THE gay season in New York was at its height; when at that hour of the evening at which a majority of its good citizens deemed it prudent to repair by sleep the waste of the day, it appeared, by the roll of carriages to the entrance of a fine house in Broadway, that the fashionable world took a different note of time. Illuminated windows, and the frequent dropping of carriage steps, attracted the attention of those living in the vicinity; and jealous eyes peering through the folds of blinds and curtains, attempted to ascertain by the outline of the figures,-when on entering the door they were cast in strong relief by the bright light within,—the name or quality of the fair visitants. The result of this inquisition was, that "all the world was there except-themselves." As an indemnity for an exclusion so mortifying, they naturally endeavoured to ascertain the date of a gentility by which they were thus overlooked. This was too recent to require a long investigation; and they soon arrived at the conclusion that the rise and progress of the Hastings, ➡y in question, were solely attributable to a lucky partnersnip with Mr. Frazier, a wealthy merchant, of whose standing in very first class," they were compelled to admit that the memory of man ran not to the contrary.

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While these matters were discussed without, with more acrimony

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