Star.
London, England, 1822-10-26 00:00:00

She often reftues theiressthet•she(ehooses,
Agri him she abuses Ores:boo r.
Lohdon.was to women of fnsisiots, and, neeneditis
to the yopUlar phrase, tq men about Vwriti their
whole and sole world ; tkey, knew •nothintag
country beyond Richnimid and Windsor.
burn Gardens were suiffciently rural for theingoapd
more sylvan haunts were associated -in their minds
with fox-bunting sqUiies, the cracking of whips, the
yelping of dogs, and all the arcana of pickling, pot-
ting, and preserving. What a picture Lady Teazle
draws of .a country life; anti in the Trip to Scaibo-
rough, altered from Sir John Vanbrugh's Beinpre, the
contrast between the ..London visitants and the rustic •
inhabitants is painted with a bbld and masterly hand.
—The whole race seemed to be divided between
monkeys and bear, and a 4' youth of folly.' led to 4. an
old age of cards." But irrational as such an exist-
ence may appear, it must be a question whether our
ancestors were not infinitey happier than we are, in
this erudite and philosophic age. People who were
condemned to drudge for their subsistence, were not
tormented with vain wishes to keep npan appearance
beyond their means—they were contented with plea-
sures befitting their stations; and the middling classes,
satisfied with moderate enjoyments, left the nobility
to flutter like gilded insects over the parterre of plea-
sure, and never attempted to appear on an equality
with them.

. Reputation was not so fragile a thing as it is in the
present day. A woman of rank might enact a
thousand wild pranks with perfect impunity. The
plot of a Spanish.comedy was not more crowded with
that harmless sort of intrigue which only seeks to
gratify a passion for conquest, than the lite of a fins
lady. In the morning she commenced her bright ca-
reer, and as she sailed down the Mall, in as much
state as Cleopatra affected on the Cydntts, perfumed
bill t. were thrown at her feet—her servants *ere
dismissed from their attendance by more obsequious
rand gaudily attired slaves—one held her snuff, a se-
cond was proud to bear her cardinal, and the third
carried her fan. These beaus were all eager to
furnish some piece of entertainment for the evening ;
an aquatic excursion on the Thames, with a baird of
music and fire-works—or a coach and fcur,4nd a
dinner of white bait at Greenwich—a supper and
dance at the Star at Richmond—or a trip to a review
on Hounslow Heath, and a cold collation at Staines.
The nymph accepted all these treats, and often,
through mere scorn of the donor, bestowed all her
attention on a guest, who had never purchased it by
such lavish expenditure; or disappointed the whole
party, and scuttled ,off, muffled
,in a disguise, in a
hackney-coach, to play a trick •on some favoured
lover, and win a heart a second time, incognita ; or,
pleased to ruin another's wooing, employed every ar-
tifice to rival her dearest friend, and then cast off her
conquest with her gloves, and pointed the artillery of
her eyes at some new gallant. With evening came
100 and quadrille, and what she lost at the one, she
cheated for at the other ' • or paid her debts of ho-
nour with a smile, and, like the too adventurous,
moth, was in momentary danger of scorching her
wings in the devouring flame she loved so dearly to
approach. Devoted to vanity, and insatiate of con-
quest, she made frequent excursions into the City,
ransacking the warehouses for, foreign lace, and India
China, and doing her best to bewilder the shopmen
with the superabundance of her aha;cns. Then the
bales of frippery with which' her coach was laden,
were to be shewn off at Ranelagh, and ihe-Pantheon;
und though With. the decay of those places, a subject
of wirnderment has commenced, that people could,
ever find atnusement in mettle walking about and
looking at each other, the mystery is unravelled when
we consider that.the slight restraint placed on words
and actions, the floridness of the gallantry, and the
excess of the coquetry, together with the entertaining
contrast. of those parties who only came to gape and
wonder at the great, rendered the promenade equal
to any comedy that was ever exhibited, and not less
delightful to the spectators than to the actors.
Lcndon has now grown too large for these things,
and the slightest singularity in conduct has became
vulgar. Gentle and simple are so crowded together,
so little distinguisheil bi dress and manners ;•and the
influx of wealth and the refinement of education have
exalted so many little people to a level with high
birth, that the Nobility, disliking the conjunction,
have become jealous of chewing themselves to the
million; and this exclusiveness being also imitated,.
dull decorum is firmly established. Vice, still exist-
ing, is now a rank weed divested of its flower. " All
that gives gloss to sin, all gay light folly," is ba-
nished ; but we fear the appearance of virtue only is
assumed, aid we know that the dissipation which
was formerly confined to the patrician order, is now
extended through all ranks ; am'
closely shut up in their carting'
dare not speak to a stranger wttl
duction, in any place, because they
meetiltg admirers in thelong-spur
the dandy clerk, :wired in Styli.
and these heroes, no longer indi
garity, ape the grave air and
Gentlemen by profession ; and
and. (rolic b lett to Use lowest
noble herd of le= and Jenks..

mulct:in oruer, is ucrtv •
td belles of fashion are
es Pv in the Pink, aid
ithout a formal intro-
they are in danger of
purred tradesman and
xitze's latest fashants ;
lulging in joyous yul-
solemn demeanour of
I everything like sport
t classes—the most igi '1
1.. I