and direction of Consuelo. We take only those girls into this school who have completed their studies elsewhere; and Consuelo teaches them, what is little known in city schools, the aesthetics of society, as well as the higher departments of the fine arts. The cost of a pupil is about two thousand a year; of course," said the count, with a smile, "we have only the élite of society. Indeed, we wish to receive only orphans, because we do not want the intermeddling of anxious parents. Guardians who want to be relieved of the care of their wards send them here, and such we are alone willing to receive."

"And have you a college for the young gentlemen we saw here last night?" asked Annie.

"No! the young men you speak of are here as members, or are our invited guests, who spend half of the year with us," replied the count.

"And have they free access to your scholars?" asked Annie.

Certainly; why not?" asked the count; and Annie found herself quite at a loss to answer. "We hold," continued the count, "there's nothing sinful in humanity, but what has been wrought into the soul by a degraded social system. It is restraint that provokes the passions. I believe one who is held as high authority has said, somewhere, I had not known sin, but by the law.' It is society-made law that is the cause of all the sins of society."

"Pardon me, count; but, if you quote Paul, in our hearing, for authority, you will please complete the citation," said Frank.

The count laughed at this, and replied: "Paul is, indeed, rather doubtful authority here. It is a vicious habit of some of our Bostonia friends, which I have in this instance unwittingly

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adopted, to cite a passage because it sounds to the ear clever and pertinent, without any regard as to what it is designed to teach in the text out of which it is taken."

"Is not that'stealing the livery of Heaven'?" asked Annie, archly.

"I see I cannot keep up a contest of this sort," said the count. "I know too little of the literature of which you speak. But, let me say this: I hope your stay here will be pleasant to you, as it certainly will be to us; and, while here, I say, once for all, use the largest liberty, at all times and in all places." And, with a bow, the count left them.

CHAPTER LV.

THE EMPLOYMENTS AND ENJOYMENTS AT A PHALANSTERY.

Ar eight o'clock a bell rang, and Theresa came out to them as they were returning, and informed them that they would barely have time to prepare for breakfast, which took place at half-past eight. They hastened to their rooms accordingly, and were dressed, as Theresa thought proper, in purest white, with a paleblue silk scarf around the neck.

Lord and Lady Dielincœur were ready, and waited for them in their parlor; and at half-past eight the count and lady, and Lord D. and his party, descended to the breakfast-room. It was

a grand and lofty saloon; the walls were filled with mirrors, and the compartments of the ceilings were painted with wonderful beauty. The tables were set for four hundred or more, and ran parallel with each other. The end table stood on a dais reached by two steps; and at this were the seats of the count and the Areopagi, and of Lord D. and his party, facing the company. The tables were covered with beautiful china and plate, and vases filled with flowers, which shed their sweet perfume upon the air. The ventilation was perfect; for a steam-engine wrought a change in the air of the apartment every instant. This the count spoke of as one of his grandest improvements, that, by the mighty energy of this steam giant, the atmosphere was constantly changing over the whole building. We regret the working plans of this part of the machinery of the Phalanstery are not at hand for the benefit of all builders of hotels and other great edifices in our land.

The breakfast saloon was already partially filled by the Phalanx when the count entered; and, immediately after, all the inmates came in, when the company took their seats. Our ladies were surprised to see the variety of costumes worn. Some were in Swiss dresses, others in classic robes of Greece, and, indeed, any dress that chanced to please the fancy. The scholars were all dressed in white, with blue silk aprons. They sat mixed up among the communists and young gentlemen as it pleased them, and the utmost familiarity consistent with high-bred courtesy prevailed at the breakfast-table.

This company, Consuelo informed Frank, who sat near her, consisted of the several serie of a Phalanstery. "The youngest of these young ladies," said Consuelo, "wearing white flowers in

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their hair, bear the sweet title of vestals; those who wear roses in their hair have entered the class of damoisellate, implying that they have ceased to be vestals, and have entered the higher walks of life; and those more mature are known to be the feates, faquirates, and pivotals, the last of whom have obtained what is regarded among us as a rarity—the composite of constancy."" Frank listened attentively, but comprehended very little of all this.*

After breakfast the company thronged about the portico, and in the walks, amid flowers and statues, under the shadow of the projecting wings of the palace, till the bell struck ten, when the groups separated. The scholars and teachers went to the academy, a building in the rear of the palace; and young ladies with large plaited straw hats, and gloves which covered up their arms, accompanied by young gentlemen who bore portfolios, accoutred for a tramp in the woods, started with their teachers in drawing, botany, and mineralogy. Others repaired to their several duties, for everybody must do something. Work was honorable in the Phalanstery; and everybody was expected to labor in some department of art or science. There were many who were occupied in the arts of design; and the studios of sculpture and painting were both extensive. To these our friends went, by invitation of ladies engaged in these pursuits. They found ladies, whose short tunics and bare arms suited their labor, at work moulding in clay, or working upon busts with the mallet and chisel; and in

* Should our readers share in Frank's dubiety, they must read "Love in the Phalanstery," by Victor Hennequin, translated from the French, and published by De Witt and Davenport, Tribune Buildings, New York. They will find in this treatise many things hard to be understood.

the same studio with gentlemen engaged in similar labors, and often working together upon the same statue. These gentlemen wore paper caps and white linen jackets. This building was called the Atelier de Sculpture, and professors were present to counsel the scholars. It was attractive labor; and the sight was one of exceeding interest. Our gentlemen wondered that the ennui of women in fashionable life was never cured by like devotion to the arts of design, sculpture especially, as it afforded some exercise to the muscles of the chest and arms. In the school of painting they found a larger number of ladies and gentlemen employed at work with the pencil, under direction of professors. Some of the paintings were large historical pieces, designed for the walls of the house, illustrating the happy results of Fourierism; and, if the pencil and the imagination of these artists could be trusted, the way to restore the world to its golden age would be to adopt the philosophy of Fourier, and burn up all the Bibles.

From these "ateliers" of the arts of design, where all seemed so happy, and where literature and labor were so happily united, our party went into the library, another spacious hall, lighted from the roof, having two galleries, and said to contain a hundred thousand volumes of selected works in all languages. But, like books in the famous library of the Vatican, they were all under lock and key; and, when they asked for the keys to some of the cases, the librarian said those keys were mislaid; and, as for any use made of the books in both libraries, they might have been long ago reduced to ashes. They found that the inmates of this Phalanstery were monks and nuns in many particulars, and in none more entirely than in the confidence they expressed