this high condescension:-for you well know, mamma, that Maria is accounted a perfect beauty. I was the more confirmed in my supposition at noticing, that the next lady presented, the Countess Dowager of Esslington, received no salute of this nature:-no honey was extracted from her blooming countenance. The dowager simpered, flirted her fan and feathers with all the skill and ease of a court veteran; but not all her endeavours could obtain an admiring look, or bring forth a sigh. Indeed, an apathy, a little inclining to impatience, was shewn to get rid of her for some other object of a younger and more beauteous appearance. As we returned to our carriage, I could not help reflecting on the richness of the treat which our -must enjoy, in thus reviewing the beauties of the nation, in such delicious alternation! A review of soldiers-or a naval fight—are not half so attractive in their charms, as those which our sex bring forward in rotation at these drawing-room exhibitions. What a collection of fine paintings to furnish a connoisseur's museum! CHAPTER VI. Fashion is a game which is play'd by all; Next come a train of ranks of all degrees; Until the catalogue of folly stops Full on the blushing girl,-just then escaped The sickly prison of a nursery, Smelling, as Byron says, of bread and butter !" THE AGE.-A MASK. EXTRACT. TO MRS. MANNERS, FROM JULIA. I HAVE begun to think that "going out" promises not such felicity and pleasure as I first imagined. It is too often repeated to carry the same zest and freshness of enjoyment with it, as when it is confined within sober bounds. People, however, make the best of their time when in town, and having only the possession of three months at furthest, they hurry to each other's houses in order not to lose any part of the time allotted to their stay. This accounts for the excessive number of assemblies given nightly. I visited, or rather looked in, upon five in the course of one evening. No wonder, therefore, with such hard duty, we rise in the morning with heavy eyes and jaded spirits. "Lord Eglinton grows fonder of me every day; but takes umbrage at the notice I bestow on Captain Clanmer. His lordship wonders "what I can discern in the Captain to cause this admiration of him.' He is a useful beau; nor have I been to a party where he has been absent; indeed, he is intimate with every fashionable at the west end. At one assembly I saw Mrs. Clanmer as well as the Captain's sister. He intro duced them to me and Maria. I found Mrs. Clanmer was an adept in the art of flattery; "my sweet girl," "my charming dear Miss Sagittarius," issued from her lips every instant, to my great annoyance, for I dislike such foolish repetitions of terms that are disgusting of themselves. Maria however thinks that Mrs. Clanmer is an artful and intriguing woman, disguising her real sentiments under the mask of affection. Miss Clanmer is a pretty girl, and possesses all the simplicity which her mamma only feigns. No one can tell the precise amount of their income. Mrs. Clanmer has an excellent house in Montague Square; gives dinner parties; balls and assemblies, with the same punctuality as her acquaintance. The cry is, how she manages to do this upon 500l. per annum. The Captain maintains himself in a style suitable to the rank he holds in the Guards. How therefore can people imagine them to possess only this limit |