If I know anything of right or wrong, if virtue and vice be
indeed something more than words, then was this great American
an unprincipled tyrant, and most heartless libertine.
But to return to Miss Wright,--it is impossible to imaging any
thing more striking than her appearance. Her tall and majestic
figure, the deep and almost solemn expression of her eyes, the
simple contour of her finely formed head, unadorned excepting by
its own natural ringlets; her garment of plain white muslin,
which hung around her in folds that recalled the drapery of a
Grecian statue, all contributed to produce an effect, unlike
anything I had ever seen before, or ever expect to see again.
CHAPTER 8
Absence of public and private Amusement--Churches and
Chapels--Influence of the Clergy--A Revival
I never saw any people who appeared to live so much without
amusement as the Cincinnatians. Billiards are forbidden by law,
so are cards. To sell a pack of cards in Ohio subjects the
seller to a penalty of fifty dollars. They have no public balls,
excepting, I think, six, during the Christmas holidays. They
have no concerts. They have no dinner parties.
They have a theatre, which is, in fact, the only public amusement
of this triste little town; but they seem to care little about
it, and either from economy or distaste, it is very poorly
attended. Ladies are rarely seen there, and by far the larger
proportion of females deem it an offence against religion to
witness the representation of a play.
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