ed in the fascinating scene of gay
delight would be a task of almost equal magnitude with the Herculean
labours, and one which in attempting, I fear some of my readers may
censure me for already dwelling too long upon: but let them remember,
I am a professed painter of real life, not the inventor or promoter of
these delectable _nocte Attici_ and depraved orgies; that in faithfully
narrating scenes and describing character, the object of the author and
artist is to show up vice in all its native deformity; that being
known, it may be avoided, and being exposed, despised. But I must
crave permission to extend my notice of the Cythereans to a few more
characters, ere yet the mirth-inspiring notes of the band have ceased to
vibrate, or the graceful ~45~~fair ones to trip it lightly on fantastic
toe; this done, I shall perhaps take a peep into the supper-room, drink
Champagne, and pick the wing of a chicken while I whisper a few soft
syllables into the ear of the nearest _elegante_; and then--gentle
reader, start not--then-----

"The breast thus _publicly_ resign'd to man
In _private_ may resist him--if it can."

But here the curtain shall drop upon all the fairy sirens who lead
the young heart captive in their silken chains; and the _daughters of
pleasure_ and the _sons of profligacy_ may practise the mysteries of
Cytherea in private, undisturbed by the pen of the satirist or the
pencil of the humorist.

"The scandalizing group in close conference in the left-hand corner,
behind Lord William Lenox and another dashing ensign in the guards,
is composed," said Crony, "of Mrs. Nixon, the _ci-devant_ Mrs. Baring,
Nugent's old.flame, Mrs. Christopher Harrison, the two sisters,
Mesdames Gardner and Peters, and the well-known Kitty Stock, all
minor constellations, mostly on the decline, and hence full of envious
jealousy at the attention paid by the beaux to the more attractive
charms of the newly discovered planets, the younger sisterhood of
the convent." "If we could but get near enough to overhear their
conversation," said Transit, "we should, no doubt, obtain possession
of a few rich anecdotes of the Paphians and their paramours." "I have
already enough of the latter," said I, "to fill a dozen albums, without
descending to the meanness of becoming a listener. Amorous follies
are the least censurable of the sins of men, when they are confined to
professed courtezans. The heartless conduct of the systemati