With what pomp of phraseology are the triumphs and movements of these
_danseuses_ announced, by the self-same journal which despatches, with a
stroke of the pen, the submission of a province or revolution of a kingdom!
One poor halfpenny-worth, or half a line, suffices for the death of a
sultana; while fiery columns precede the departure and arrival of the
steamer honoured by conveying across the Atlantic some ethereal being,
whose light fantastic toe is to give the law to the United States. Her
appearance in the Ecclesiastic States, on the other hand, is announced in
Roman capitals; and her triumphal entry into St Petersburg received with
regiments of notes of admiration!!!

Were Taglioni, by the malediction of Providence, to break her leg, what
corner of the civilized earth but would sympathize in the casualty? Or
were Elssler epidemically carried off, on the same day with the Pope, the
Archbishop of Dublin, a chancellor of an university, an historiographer,
or astronomer-royal--_which_ would be most cared for by society at large,
or to which would the public journals distribute the larger share of their
dolefuls?

Nor is it alone the levities of Europe which have encompassed with a
gaseous atmosphere of enthusiasm these idols of the day. We appeal to our
sober, plodding, painstaking brother Jonathan. We move for returns of the
sums he has expended on his beloved Fanny, and for notes of the honours
conferred upon her, not only on the boards of his theatres and in the
publicity of his causeways, but amid the august nationalities of his
senate! "Fanny Elssler in Congress" has become as historical as the name
of Washington! As if for the purpose of proving that extremes meet, the
democrats of the New World were demonstrating the wildest infatuation in
favour of one dancer, while the great autocrat of the Old was exhibiting a
similar fervour in honour of another. La Gitana became all but