in society by bringing them out; and, as for the young men of neither family nor wealth, who are only asked because they are relations of the house, (a custom which is by no means general in the United States,) they know their place too well to be guilty of such an impropriety. |