es in the English fabric,
public and private, yet nobody cries out upon him as the slanderer of
his country. He serves up Lord Dedlocks to his heart's content, yet none
of the nobility make wry faces about it; nobody is in a hurry to
proclaim that he has recognized the picture, by getting into a passion
at it. The contrast between the people of England and America, in this
respect, is rather unfavorable to us, because they are by profession
conservative, and we by profession radical.

For us to be annoyed when any of our institutions are commented upon, is
in the highest degree absurd; it would do well enough for Naples, but it
does not do for America.

There were some curious old customs observed at this dinner which
interested me as peculiar. About the middle of the feast, the official
who performed all the announcing made the declaration that the lord
mayor and lady mayoress would pledge the guests in a loving cup. They
then rose, and the official presented them with a massive gold cup, full
of wine, in which they pledged the guests. It then passed down the
table, and the guests rose, two and two, each tasting and presenting to
the other. My fair informant told me that this was a custom which had
come down from the most ancient time.

The banquet was enlivened at intervals by songs from professional
singers, hired for the occasion. After the banquet was over, massive
gold basins, filled with rose water, slid along down the table, into
which the guests dipped their napkins--an improvement, I suppose, on the
doctrine of finger glasses, or perhaps the primeval form of the custom.

We rose from table between eleven and twelve o'clock--that is, we
ladies--and went into the drawing room, where I was presented to Mrs.
Dickens and several other ladies. Mrs. Dickens is a good specimen of a
truly English woman; tall, large, and well developed, with fine, healthy
color, and an air of frankness, cheerfulness, and reliability. A friend
whispered to me that she was as observing, and fond of humor, as her
husband.

After a while the gentlemen came back to the drawing room, and I had a
few moments of very pleasant, friendly conversation with Mr. Dickens.
They are both people that one could not know a little of without
desiring to know more.

I had some conversation with the lady mayoress. She said she had been
invited to meet me at Stafford House on Saturday, but should be unable
to attend, as she had called a meeting on the