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 "There was a suondsound [sic] 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.

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.

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

Statesmen, and officers of the militia— In short, the "first society"—a phrase,