But grim death lurks near all the time. Numbers were
presented to us, and in no court in Europe could one find more courtly
ease of manner or sans gene. Octavia and I are "crazy" about them.
There is no class here; it is the real thing, and the only part we have
seen yet of America where equality is a fact. That is, it is the man
who counts, not any money or position, only his personal merit; and the
Senator says if they are "yellow dogs" they sooner or later get wiped
out. It is a sort of survival of the fittest, and don't you think it is
a lovely plan, Mamma? And how I wish we had it in England. What heaps
could be cleared away and never be missed!
There was a Master of Ceremonies who called out the dances, and not more
than ten or twelve couples were allowed to dance each time, two-steps
and valses, and without exception it is the finest dancing I have ever
seen,--the very poetry of Motion. Nothing violent or rude, or like a
servants' ball at home, although they held their partners a little more
clasped than we do, and the woman's hands both on the man's shoulders,
and sometimes round his neck. (Tom says he means to introduce this style
at Chevenix the next ball they have.
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