r father in Paris to send her various articles of dress which are
entirely too expensive in America, but the old gentleman's answer seems
still more shrewd, especially when we remember what a delightful time he
was just then having with several sprightly French dames: "I was charmed
with the account you gave me of your industry, the tablecloths of your
own spinning, and so on; but the latter part of the paragraph that you
had sent for linen from France ... and you sending for ... lace and
feathers, disgusted me as much as if you had put salt into my
strawberries. The spinning, I see, is laid aside, and you are to be
dressed for the ball! You seem not to know, my dear daughter, that of
all the dear things in this world idleness is the dearest, except
mischief."

Her declaration in her letter that "there was never so much pleasure and
dressing going on" is corroborated by the statement of an officer
writing to General Wayne: "It is all gaiety, and from what I can
observe, every lady endeavors to outdo the other in splendor and
show.... The manner of entertaining in this place has likewise undergone
its change. You cannot conceive anything more elegant than the present
taste. You can hardly dine at a table but they present you with three
courses, and each of them in the most elegant manner."

_XV. Theatrical Performances_

The dinners and balls seem to have been expensive enough, but another
demand for expenditure, especially in items of dress, arose from the
constantly increasing popularity of the theatre. In Philadelphia the
first regular theatre season began in 1754, and from this time forth the
stage seems to have filled an important part in the activities of
society. We find that Washington attended such performances at the early
South Street Theatre, and was especially pleased with a comedy called
_The Young Quaker; or the Fair Philadelphian_ by O'Keefe, a sketch that
was followed by a pantomimic ballet, a musical piece called _The
Children in the Wood_, a recitation of Goldsmith's _Epilogue_ in the
character of Harlequin, and a "grand finale" by some adventuresome actor
who made a leap through a barrel of fire! Truly vaudeville began early
in America.

Mrs. Adams from staid old Massachusetts, where theatrical performances
were not received cordially for many a year, wrote from Philadelphia in
1791: "The managers of the theatre have been very polite to me and my
family. I have been to one play, and here again w