58 



and going on board of a dashing man of war ; but 

 what they all had to do with the Duke, or with 

 each other, I could not make even a guess. I w r as 

 going to ask for an explanation, but suddenly half 

 of them gave a shout loud enough " to fright the 

 realms of Chaos and old Night," and away they 

 flew, singers, dancers, and all. The cause of this 

 was the sudden illumination of the town with 

 quantities of large chandeliers and bushes, the 

 branches of which were stuck all over with great 

 blazing torches : the effect was really beautiful, 

 and the excessive rapture of the black multitude at 

 the spectacle was as well worth the witnessing as 

 the sight itself. 



I never saw so many people who appeared to be 

 so unaffectedly happy. In England, at fairs and 

 races, half the visiters at least seem to have been 

 only brought there for the sake of traffic, and to 

 be too busy to be amused ; but here nothing was 

 thought of but real pleasure; and that pleasure 

 seemed to consist in singing, dancing, and laugh- 

 ing, in seeing and being seen, in showing their own 

 fine clothes, or in admiring those of others. There 

 were no people selling or buying ; no servants and 

 landladies bustling and passing about ; and at eight 

 o'clock, as we passed through the market-place, 

 where was the greatest illumination, and which, of 

 course, was most thronged, I did not see a single 

 person drunk, nor had I observed a single quarrel 

 through the course of the day; except, indeed, 



