England and some
parts of our country. They are simply an early tea enjoyed in a sort
of picnic style in the grounds about the house. Such an entertainment
enables one to receive a great many at a time, without crowding, and,
being in its very idea rustic and informal, can be arranged with very
little expense or trouble. With the addition of lanterns in the trees
and a little music, this entertainment may be carried on far into the
evening with a very pretty effect.

"As to dancing, I have this much to say of it. Either our houses must
be all built over and made larger, or female crinolines must be made
smaller, or dancing must continue as it now is, the most absurd and
ungraceful of all attempts at amusement. The effort to execute round
dances in the limits of modern houses, in the prevailing style of
dress, can only lead to developments more startling than agreeable.
Dancing in the open air, on the shaven green of lawns, is a pretty and
graceful exercise, and there only can full sweep be allowed for the
present feminine toilet.

"The English breakfast is an institution growing in favor here, and
rightfully, too; for a party of fresh, good-natured, well-dressed
people, assembled at breakfast on a summer morning, is as nearly
perfect a form of reunion as can be devised. All are in full strength
from their night's rest; the hour is fresh and lovely, and they are in
condition to give each other the very cream of their thoughts, the
first keen sparkle of the uncorked nervous system. The only drawback
is that, in our busy American life, the most desirable gentlemen often
cannot spare their morning hours. Breakfast parties presuppose a
condition of leisure; but when they can be compassed, they are
perhaps the most perfectly enjoyable of entertainments."

"Well," said Marianne, "I begin to waver about my party. I don't know,
after all, but the desire of paying off social debts prompted the
idea; perhaps we might try some of the agreeable things suggested.
But, dear me! there's the baby. We'll finish the talk some other
time."

VIII

HOW SHALL WE BE AMUSED

"One, two, three, four,--this makes the fifth accident on the Fourth
of July, in the two papers I have just read," said Jenny.

"A very moderate allowance," said Theophilus Thoro, "if you consider
the Fourth as a great national saturnalia, in which every boy in the
land has the privilege of doing whatever is right in his own eyes."

"The poor boys!" said