Nearly all the visitors seemed to be Americans, but
neither the Yankee type nor the Hoosier was to be found. They were
apparently very happy, too; the ancestral solemnity of the race that
amuses itself sadly was not to be seen in them, and, if they were not
making it a duty to be gay, they were really taking their pleasure in a
cheerful spirit.
There was, in fact, something in the sight of the Coliseum, as we
approached it, which was a sufficient cause of elation to whoever is
buoyed up by the flutter of bright flags, and the movement in and about
holiday booths, as I think we all are apt to be. One may not have the
stomach of happier days for the swing or the whirligig; he may not drink
soda-water intemperately; pop-corn may not tempt him, nor tropical fruits
allure; but he beholds them without gloom,--nay, a grin inevitably lights
up his countenance at the sight of a great show of these amusements and
refreshments. And any Bostonian might have felt proud that morning that
his city did not hide the light of her mercantile merit under a bushel,
but blazoned it about on the booths and walls in every variety of printed
and painted advertisement.
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