rolina entirely different from the
corrupt conditions found in Louisiana in the seventeenth century, and
also in contrast with the almost cautious manner in which the New
Englanders of the same period tasted pleasure. In those magnificent
Southern houses--Quincey speaks of one costing L8000, a sum fully equal
in modern buying capacity to $100,000--there was much stately dancing,
almost an extreme form of etiquette, no little genuine art, and music
of exceptional quality. The Charleston St. Cecilia Society, organized in
1737, gave numerous amateurs opportunities to hear and perform the best
musical compositions of the day, and its annual concerts, continued
until 1822, were scarcely ever equalled elsewhere in America, during the
same period. In the aristocratic circles formal balls were frequent, and
were exceedingly brilliant affairs. Eliza Pinckney, describing one in
1742, says: "...The Govr gave the Gentn a very gentile entertainment
at noon, and a ball at night for the ladies on the Kings birthnight, at
wch was a Crowded Audience of Gentn and ladies. I danced a minuet with
yr old acquaintance Capt Brodrick who was extreamly glad to see one so
nearly releated to his old friend...."[160] Ravenel in her _Eliza
Pinckney_ reconstructs from her notes a picture of one of those
dignified balls or fetes in the olden days:

"On such an occasion as that referred to, a reception for the
young bride who had just come from her own stately home of Ashley
Hall, a few miles down the river, the guests naturally wore all
their braveries. Their dresses, brocade, taffety, lute-string,
etc., were well drawn up through their pocket holes. Their
slippers, to match their dresses, had heels even higher and more
unnatural than our own.... With bows and courtesies, and by the
tips of their fingers, the ladies were led up the high stone
steps to the wide hall, ... and then up the stair case with its
heavy carved balustrade to the panelled rooms above.... Then, the
last touches put to the heads (too loftily piled with cushions,
puffs, curls, and lappets, to admit of being covered with
anything more than a veil or a hood).... Gay would be the
feast...."

"The old silver, damask and India china still remaining show how
these feasts were set out.... Miss Lucas has already told us
something of what the country could furnish in the way of good
cheer, and we may