e speaker, which was any thing but natural, provoked my risibility
almost beyond forbearance; his bushy head, the fall of his cape, and the
awkward stick-out of his coat, which was buttoned tight round his waist;
the drop of his quizzing glass from his bosom, and the opera hat in his
hand, formed altogether as curious a figure as I ever recollect to have
seen; though my eyes were immediately directed to another almost as
grotesque, by the young lady herself, who informed the applicant that
she had engaged herself with Captain Scrambleton, and could not avail
herself of his intended honor; while the captain himself, with a mincing
gait, little compatible with the line of life to which it was to be
presumed he was attached, was advancing and eyeing the would-be rival
with all the apparent accuracy of a military scrutiny. The contrast of
the two figures is ~~386~~~ inconceivable--the supplicating beau on the
one hand, half double, in the attitude of solicitation, and the upright
position of the exquisite militaire, casting a suspicious look of
self-importance on the other, were irresistible. I was obliged to turn
on one side to prevent discovering my impulse to laughter. The captain,
I have since learned, turned out to be a broken-down blackleg, seeking
to patch up a diminished fortune by a matrimonial alliance, in which he
was only foiled by a discovery just time enough to prevent his design
upon Miss Eliza."

"Mere butterflies," exclaimed Dashall, "that nutter for a time in
sunshine with golden wings, to entrap attention, while the rays
fall upon them, and then are seen no more! but I always like your
descriptions, although you are usually severe."

[Illustration: page386 At a Party]

"As soon as I could recover my solemnity, 1 tound a little gentleman,
who reminded me strongly of cunning little Isaac in the Duenna,
advancing towards Miss Amelia with true dancing-master-like precision.
I soon discovered, by her holding up her fan at his approach, that
she held him in utter aversion, and found he received a reply very
derogatory to his wishes; when stepping up to her by the introduction of
my friend, I succeeded m obtaining her hand for the dance, to the great
mortification and discomfiture of Mr. O'Liltwell, who was no other than
an Irish dancing-master in miniature. There is always room enough for
observation and conjecture upon such occasions. There were, however,
other characters in the rooms more particularly deser