104 MANNEES AND FASHION. 



You see ladies sittiog disconsolately, waiting for some one 

 to speak to them, and wishing they had the wherewith tc 

 occuj^y their fingers. You see the hostess standing about 

 the doorway, keeping a factitious smile on her face, and 

 racking her brain to find the requisite nothings with which 

 to greet her guests as they enter. You see numberlesd 

 traits of weariness and embarrassment ; and, if you have any 

 fellow feehng, these cannot fail to produce a feeling of dis- 

 comfort. The disorder is catching ; and do what you will 

 you cannot resist the general infection. You struggle 

 against it ; you make spasmodic efibrts to be lively ; but 

 none of your sallies or your good stories do more than 

 raise a simper or a forced laugh : intellect and feeling are 

 alike asphyxiated. And when, at length, yielding to your 

 disgust, you rush away, how great is the relief when you 

 get into the fresh air, and see the stars ! How you " Thank 

 God, that's over ! " and half resolve to avoid all such bore- 

 dom for the future ! 



What, now, is the secret of this perpetual miscarriage 

 and disaj^jjointment ? Does not the fault lie with all these 

 needless adjuncts — these elaborate dressings, these set 

 forms, these expensive preparations, these many devices 

 and arrangements that imply trouble and raise expectation? 

 Who that has lived thirty years in the world has not dis- 

 covered that Pleasure is coy ; and must not be too directly 

 pursued, but must be caught unawares ? An air from a 

 street-piano, heard while at work, will often gratify more 

 than the choicest music played at a concert by the most 

 accomplished musicians. A single good picture seen in a 

 dealer's window, may give keener enjoyment than a whole 

 exhibition gone through with catalogue and pencil. By 

 the time we have got ready our elaborate apparatus by 

 which to secure happiness, the happiness is gone. It is too 

 subtle to be contained in these receivers, garnished with 

 compliments, and fenced round with etiquette. The more 



