A COUNTRY BALLITOL Jonibe to nonE LOS Junctæque Nymphis Gratiæ decentes, A SHORT time since I received an invitation to spend a few days with a friend in the country, and was puzzled to account for the unusual attention. On my arrival at his house, through which a happy bustle and gay confusion seemed to prevail, the mystery was speedily unravelled. I was shewn into the drawing-room, where various symptoms of ap proaching smartness were discoverable. A parcel of white gloves strewed the table, a gay bodice was suspended on a skreen, and scraps of satin and net remained on the carpet, to prove that recent altera tions had been made in the evening paraphernalia. To the uninitiated some of these appearances might have been less intelligible; but I have five sisters above sixteen; and a man so circumstanced has knowledge "thrust upon him." I felt a strong internal persuasion that a ball was approaching, and my hostess speedily confirmed my suspicions, by in-. forming me that there was to be an assembly that very night at a neighbouring town. She had scarcely had time to make this communication ere a message summoned her to the privy council above, where the young ladies of the family were "reasoning high I could imagine the eager converse that was there carrying on, and I fancied I heard distant murmurs of that concert of tongues produced by the habit peculiar to females of all talking at once on an interesting sub-e ject. I caught occasional glimpses of smiling girls who came into the drawing-room on some important errand, and who cast favouring glances on me as if the joys we were going to participate created a bonds of amicable union between us. One pretty creature was stripping.ca myrtle of its branches; some of her companions were practising quasq drilles in the library, from whence they had dislodged their half-smiling, half-frowning father; and a delicate girl of about eighteen was con-it ducted to a sofa, "magnâ comitante catervá," and obliged by the strong arm of power to lie down and preserve her strength and spirits for the voluntary fatigues of the evening. This fragile plant, whose name was Caroline, and a sister called Anna, two years her junior, were going to t their first ball-the former having been kept in longer than usual by dean licate health, and the latter being forced out sooner than the law directs by the irresistible and demoralizing power of the approaching assembly. I soon caught the spirit of my party, and positively longed for the evening; yes! I, who go to at least thirty balls in the three spring months, was really impatient for the pleasures of a country assembly. But, then, the bright faces of my young companions their gay prophecies, and eager anticipations; their spirits foaming over into the most sparkling mirth; their choruses of ringing laughter; their steps buoyant as if they already heard the music of the orchestra ; these were all very different notes of preparation from the languid tones in which I had been accustomed to hear the evening's dance discussed, from those assurances that "it will be stupid, and that it will not be necessary to go before eleven or twelve," which damp all ardour, and create a slight sensation of self-contempt, by proving that it is to Fashion not Pleasure we are about to sacrifice. The two debutantes yielded most reluctantly to the somewhat more phlegmatic arrangements of the rest of the party. A female cousin of theirs, indeed, who had had the misfortune of spending half a season in London, and whose opinions, touching dress and quadrille steps, usually carried the weight of a Papal decree, proposed setting out at half past ten; but the monstrous suggestion roused a general outcry, the oracle of fashion lost all its power, and the carriages were ordered at nine o'clock. Dinner was no sooner concluded I imagine, by than Caroline and Anna retired to their toilets, led thithe more rapidity. a hope that time spent in preparation would pass with more rapidity. Fanny, their eldest sister, followed them-followed to assist is ha fotoitudegli o In that adornment, tasteful, rare, safond bei enoit oved band, alden Which makes the mighty magnet, set is a to smos sybolwood ev Intwoman's form, more mighty yet." ataja ovit This sweet-looking Fanny interested me much: though young, and gay, and pretty enough to enjoy the approaching pleasure on her own ac count, it was of her sisters only that she seemed to think; her time, her taste, her ornaments, were all at their service; her wishes, her ambition, seemed for them; her cheeks glowed with delight when she heard them praised; her eyes kindled when she looked upon them, and every smile on their countenances was immediately reflected by hers. We were to be a party of twelve, nine of whom were dancers; and my hostess delighted to reckon our numbers, and appeared to estimate her importance in the field of battle by the strength of her detachment. Few can be ignorant of the confusion necessarily attendant on a general sacrifice to the Graces. On the present occasion I was not a little amused by the bustle going on around me, by the contention of bells and tongues, the entreaties for assistance, the messages conveyed from room to room, the mingled notes of mirth, impatience, excitement, and vexation. Now, as a door suddenly opened, I heard sounds of commiseration excited by a torn glove: now came murmurs because those important auxiliaries, the curling irons, did not possess the property of ubiquity, and ever and anon were shouts of young laughter springing from hearts light enough to transform even annoyance into merriment. At length the ceremony was completed, and we all met in the drawingroom to look at one another till the proper moment for departure. My hostess was a very beautiful woman, evidently vain of her person, and fond of dress. She would probably have been ridiculous from excess, of vanity, had she not had three pretty daughters to draw off the exuberant supply. Children sometimes change their parents' defects into graces. Pride, vanity, ambition, covetousness, appear very different qualities when felt for our offspring, and yet they are scarcely less selfish than when felt for ourselves. There was an old lady, my host Mr. L.'s mother, who appeared to take great interest in the amusement and attire of the young people. Unable to accompany us to the scene of action, she joined, however, with the spirit of youth in all our hopes and wishes. She rubbed her spectacles bright, and desired that a table, with candles, might be placed near her arm-chair. Then she'called each of the girls to her in succession, made them stoop while she examined the decorations of their heads, '1 then felt the texture of their dresses, and ended by a kind kiss, by expressions of fond approval, wishes for pleasant partners, and cautions against taking cold. I was pleased by the demeanour of the gay, blooming girls as they stood before the old lady; their giddiness and vivacity subsiding under the influence of that fond respect and holy tenderness which virtuous old age inspires. Caroline and Anna looked half-ashamed of their unaccustomed smartness, blushed and smiled from a mingled feeling of bashfulness and pleasure-now practised a quadrille step to try the steadiness of the flowery wreaths in their hairnow murmured at the dilatoriness of the coachmen-and now whispered to each other some sentence of impatience or wonder. To me there is something in the dancing enthusiasm of extreme youth which disarms ridicule. At length we set out, and in due course of time passed over the four miles that intervened between us and happiness, and entered that inn in the town of S., which was dignified by the occasional appropriation of its largest room, to the partial satisfaction of the dancing appetites of the neighbourhood. In this apartment, indeed, other weighty transactions took place here were held meetings of justices, of reformers, of Bible societies;-here learning, patriotism, and piety, first talked and afterwards ate;-here half a score of persons would sometimes yawn during a lecture on Astronomy, and sometimes five times as many would laugh at an indifferent juggler. The decorations of this saloon were few and faded, its crimson curtains were dingy, its benches wanted new cushions, and the busts of George the Third and Lord Chatham, which stood upon the chimney-piece, looked grim from the smoke of coals and tobacco. At the end of the room were two ponderous crimson and gold chairs, prepared many years back in case of a visit from any of the royal family, and which continued to stand in patient readiness for the improbable distinction. In the small ante-room adjoining this apartment, we paid for our tickets, while the ladies disrobed themselves of shawls and wrappers. I asked Fanny to dance, she declined on the plea of being uncertain whether she should feel disposed to join in the exercise, but the pleased sparkle of her eye when she saw me transfer my petition to Caroline, convinced me that she had gained her end, by securing a partner to her sister. We entered the ball-room, and spent some time in parading up and down, greeting acquaintance, staring at strangers, criticising beauty, and examining dress. I heard sundry enquiries after the health and growth of children, and of shrubberies, complaints of servants and of pointers, long accounts of colds in the head and parties to dinner, lamentations over the snow and the low prices, speculations about partners, sarcasms upon those of the second set of townspeople, who had ventured to intrude among their betters, and earnest wishes for the arrival of a noble family who resided in the neighbourhood, in order that the daughter of a newly created baronet might be prevented from opening the ball. At length the room was sufficiently furnished with beaux to permit the commencement of dancing: the master of the ceremonies began to bustle and exhort, introductions and engagements took place in all directions, murmurs of "May I have the honour," and "I shall be very happy," floated around; a few detached couples took their places, indicating the site of the approaching quadrille, the musicians scraped with fresh vehemence, and discord told that harmony was coming. "Nunc, nunc, properate puellæ.” When the longed-for moment had arrived, Caroline's ardour for dancing appeared to be considerably diminished; she took her place with a timid and almost a faltering step, and seemed to fear that every eye was upon her. The needless flutterings, the ready blushes, the inexplicable apprehensions, the becoming awkwardnesses of a debutante, are to me infinitely interesting. Half a season in London puts them to flight for ever; in their stead we have elegance, self-possession, dignity, fashion-these are all excellent things, but I like them better at fiveand-twenty than at eighteen. My partner's style of dancing was quiet and unobtrusive, but it pleased my taste better than the consequential ease and unimpeachable precision of her London cousin. The latter, however, excited much admiration and surprise; spectators accumulated round her quadrille, and whispers concerning the incalculable advantages of town instruction passed from parent to parent, each of whom made some reservation in favour of her own daughter's less elaborate performance. In the course of the evening we had several country-dances, for the accommodation of those elderly ladies and grave gentlemen, who were too wise or too stiff to venture into the mazes of a quadrille. I was amused by the indemnifying vivacity which the girls and boys infused into the old-fashioned dances, the unauthorized frequency of the turns in the poussette, the down-the-middle prolonged to the very end of the room, the unrestrained chat which was carried on during the vulgar ease of this saturnalia. I am speaking, however, of only the younger and more rustic of the company; some there were, sufficiently fashionable to feel the degrading nature of their employment, and who moved through the plebeian dance with an air of languor and weariness, highly creditable to their taste. Miss B. in particular, the dancer of transcendant skill, looked on contemptuously, and refused to join in the base deviation from London practice, pleading in excuse that she did not remember the figures. She appealed to me on the subject, supposing that I should be capable of entering into her feelings; she inveighed, also, against the music, and lights, and refreshments; was almost fainting for want of ice, and quite surprised that there was no waltzing. In me, however, she found a sorry comforter; I was in a humour to be pleased with every thing, ready for the Boulanger, or Sir Roger de Coverley, had my young companions so decreed; willing to dance every dance, and to make myself useful and agreeable. I certainly lost an excellent opportunity of distinguishing myself as a fine gentleman, on a stage where the character would have excited considerable attention and surprise. I aspired, however, to no higher distinction than being considered a pleasant partner, and wished for by half-a-dozen nice girls at the next ball. The love of dancing grows by what it feeds on; and its presiding goddess requires to be propitiated by two or three hours' attention before she will inspire her votaries with all her raptures. After twelve o'clock animation increased; and as the hour of separation approached, as ma trons began to nod, and their husbands to complain, the daughters grew more and more eager, and danced with more energetic delight. The slight refreshments of tea and biscuits (all which the parsimony of the managers afforded them) acted on their excitable spirits with the effect of sparkling Champagne. With Caroline and Anna it was evidently so, whilst in their enjoyment there appeared no mixture of gratified vanity. Their aim was not conquest, but pleasure; not lovers, but partners; and to sit still inflicted no wound on their pride. At length watches began to start ominously from their fobs, old-fashioned repeaters were held by old-fashioned papas to the recoiling ears of murmuring daughters, shawls and sighs wandered round the room, petitions, arguments, rebellion, were in vain; in vain young men, urged by young women, commanded the musicians to proceed, a Stentorian voice issued a contrary mandate; might prevailed over right, the violins ceased, a general groan succeeded, adieux were exchanged, carriages were announced, and the ball was over. Of the drive home I can give no description; neither will I attempt to relate the conversation of the morrow's breakfast; we fought the battle o'er again and again, we all had faces, dresses, flirtations to describe, oddities to quiz, partners to praise or decry, adventures to relate, mistakes to deplore. Caroline and Anna much lamented that they had forgotten to introduce into a quadrille the new steps which their London cousin had taught them; they lamented, too, that the name of one pleasant partner had escaped them; and that the eyes of another were not now before them to decide a dispute about their colour. Other lamentations I heard not, all was bright and gay in their recollections; and when I left them five days after the important evening, their pleasure in talking of its events seemed yet undiminished. I doubt not that even now a day scarcely passes without two or three allusions to the happy December night; jokes then born will live as long as the light hearts whose merriment created them; scenes and persons then beheld will cling to the memory when later and more important events are forgotten; time will bestow a fictitious charm on all that then occurred; and the grandchildren of my young friends will hear of this country ball as something indescribably delightful, and far surpassing any thing they have themselves beheld, will hear of me perhaps as a perfect hero of romance, to whom the youths of 1860 can bear no comparison. E. SONNET. CHIDE not, Aruna, that to thee no more My rhymes of homage and affection flow; The mould of verse within my brain is broken. The subtle music, that was wont of yore T'accompany the inspired spirits glow, Hath ceased. Its latest words my Muse has spoken Its task fulfill'd, and leaving me so blest Y. |