Why should envy, jealousy, pride, malice,
anger, or revenge, shut themselves out exclusively from these resorts,
as if these were more than ordinarily sacred, or more than ordinary
repositories of human worth.
In examining the interior of a ball-room it must be confessed, that we
shall certainly find circumstances occasionally arising, that give birth
to feelings neither of a pleasant nor of a moral nature. It is not
unusual, for instance, to discover among the females one that excels in
the beauty of her person, and another that excels in the elegance of her
dress. The eyes of all are more than proportionally turned upon these
for the whole night. This little circumstance soon generates a variety
of improper passions. It calls up vanity and conceit in the breasts of
these objects of admiration. It raises up envy and jealousy, and even
anger in some of the rest. These become envious of the beauty of the
former, envious of their taste, envious of their cloathing, and, above
all, jealous of the admiration bestowed upon them. In this evil state of
mind one passion begets another; and instances have occurred, where some
of these have felt displeased at the apparent coldness and indifference
of their own partners, because they have appeared to turn their eyes
more upon the favourites of the night, than upon themselves.
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