The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-05-01 00:00:00

GRAND FANCY BILL,

April 30th, 1840.

This delightful entertainment, which excites many pleasing
reminiscences, took place last night, (or rather, is now, while
we write, still going on), and did time permit, we might be
tempted to expatiate in introducing the subject, and endea-
vour to furnish some historical account of " tbe rise and pro-

gress" of an amusement, which, sO far as " conquest" is
concerned, has, in peaceful life, done more for humanity than
ever was achieved by the prowess either of the Greeks or
Romans,—who are still held up to us as fathers of " clas-
sical" taste and propriety. Suffice it to say that, in England,
the Fancy Ball has taken the place of the Masquerade, with
which our jolly forefathers were prone to amuse themselves
withal, and that, too, for sundry good and substantial rea-

sons. Where the " mask" Was permitted, deceit, cunning,
and licentiousness walked within the mazes of the ball-room ;
characters of doubtful worth found their way within its pre-
cincts ; words were uttered by those incognito, or " soft ac-
cents whispered," which, though perhaps, at first innocently
meant, had reference to the private pursuits of men, or the
department of women ; the doors of familiarity were thrown

open ; the bonds of society received a shock, and even the

ruffian or the seducer found scope for the indulgence of his
dishonourable and destructive propensities. Modern so-
ciety has done well to interdict a custom pregnant with so
many evils, and substitute for it a species of entertainment

of a chaster and more truly English character. Concealment
is abhorrent, in guise or in words, to the generous spirit of

our country, it is " foreign" to their feelings ; for in general
or domestic intercourse, as well as in their courts of law, they
like everything to be open arid above board. That the change

from the masquerade to the fancy or dress ball has been con•
ducive to the suppression of the evils alluded to, and produc.
tive of a more refined taste amongst the higher classes of so

ciety, there can exist no reasonable doubt. Where all must
appear at a public assembly in their own proper visages, how-
ever otherwise disguised, there can be no object, but to
gratify a natural desire to be elegant or correct in costume,
or to gratify others by a momentary assumption of distin-
guished character. The fancy ball has, however, nobler uses
as regards its final tesults. The people of England are
considerate, humane, and charitable beyond the inhabitants
of any country in the world. But they have so many drains
upon their purses, that unless the objects worthy of their
beneficence be actually before them in person, they require
some degree of stimulus to rouse them to that liberality which
isotherwise spontaneous. The blending of a blameless pub-
lic amusement, of comparatively trifling cost of admission,
with a charitable object, is, therefore, peculiarly productive
of good, and it leaves behind the most delightful of all rernini-
cences—the consciousness that whilst we have been enjoying
ourselves, we have contributed to the health, the happiness, or
the relief of our less fortunate fellow creatures. There is in the
" fancy ball," as in all other public entertainments, an insepa-
rable degree of levity scarcely compatible with the stern morals
of the philosopher,or the cold and apathetic feelings of the stoic;
but if it bring into friendly and harmonious contact, thou-
sands of our " honest men and bonny lasses," it affords a
temporary freedom and delight from the cares of business

and the turmoils of life ; if, above all, it produces a fund,
cheerfully bestowed, for the relief of the distressed, which
would else be denied, or reluctantly bestowed,—then do we
say of the " fancy ball"—that light, and in itself unimport-
ant as it may be,—" vive la bagatelle."
Fancy Balls are of comparatively modern date—at least in
Liverpool, but with the quickness of perception and inate
energy of the inhabitants of this our northern metropolis, we
have already become second to no town in the kingdom, in
this magnificent and classical production. The first fancy
ball, of which we have any remembrance, was a private one, held
at the Wellington Rooms, (ahandsome subscription establish-
ment) in Mount Pleasant, the 13th March, 1821. It was given
by a number of gentlemen, about thirty in number, bachelors,
who had become weary of single blessedness, and not a few
of whom found partners not only for the night, but for life.
The ball created a good deal of interest in the fashionable
world, was exceedingly splendid and well conducted, and may
..)e said to have formed the nucleus of and given the tone to
future entertainments of a similar description. Such was the
popular feeling on the subject that our musical festivals,
which occur triennially, for the public charities (com-
mencing on Monday and terminating on Friday) havd, since
their commencement, (soon after the period alluded to,)
always been wound up by a like entertainment, which, in-
deed, has not only been found to give more general satisfac-
tion than the oratorios of the week—though the most
extravagantly expensive vocalists have been engaged—but to
be more productive of pecuniary return to the charitable
fund. The first of these was, if we remember aright, in
October, 1823, and was exceedingly splendid. Each suc-
ceeding festival produced its splendid fancy ball—for which
the rooms of the Town-Hall were so peculiarly appropriate.
That of October, 1827, was exceedingly gorgeous. On that
occasion, as on the present, the Exchange Newsroom was
united, by a covered passage, with the suit of rooms in the
Town-Hall, and was appropriated as a refectory. The num-
ber of guests assombled we have heard estimated at nearly
four thousand; and never was there a more gorgeous,display
of taste, fashion, and beauty. This gave the tone to suc-
ceeding balls of a like kind, and each more splendid than the
last. Occasional private fancy balls have taken place in the
interim at the Wellington Assembly Rooms. The last was
on the of March, in the present year, and was exceed-
ingly well sustained, both as respected classical taste and,
correctness of costume, and the deportment of character.
But wp must proceed to the entertainment immediately
before us, and which had for its object the replenish-
ment of the funds of those admirable, humane, and,
amongst such a people, indispensable institutions—the
"Infirmary," the respective "Dispensaries," and the "Dis-
trict Provident Society,"—for the cure and relief of the
diseased or injured of the poorer portion of our population.
The pecuniary resources of these establishments having be-
conie nearly exhausted by the drains upon them occasioned
by a long continuance and heavy depression on the labour
market, and the inroads of those diseases which are the con-
comitants of poverty and privation,—our worthy Mayor,
backed by the Corporation, set on foot the present ball, in
the hope, which has not been disappointed, that the result
would be gratifying to those who attended it, and beneficial
as regards the benevolent object in view.
In order that our readers, who were not present on the
occasion, may be enabled the better to appreciate the magni-
tude and elegance of the ball, we supply the following brief
account of the rooms in which it was held, and which, taken
as a suite, are not surpassed, if, indeed, equalled by any
others in the kingdom,—not excluding even the palacial
buildings of the metropolis :