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cxxvi.

"There was a suond of revelry by night;"

Broadway was thronged with coaches, and within
A mansion of the best of brick, the bright
And eloquent eyes of beauty bade begin
The dance; and music's tones swelled wild and high,
And hearts and heels kept tune in tremulous ecstasy.

cxxvii.

For many a week, the note of preparation

Had sounded through all circles far and near;
And some five hundred cards of invitation
Bade beau and belle in full costume appear;
There was a most magnificent variety,
All quite select, and of the first society.

cxxviii.

That is to say—the rich and the well-bred,

The arbiters of fashion and gentility,
In different grades of splendor, from the head
Down to the very toe of our nobility:
Ladies, remarkable for handsome eyes
Or handsome fortunes—learned men, and wise

cxxix.

Statesmen, and officers of the militia—

In short, the "first society"—a phrase,