hose days.

We might, indeed, have simply said, "they danced;" but how easily might
some of our fair readers have made an anachronism, and imagined an old
veteran such as George von Fronsberg, booted and spurred, standing up
in a cotillon. In this embarrassment a very rare book fell in our way,
entitled, "The beginning, origin, and customs of tournaments in the
holy Roman Empire. Frankfort, 1564." We found in these precious pages,
among other well executed wood-cuts, the representation of a ball in
the time of the Emperor Maximilian, which was about a year before the
date of this history.

We may, therefore, take it for granted, that the ball in the town-hall
of Ulm differed in nothing from the explanations afforded by the
above-mentioned drawing, and consequently we shall be able to give a
better idea of the amusements of those days, by giving a description of
the picture, than by our own delineation.

The foreground is occupied by the spectators; and the musicians,
composed of fifers, drummers, and trumpeters, placed in a gallery,
"sound a blast," according to the expression in the tournament book. On
either side, towards the further end of the room, are arranged those
who intend to join in the dance, dressed in rich heavy stuffs. In our
days, we see only two standing colours on such occasions, black and
white, in which the ladies and gentlemen are divided as night and day.
Not so in former times. An extraordinary brilliancy of colours shoot
their rays from the picture. The most beautiful red, from fiery scarlet
to the deepest purple, accompanied by rich deep blue which surprises us
in the paintings of the old masters, form the cheerful colours of their
picturesque drapery and dresses. The centre of the apartment is
occupied by the actual performers. The dance resembles very much the
Polonaise of the present day, in which the gentleman, with his partner,
walk around the room in procession. Four trumpeters, bearing heraldic
flags suspended to their instruments, open the procession, followed by
the first couple. The rank alone of the gentleman entitles him, with
his lady, to the honour of leading; and at each change of the dance,
the next in precedence takes his place. Then come two torch-bearers,
followed by the rest of the dancers in pairs. The ladies walked with
modest and reserved demeanour; and the men placed their feet in a
singular position, as if they were on the point of making a high leap.
Some appear also