CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. 1 39 



tracted contest find that they have caught a tartar. 

 The company look on, all parties deeply sympathiz- 

 ing, and the young are, at last, obliged to acknowl- 

 edge themselves vanquished. 



The reel is the offspring of the genuine love of 

 dancing. There are none of the auxiliary motives 

 to learn its movements. No room for the gratifica- 

 tion of vanity in the display of graceful motion ; no 

 prurient fancy to be gratified by the privilege of 

 encircling the waist of a handsome girl, and feeling 

 her tresses kiss your cheek at every step she takes 

 in the whirl of the voluptuous waltz, or in the lasciv- 

 ious movements of the Schottisch, which we once 

 heard a friend blunderingly, but happily, call a 

 Sottise, It Is a scene of perpetual motion and good 

 humor. No solemn face may venture on it ; for 

 laughter, gay and unconcerned, is its proper accom- 

 paniment. No soft nothings can here be whispered, 

 for the duties of the dance require your constant 

 attention ; no graceful insouciance can be tolerated, 

 for the comfort and happiness of others depend ab- 

 solutely upon your own good behavior, no less 

 than upon theirs. Many persons, thinking it too 

 fatiguing, have fancied that the Virginia reel might 

 be a happy substitute for it. But this is long and 

 languid. It is like diluted spirits substituted for pure 

 champagne. It languished, and, in the phrase of an 

 indictment, languishingly did live, until, at last, it 

 died of its own stupidity. 



