property and good expectations, and having learned the
most important part, that his character was excellent, she
concluded to try and do something for the unhappy pair.

So Mrs. Barclay saw i\Irs. Gordon, and smoothing away
many difficulties, and making her friend and her husband
cognizant of many pleasant facts which she had, moreover,
gathered from the Commodore of the station, undoubted
authority, she inanaged to bring round the Gordons, and
they bestowed their consent to the union of the pair, and, as
they said and lirmly believed, they were made supremely
happy. Clara nearly smothered her friend with kisses, and



OF BOSTON.



251



her sailor lover looked as if he would also like to do the
same thing.

Then came all the busy note of preparation for the wed-
ding. Grace Barclay was invited to be first bridesmaid, and
a handsome young officer was first bridesman, and, as a
matter of course, became enslaved by the superlative
charms of his associate, though he was not so fortunate as
his friend, Mr. Rosevelt. In a marvellously short period,
almost beyond belief, had he belonged to any other profes-
sion. Miss Grace Barclay received her first offer of mar-
riao-e a most momentous occurrence in a young girl's life,
smiles she, or frowns she, and this offer the damsel
becomingly refused, but in such a gentle manner that the
rejected suitor continued to be her fast friend. It must be
confessed, however, that, notwithstanding his despair and
tribulation, he lost his heart again the very next year, and
Gracv heard of his nuptials with intense satisfaction ; for
she, in her youthful simplicity, had felt ver}' sad at witness-
in"" his sorrow, and almost imagined he might succumb
under its wciglit ; but he had lived on, and she was greatly
relieved of her anxiety.

But to return from this short and hurried digression, very
indicative of salt water. Miss Gordon was married in church,
the bridegroom in full uniform, looking admirably. The
bride was attired in a pure white silk high-necked dress, and
a bewitching French hat, filled with orange blossoms, and
such a veil! a present from Mrs. Barclay, it nearly cov-
ered her whole person. The bridesmaids were charming,
though, of course, they are never permitted to eclipse the
bride, and the church was filled to repletion with young
persons ; and the Dolly thought the whole thing went off
admirably, and was capital fun, as she privately informed
Nursev Bristow. And most especially did she incline to
Mrs. Nichols' delicious wedding-cake, her veiy best handi-
work, of which she had a portion passed through the bride's
ring, and pinned up in white paper with the bride's pins ;



252 THE BARCLAYS

and this arrangement being effected, the little parcel was
placed carefully under her pillow, and she dreamed ' never
a bit of any body or any thing,' she said, and added, half
crying, ' that this was very provoking indeed.' The happy
couple, after a charming breakfast, departed on a visit to
Mr. Rosevelt's family, and to the Barclay's, who had been
kept in a perpetual state of excitement for a month, the
whole of this engagement and bridal seemed like the em-
bodiment of a dream.

Georgy and Grace deplored Clara's departure bitterly,
and the Dolly thought every thing vastly dull. Mr. Richard
pronounced the Gordons to be fools for consenting to such
hurried doings. Miss Serena Tidmarsh opined no good
would ever come of this hurried marriage ; and Jane
Redmond said, ' Who would have imagined that any girl
could find a husband at Philip Egerton's ? ' Mr. Barclay
roundly asserted that his young friend had made a good
match, and that all would agree with him in time ; but then
Mr. Richard said, his brother John had always a weakness
for 'the buttons,' and his opinion did not carry as much
weight as usual, on this occasion. Mr. Richard Barclay
never heard of marrying, or giving in marriage, with any
great degree of equanimity ; he generally snarled more or
less on such occasions. Mrs. Ashley said, ' All's well that
ends well,' and ' Wc must wait, for this whole thing has
been carried through in such a hurry-scurry, that I have
not had time to breathe, and, besides, I am very sorry to
lose Clara, and cannot be expected to give my unqualified
consent.' So they all said their say, but, as Mrs. Barclay
quietly observed, ' the subject of these remarks was " mar-
ried and awa', " and all they could do or say would not
alter her condition.'

The bride and bridegroom returned, after a month's
absence, having had a delightful warm-hearted Southern
reception, and intended remaining a few weeks with Mrs.
Gordon, preparatory to their going to Norfolk, where he
was ordered.



OF BOSTON. 253

Shortly after their return, the wife of the Commodore of
the station issued invitations for a ball on board a seventy-
four in the harbor, and the Gordons, Rosevelts and Barclays
were all invited. It being a delicious season of the year,
every thing favored this pleasant fete. Mr. Barclay, who
admired excessively a ship of war, instantly persuaded his
wife to accept the invitation. Georgiana peremptorily de-
clined, but Grace was extremely pleased with the idea of
seeing the beautiful vessel in a gala dress, the more espe-
cially as all her friends were going. The Dolly was in a
frenzy of despair at being obliged to stay away from this
' entrancing party,' and coaxed and pleaded and induced
Uncle Richard to pray for her exemption from general rules,
and, at last, between the pair, a consent was extorted ; and
even Johnny was smuggled on board, nobody knew how.
Mr. Rosevelt was strongly suspected of having introduced
this small contraband article, but there he was, and no one
pleaded guilty, not even the youthful aspirant for marine
festivals himself.

On a delicious afternoon in July, the Barclays departed,
' on pleasure bent,' from their own house, and reached ' the
stairs,' where an orderly inquired if they were for the ship,
to which they responded affirmatively. A young midship-
man assisted them down these stairs, and a handsome lieu-
tenant placed them carefully in a twelve-oared barge, the
linings of which rivalled the whiteness of the women's
dresses. In a moment they were upon a world of waters,
enlivened by the songs of the seamen in the surrounding
shipping, and the plashing of oars, a delightful contrast
indeed, to the dust and brick walls of the city. The seven-
ty-four's barges were plying to and fro for the guests,
manned by sailors in their prettiest of all costumes. At the
ship's side, on a carpeted platform, they were received by
two officers, who helped them up the ladder, which, on this
occasion, were transformed into good and broad steps. They
were then ushered into a scene of perfect enchantment, a
22



254 THE BARCLAYS

ball-room which Aladdin's lamp might have produced in the
good olden time, when wc believed and luxuriated in the
Thousand-and-one Nights, a ball-room of two hundred
feet in length, adorned with the flags of all nations, and
presenting such a gorgeous harmony of coloring as quite
dazzled their bewildered eyes, enchanting the artist as well
as the amateur. The tri-color of France, the bold lion
of England, and the stars and stripes of our own land, all
mingled together in peace and harmony, as it is hoped
they ever will be. At one end was an orchestra most taste-
fully decorated in- the same way, and, at the other, the top
of the Commodore's cabin was carpeted and draped with
flags and filled with luxurious seats, from which they looked
down upon the beauteous ball-room below. The hatchways
were surrounded with stands of arms, each musket bearing
an innocent wax-light ! a great relief to many of the female
part of the assembled company who held in terror muskets
without either stock or lock. Colored lanterns were dis-
posed amidst the draperies, looking like emeralds and
rubies.

The Barclays were presented to their lady-like hostess,
and the Commodore, all graciousness, conducted them over
his ship, even down into the orlop-deck. The cleanliness
and purity of the vessel might be gathered from the fact,
that the white satin shoes of the young girls were spotless.
They then peeped out of sundry loop-holes, and beheld a
sunset such as never was surpassed at Venice, where the
majesty of light is predominant. As the twilight shadows
gathered around, the illumination of this enchanting ball-room
commenced, and when it was finished and an air from the
opera of Gustavo issued from the orchestra, it surpassed in
beauty the famous last scene in that production at Paris.

Just then the ships' bell sounded, and Mrs. Barclay de-
clared she was alarmed lest it might be the stage managers'
call, and the whole would, presto, disappear, so perfect was
the illusion. The company was composed of youth, middle-



OF BOSTON. 255

aged, and even some old people a very memorable event.
Philadelphia had sent to this ball its golden-haired Peris,
Milton its beauties, and Boston its lovely daughters and
lovelier mothers, in the ' mezzo giorno,' on whom the rich,
warm rays

' Of mid-day sun shone with a summer power.
Queen-like they moved with pure and lofty brow,
And, redolent of thought, life's wide-expanded flower
Had so remained unchanged.'

Sweet Tasso, the poet of the matrons, has said something
like this. ' What a pity the mezzo giorno does not show
itself oftener ! '

The dancing was spirited, and interspersed with frequent
visits to refreshment-rooms and many visits to the gun-deck.
Hundreds of cannon, bristling and fearful, lined this deck,
which was half-lighted, presenting, by a refinement of good
taste in its partial illumination, a severe contrast to the ori-
ental splendor above ; and in truth it seemed a remarkably
popular part of the ship, the sailors grouped in amongst the
guns, adding to the lights and shadows of its immense per-
spective. The officers devoted themselves to the guests,
and every woman present imagined herself an exclusive ob-
ject of attention, an impression that the 'buttons' are very
apt to give to the fair sex. At midnight, after giving a dozen
or more last looks at the ball-room, the guests departed, de-
lighted with every arrangement, and as the ship receded
from their view, the bright moon above, the blue calm waters
below, she looked as she was, a thing of life and beauty.

To attempt to describe the Dolly's raptures would be im-
possible. She was soon discovered by the midshipmen to be
an admirable dancer, and accordingly her partners were
countless, and she flew about like a lapwing and was sur-
rounded by admirers. She gave her mother warning next
day that she must not expect her to be rational for a month,
and was answered that if she were it would be for the first



256 THE BARCLAYS

time in her life. Johnny had contracted a violent friendship
with a middy who was just out of leading-strings, and se-
riously meditated an immediate entrance into the navy, but
was admonished by his father that he had better wait a few
years and ruminate upon his project. Shortly after this
never to be forgotten ball, the Rosevelts left for Norfolk, and
were sadly regretted by all their friends.



OF BOSTON. 257



CHAPTER XXX.



* If, despising all visible decorations, tliey were only in love with the
embellishments of the mind, Avhy should they borrow so many of the
implements, and make use of the most darling toys of the luxurious ? '

Berxard Mandeville.

Shortly after Gerald Sanderson's first visit to Mr. Barton,
he received from him a huge embossed card, in a saffron-
colored envelope, requesting the honor of his company at
dinner, and forthwith accepted the invitation. A week's
notice prepared him for a grand entertainment, and on the
appointed day he sallied forth, in full dress, to dine with his
patron. Punctually at five he reached the house, and being
ushered into the ' best parlors,' found that he had arrived
half an hour too early, his watch having misled him. In the
interval, before the appearance of the ladies, and his host,
whose apparelling was not finished, he had plenty of time to
examine, at his leisure, the plenishing of these halls of
beauty.

Louis the Fourteenth has many misdeeds for which to
answer to posterity, but if he could but see the abominations,
in the matter of furniture and upholstery, perpetrated in his
honor, and falsely bearing his name and style in these United
States of America, he would consider his punishment great
indeed. Really nothing was ever so odious as the sprawling
tables and comfortless chairs and sofas, which, covered with
gilding and brocade, encumbered those small rooms, and all
so low that no one could rise from them without risk of life
and limb. Immense mirrors with ponderous frames, enor-
mous clocks, and huge figures, bearing candles so tall that
22*



258 THE BARCLAYS

they almost reached the low plaster of Paris ceilings, all cold
and naked. The walls were covered with the gaudiest of
paper-hangings, and sprinkled over with pictures, great and
small, the lines all broken at the base, and looking as if they
had been thrown there at a venture.

The catalogue of this collection of the fine arts was abso-
lutely astounding in its nomenclature two Raphaels, four
Correggios, almost as many as grace the Dresden Gallery,
three Claudes, &c. Now, considering that the love-lorn
King of Bavaria purchased the last d'Urbino to be found on
sale in all Europe for twelve thousand dollars, and a small
one too, it was really marvellous where such inestimable
treasures had been found. Not a single native artist had
been, by any chance, admitted into this distinguished society.
Oh, no ! On the other hand, there were loads of knicknack-
eries, puerile and ridiculous enough. Presently the ladies
dropped in, one after another, and were enchanted to renew
their acquaintance with Gerald and their inquisitorial re-
searches into the Barclay family. To all their demands
upon his time, Gerald exhibited the most remarkable and
exemplary patience, it being an ever-gracious theme to him,
the mention of his friends. The Misses Barton informed
him they were to entertain on that day a most select party,
with only one exception, and that was their father's country
cousin Mrs. Hastings, of Hastingsville who having most
inopportunely arrived the evening before, they had been
obliged to invite sadly against their will.

' I told her,' said Miss Araminta Cora, who rather liked
Gerald, and threatened to do even more, ' that she would
not in the least enjoy herself, and begged her to come to-
morrow, when we would get up a snug little party of her old
friends for her, but she would not hear of this arrangement,
declaring she wished to see our new ones ; and as there are
expectations, she being verv rich indeed, we were obliged to
submit. Now,' resumed the young lady, quite confiden-
tially, ' though I should like exceedingly to have you to sit



OF BOSTON. 259

beside me at dinner, I must renounce the gratification, and
beg you to do me the great favor to lead our cousin of
Hastingsville down stairs ; for if she gets near any other of
our guests, she will so shock them with her commonplaces,
proverbs, and homely saws.'

So Gerald promised, and received in return the most gra-
cious of smiles from Miss Araminta Cora.

The party consisted of twenty-four persons, a world too
many for enjoyment. None of them seemed to be ac-
quainted with each other, and Mr. Barton persisted in intro-
ducing them. Now, as they were all Bostonians, this was
in bad taste ; and Gerald was just thinking that the several
parties were much annoyed, when one gentleman rebelled,
and fairly told his host that he declined the acquaintance of
the person to whom he was presented. This was a terrible
stroke, but it transpired that there had been a deadly feud
between the two gentlemen, all about a cargo of saltpetre, in
which neither was to blame except that they would not listen
to reason, and of which Mr. Barton was entirely ignorant,
this being a new phase of society to him. This, it must be
confessed, was a most discordant commencement of festivi-
ties, and as ill-luck prevailed, the twain were seated next to
each other at table, and discoursed gunpowder slantwise.
Indeed, it was discovered that almost every one had been
mismated on this grand occasion.

Gerald thought he was especially favored, for just before
the repast, Mr. Barton, taking him suddenly by the button-
hole, and at the same time destroying a moss rosebud which
his daughter. Miss Araminta Cora, had bestowed upon the
youth, begged him to place himself at his right hand. ' For,'
said he, ' my girls have insisted upon giving a thorough
French dinner, and I don't know the name of a single kick-
shaw, so you must promise to tell me.' Poor Gerald ! his
post of favorite promised to be rather wearisome, but he
slipped out of this dilemma by advising his friend not to
attempt offering any thing whatever, but to order the ser-



260 THE BARCLAYS

vants to do so. ' What a horrid time I shall have,' said Mr.
Barton, ' not being able to offer any thing ; how very inhospi-
table I shall seem. Those confounded girls will be the death
of me with their foreign nonsense ; I wish I had never con-
sented to such a grand parade.'

Gerald, faithful to his promise, escorted Mrs. Hastings to
dinner, and shortly heard the Misses Barton holding long
arguments on their favorite studies with the two saltpetre
guests, who, for once, though not addressing each other,
seemed to be of the same mind, opining that one or two
'quarters' of chemistry, geology, medicine and anatomy
were worse than useless; and one of them, avowing he
had dabbled a little in the sciences, thought a whole life
would hardly suffice for the acquisition of chemistry alone.
Mr. Barton, who supposed his talented progeny had learned
all these things thoroughly, was amazed beyond expression
at this discovery, and after a long pause, he turned to Mrs.
Hastings and said, ' Well, cousin, what do you think of all
this ? ' The lady, who proved to be a strong-minded woman,
declared she had given no attention to the sciences, seeing
that it required an age to get any knowledge of them what-
ever, but was devoting all her powers to getting a homestead
bill passed, and was resolved to see if women could not be
exempted from taxation, an abominable imposition upon
the sex, which she hoped to see set right before she died.
There should be no taxation without representation ; for her
part she did not desire to represent any thing but her-
self, but she would not be satisfied until that thing was
changed.

Gerald, finding his host had sprung a mine unawares, en-
deavored to change the conversation by inquiring of the lady
how she liked the country.

'I should like it very well,' she replied, ' if I could ever
discover it in America. Where I live there is more aj)ing of
what my neighbors arc pleased to call " style and fashion "
than in any city in the Union. I hear divers complaints



OF BOSTON. 261

here of the same thing, but do you come and stay with me
and see how the rule works at Hastingsville. Why,' said
she, ' none of the farmers' daughters make butter and
cheese now ; they are all learning exactly what cousin
Barton's girls do, and talk in precisely the same ridiculous
manner of things they know nothing about. Cousin Barton
can afford to allow his chits to waste their time, but the
country people must have somebody to do housework and
look after the dairy ; all the world can't be idle ladies and
gentlemen. The fact is,' she resumed, ' the spirit of unrest
is rampant in our country ; nobody is satisfied ; even I, with
my eyes wide open to this crying evil, have two objects
which must and shall be accomplished, and I should not be
an American if I had not.'

Gerald was much amused with his neighbor, and heard
her opinion of the guests with a hearty laugh, ' The old
friends,' she declared, ' were much the most interesting ;
they had subjects in common with cousin Barton, and were
not set up and stiff like these people. The old dinners were
vastly pleasanter and better ; for her part, she liked to know
w^hat she was eating ; nobody could tell what these French-
men did when they once got into one's kitchen. And then,
cousin Barton, a good creature enough, and liis wife even
better, were thrown away upon the " upper ten thousand."
They despised them, and melancholy to relate, by courting
these people they had lost all their old friends. Now if you
could have seen Nick at his own board years ago ; he was
such a happy fellow ! urging every body to eat his good
things, and enjoying himself hugely ; now he looks all curled
up into a heap.' Then peeping down the table, she reported
Mrs. Barton to be in precisely the same condition. ' This
all comes,' said she, ' of spoiling children. My cousin's
daughters are all the time tutoring their parents, and have
deprived them of all their pleasures. When I am here I
have some influence, and use it to make my kind-hearted
relatives more comfortable with pleasant chats about old



262 THE BARCLAYS

times, for I should think this eternal bothering about Pin-
nock's catechisms would weary them out of their senses. I
am sure I take leave of my own sometimes, here and at
home, with all the nonsense I hear. You perceive I speak
plainly.'

' I am afraid, Mrs. Hastings,' said Gerald, ' you will disa-
buse me of all my ruralities by the account you give of
country life, and the falling off of the present generation
from the good fashions of their forefathers.'

'I am sorry to disturb your illusions,' replied the lady,
'but, if you could see my neighbors in their silks and finery,
you would soon cast aside all your preconceived opinions.
There are no milkmaids now ; they went out with the
spelling-book which chronicled the well-filled pail. The
young ladies are afraid of cows. Eggs are no longer counted ;
and all the wools sorted are German, out of which country
damsels manufacture not socks and stockings, as of old
but nondescript animals and cabbage-headed flowers.'

' Have you no influence ? ' queried Gerald.

' None at all : the fact is, I get angry and lose all my
persuasive powers if any I ever had which I doubt.'

The dinner was excellent, and admirably ordered, and
well served, and Mrs. Hastings was fain to confess that the
colored gentry, who conducted the arrangements, were
capable and much better trained than the old scrambling
set, who formerly served her cousin's table at the repasts
she so much regretted ; but then the guests, she persisted
in declaring, were not half so pleasant or agreeable.

The company all leaving the dining-room at the same
time, music was introduced, the Misses Barton regaling
their circle with some very questionable melodies. When
they had finished, Gerald was entreated to favor them. So
he obligingly sang some delicious airs from ' Lucretia
Borgia,' accompanying himself with a guitar, and received
the most enthusiastic thanks. His style was unambitious,
his rich manly voice, soul-searching, penetrated into the



OF BOSTON. 263

recesses- of all hearts, and his auditors seemed never weary
of listening. When he had finished, Mrs. Hastings was
exceedingly voluble in his praise, and informed him that
she had puzzled her poor brains all dinner-time, to under-
stand what situation he held in the family she havins
been told he had one and now she had discovered he was
the music-master, he could be nought else.

Gerald, laughingly, assured her that he had not the honor
to teach the young ladies, and that such was not his voca-
tion. Then how can he play and sing so well, queried Mrs.
Hastings, if he is not a teacher ? The carriages being shortly
announced, the guests departed, and when the last vehicle
rolled away, Mr. Barton, giving himself a congratulatory
shake, and unbuttoning the lower part of his waistcoat,
plumped himself down into a Louis the Fourteenth, as if he
hoped to rise from it nevermore, and exclaimed, in most
joyous tones, 'Thank heaven, it's all over.' 'Why father!'
screamed the triad of daughters, ' how can you say so ?
every thing so elegant, so well arranged, such good taste,
so recherche.''

' I don't know what that last word means, if it be not
stupid,' said he.

' Oh dear ! oh dear ! ' screamed the three in concert.

' Well, my old woman, what do you say ? ' said their
father, addressing his wife, 'what do you think of this hard
day's work } '

' Why, my good husband, I had nothing to do with cook-
ing the grand dinner, and that I liked very much. I've