CHAPTEK XVIII. 



The Social Life of Nassau. Society Pervaded by Natural Chrystalizing 

 Laics. English Forms and Titles losll Rooted. Citizens of the Great Repub- 

 lic AmMtiotcs to Mix and Mingle in High-toned Society. Social Gaycties — • 

 Picnics and Balls, Wine and Waltzing, the " Soicnd of Revelry at Night." 

 Highways Made and Repaired to Accommodate the Victims of a too Geyierous 

 Hospitality. A Governor tcho Appreciates the Dance, and does not Under- 

 estimate the Value of His Titles. A Doctor of Divinity Made Happy. In 

 What Places Hospitality is Indigenoics. 



"Fill the bright goblet ; spread the festive board; 

 Summon the gay, the noble and the fair ; 

 Let mirth and music sound the dirge of care, 

 But ask thou not if happiness be there — 

 Lift not the festal maslj !"— W. Soott. 



The social life of a people cannot but be a matter of absorb- 

 ing interest to the stranger, even if lie does not acquiesce in the 

 sentiment of the poet, who affirms that 



" The proper study of mankind is man." 



In its main roots and cardinal elements haman nature is the 

 same everywhere; but traditions, education, customs, climate and 

 other influences and surrounding circumstances, wonderfully 

 varied and widely dissimilar, produce new and unlooked-for re- 

 sults which arrest the attention, awaken inquiry, furnish food 

 for reflection and materials for a criticism which is only in aj^pear- 

 ance sometimes unfriendly. In Nassau, we were in such a hap- 



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