I dreamed all night about Calanthe--got up in the morning, called the waiter "Calanthe," and said "my darling" to him as he handed me my coffee--gave my tailor an order for a new coat and two pairs of pantaloons, and told him to charge them to "Calanthe"--got a box of cigars and a demijohn of Scotch whiskey, and signed the drayman"s receipt "Calanthe"--all the signs read "Calanthe"--every street was "Calanthe" street--all the stages belonged to the "Calanthe" line, and were going to "Calanthe" ferry--the ship "Calanthe" had arrived, the steamboat "Calanthe" had burst her boiler, and the brig "Calanthe" been seen bottom upward with her rudder gone. I saw, heard, read, dreamed, thought, and talked nothing but "Calanthe," and cannibal that I am, I verily believe I ate nothing but "Calanthe" for a month.
The day after I saw her first I felt so exceedingly amiable that I bought something of every pedler who came into the store--laid in a stock of matches, pencils, shoe-brushes, suspenders, bootjacks, and blacking, which will last me a short lifetime--bought so much candy that the office-boy had the colic every afternoon for a week--called the applewoman "my own sweet love," and said "thank you, darling," when she gave me pewter dimes in change.
Wrote spasmodic poetry about Calanthe"s hair--lines to her raven tresses--stanzas to her locks of jet--odes to her ebon ringlets--verses to her sable curls--rhymes to her coal-black hair, and commenced a poem in 17 cantos, to her ebony-topped head, but on reflection I was led to doubt the propriety of the comparison.
Called to see her every evening--substantial victuals didn"t agree with me--a kind word from her was a good breakfast--a tender glance has served me for a dinner many a time, and once when she pressed my hand I couldn"t eat anything for a fortnight but oranges, cream-candy, and vanilla-beans.
We went to the theatre, endured the negro minstrels, and braved the horrors of a second-rate Italian Opera Company--in fact, everywhere, where there was anything to be seen or heard, there were Calanthe Maria, and her devoted Philander.
For a month I forgot my debts, neglected business, ignored entirely this mundane sphere, and lived in a rainbow-colored aerial castle, of the most elegant finish--surrounded by roses, attended by cupids, and just big enough for Calanthe Maria and the subscriber.
In that happy place there were no duns, no tailors" bills, no trouble, no debts, no getting up early cold mornings, no tight boots, no bad cigars: nothing but love, luxury, and Calanthe Maria.
Came down occasionally out of my airy mansion, to speak a few words of compa.s.sion to my companions in the office, who hadn"t got any Calanthe, but I went right back again as quick as I could to that rose-colored dream-land where love and Calanthe were "boss and all hands."
At last, one fatal evening I was undeceived.
We were waltzing, and through some clumsiness on my part, her hair caught in a gas-fixture--some mysterious string broke, and those glossy ringlets, the object of my adoration, _came off_, leaving her head bald as a brickbat. Relating this sc.r.a.pe of the locks to a friend, he informed me that the rest of her charms would not bear minute inspection, for she wore false teeth, and bought her complexion at Phalon"s; that her graceful form was the result of a skilful combination of cotton and whalebone.
This was too much. While I thought Calanthe a woman, I loved her, but the discovery of the _fishy_ element excited a prejudice--as a _female_, she had my affection, and I contemplated matrimony--as a land mermaid, I had no desire to swindle Barnum and become her proprietor.
Coming as I did, from a section of the country where they have _human_ women, and where they don"t attempt to deceive masculine mankind with French millinery strategy, I was unprepared for counterfeits, and had been easily deluded by a spurious article. But I find that in New York, perambulating bundles of dry goods not unfrequently pa.s.s current as women--and the milliners now put their eccentric inventions upon these locomotive shams, to the great neglect of those revolving waxen ladies who used to perform their perpetual gyrations in the show-windows.
As an advertising medium, they possess facilities for publicity beyond any of the newspapers, having a city circulation, which is unattainable by anything dumb and unpetticoated.
The great staple of the south has not only "made" some of our first men, but has been discovered to enter largely into the composition of many of our first ladies.
My madness was now over--the intoxication of love was dissipated, and I was once more able to get about my business without having a feminine name constantly present to my eyes. The stages, the dry-goods" boxes, the streets and signs, were once more lettered in sensible characters. I was guilty of no more poetry, went to no more operas--in short, exhibited no longer any of the signs of insanity, but relapsed at once into my former unpoetical condition--the spell was broken--the blind fiend was exorcised--reason got back to her old bunk, and "Richard was himself again."
The difference in my mental condition occasioned my landlady considerable alarm; while I had lived on love, and paid five dollars a week for the privilege of sitting down at table only, she had considered me a profitable boarder; but the disappearance of beef and substantials generally, consequent upon my returning appet.i.te, sensibly diminish her esteem for me. I fancy I can perceive a change in her treatment, for she sets the bread and b.u.t.ter as far away from me as possible.
P. S.--She has raised my board to eight dollars a week, and with a consciousness that I deserve it, I submit.
XV.
Modern Patent Piety--Church-Going in the City
Persons from the rural districts--who are visiting the city for the first time, and who have all their lives been accustomed to no more pretentious religious edifices than the old fashioned country meeting-house, with a "steeple," either of the extinguisher or pepper-castor pattern; with great square hot-house windows, built expressly to concentrate and reflect upon the innocent congregation the hottest rays of the sun, as if religion was a green-house plant, and would only bloom beneath a forced and artificial heat--usually expend no small portion of their simple wonder upon the magnificent temples of the town, which aspiring congregations erect ostensibly for the worship of the manger-cradled Saviour.
It usually too requires some considerable time for such a behind-the-times person to lay aside all his antiquated notions of religion, in which love, charity, and good will to men were essential elements, but which primitive idea of Christianity has, in the more enlightened city precincts, been long since exploded, and adopt the more convenient and showy piety which fashionable city people wear on Sundays--the const.i.tuent parts of which are too often only ostentation and vanity, veneered with a thin sh.e.l.l of decency and decorum. Such church-going people are remarkably easy on the Bible--most of the doctrines therein inculcated having been long since explained away by their three-thousand-dollar clergyman, who measures his people for their religion, and fits them with as much nicety as their tailors or dressmakers do in the case of more visible wardrobe. One or two Sundays after my first appearance in this town of patent Christianity, I attended service for the first time.
Having seen the opera with detestation, the theatres with approbation, George Christy with cachinnation, and No. 2 Dey street with affiliation; having visited Castle Garden, the model artists, and the American Museum; in fact, knowing something of almost all the other places of amus.e.m.e.nt in the city, I resolved to complete and crown my knowledge by going to church, and I hope I may receive due credit for my pursuit of amus.e.m.e.nt under difficulties. I made known my heroic determination to my new-found friends, and they instantly resolved to bear me company--Bull Dogge by way of variety, and Damphool from force of habit--(Bull Dogge seldom goes to church, and Damphool _always_ does).
Sunday morning came, and the aforesaid individuals presented themselves--B. D. looked pugnacious and pugilistic, and Damphool perfectly marvellous--in fact, majestic as this latter-named person had ever borne himself, and importantly huge as he had ever appeared, his coat tails were now so wonderfully short, his collar so enviably large, and so independently upright, and his hat so unusually and magnificently lofty, that he certainly looked a bigger Damphool than ever before.
Walked up Broadway through a crowd of people of all sorts, sizes, colors, and complexions; countrymen running over every third man they met; New Yorkers threading their way through apparently un-get-thro"-a-ble crowds without ruffling their tempers or their shirt collars--(By the way, I have discovered that no one but a genuine New Yorker, born and bred, can cross Broadway upon a dignified walk;) firemen in red shirts, and their coats over their arms; newsboys with a very scanty allowance of shirt, and no coats at all; Dutch emigrants, with dirty faces, nasty breeches, and long loppy looking pipes; Irish emigrants, with dirtier faces, nastier breeches, and short, stubbier pipes; spruce-looking darkies, and wenches arrayed in rainbow-colored habiliments--and at last reached the door of the church.
For about a quarter of a mile on either side of the entrance there extended a row of carriages, lined with satin, with velvet cushions; and on every carriage there were a couple of men with white gloves on, gold bands round their hats, a black rosette on the side, and a short cloak over their shoulders, with cloth enough in the mult.i.tudinous capes of each to make a full suit of clothes for a common-sized man, and three or four half grown boys. Bull Dogge informed me that these were the liveried flunkies of our republican aristocracy, and that it was made their business to sit outside the church and watch the lazy over-fed horses, while their owners were inside saying American "amens" to democratic prayers that liberty and equality may be established over all the earth.
The coachman spends his Sabbath hours in the pious occupation of cracking his whip at the little boys who are playing marbles on the side-walk, reading the Sunday papers, and saying hard words at the flies which make his horses shake their nettings off--while the genteel footman goes to sleep in the carriage, with his boots out of the window, and only arouses from his slumber in time to open the door for my lady, as she comes from her courtly devotions.
We pa.s.sed the scrutiny of these gentlemen without exciting any audible impertinence, and reached the door of the church. Everything looked so grandly gingerbready that I hesitated about going in. Little boy in the corner (barefooted, with a letter in the post-office) told us to "go _in_," and called us "_lemons_." Did not perceive the force of his pomological remark, but "_went in_" nevertheless. Man in a white cravat showed us to a pew; floor covered with carpet, and seat covered with damask, with little stools to kneel down upon. Bull Dogge says that at one time the prevailing style of pantaloons nearly caused a division in the church, which was however compromised by an alteration in the litany, and allowing the gentlemen to stand during the performance of certain prayers instead of kneeling down, which latter feat was difficult of accomplishment, on account of the _tightness of their straps_. Some of the congregation were however so much offended that they stayed away, and used home-made prayers, instead of coming to church and dealing in the orthodox ready-made article.
Got inside; crowd of people; minister fenced up in a kind of back closet, in a pulpit trimmed with red velvet and gilt-edged prayer-books.
Pretty soon, music--organ--sometimes grand and solemn, but generally fast and lively enough for a contra-dance. (B. D. said the player got a big salary to show off the organ, and draw a big house.)
He commenced to play Old Hundred (Damphool suggests Ancient Century).
At first, majestic as it should be, but soon his left hand began to get unruly among the ba.s.s notes, then the right cut up a few monkey shines in the treble; left threw in a large a.s.sortment of quavers, right led off with a grand flourish and a few dozen variations; left struggled manfully to keep up, but soon gave out, dead beat, and after that went back to first principles, and hammered away religiously at Old Hundred, in spite of the antics of its fellow; right struck up a march, marched into a quick step, quickened into a gallop; left still kept at Old Hundred; right put in all sorts of fantastic extras, to entice the left from its sense of propriety; left still unmoved; right put in a few bars of a popular waltz; left wavers a little; right strikes up a favorite polka; left evidently yielding; right dashes into a jig; left now fairly deserts its colors and goes over to the enemy, and both commence an animated hornpipe, leaving poor Old Hundred to take care of itself.
Then with a crash, a squeak, a rush, a roar, a rumble, and an expiring groan, the overture concluded and service began.
First, a prayer; then a response; prayer; response; by the priest and people alternately, like the layers of bread and b.u.t.ter, and ham and mustard in a sandwich; then a little sing, then a little preach, then more pet.i.tions and more responses.
Damphool read the entire service, Minister"s cues included, and sung all the hymns. I noticed that Bull Dogge gave all the responses with a great deal of energy and vigor. He said he always liked to come to this kind of Church, because when they jawed religion at him, he could jaw back.
Kept as cool as I could, but could not help looking round now and then to see the show.
Elderly lady on my right, very devout, gilt edged prayer-book, gold-covered fan, feathers in her bonnet, rings on her fingers, and for all I know, "bells on her toes."
Antiquated gentleman in same slip, well preserved but somewhat wrinkled, smells of Wall street, gold spectacles, gold-headed cane, put three cents in the plate.
Fashionable little girl on the left--two flounces on her pantalettes, and a diamond ring _over_ her glove.
Young America looking boy, four years old, patent leather boots, standing collar, gloves, cane, and cigar case in his pocket.
Foppish young man with adolescent moustache, pumps, legs _a la_ spermaceti candles, shirt front embroidered _a la_ 2.40 race horse, cravat _a la_ Julien, vest _a la_ pumpkin pie, hair _a la_ soft soap, coat-tails _a la_ boot-jack, which when parted discovered a view of the Crystal Palace by gas-light on the rear of his pantaloons, wristbands _a la_ stove pipe, hat _a la_ wild Irishman, cane to correspond; total effect _a la_ Shanghae.
Artificial young lady, extreme of fashion; can"t properly describe her, but here goes: whalebone, cotton, paint and whitewash; slippers _a la_ Ellsler, feet _a la_ j.a.panese, dress _a la_ Paris, shawl _a la_ eleven hundred dollars, parasol _a la_ mushroom, ringlets _a la_ corkscrew, arms _a la_ broomstick, bonnet _a la_ Bowery gal (Bull Dogge says the boy with b.u.t.tons on him, brought it in, in a teaspoon, fifteen minutes after she entered the house), neck _a la_ scrag of mutton, complexion _a la_ mother of pearl, appearance generally _a la_ humbug. (Bull Dogge offers to bet his hat, she don"t know a cabbage from a new cheese, and can"t tell whether a sirloin steak is beef, chicken, or fresh fish.)
At length, with another variette upon the organ, and all the concentrated praise and thanksgiving of the congregation, sung by four people up stairs, the service concluded. I thought from the manner of this last performance, each member of the choir imagined the songs of praise would never get to Heaven if he didn"t give them a personal boost, in the shape of an extra yell.
Left the Church with a confused idea that the only way to attain eternal bliss, is to go to Church every Sunday, and to give liberally to the Foreign Missionary cause.
Bull Dogge tried to convince me, that one half the people present, thought that Fifth avenue runs straight into Heaven, and that their through tickets are insured, their front seats reserved, and that when they are obliged to leave this world, they will find a coach and four, and two servants in livery, ready to take them right through to the other side of Jordan.
XVI.
Benevolence Run Mad--Charitable Cheating.