In 1837 the Opera-ball in Paris was not as yet entirely invaded by that mob of wild and crazed dancers, _chicards_[1] and _chicandards_ (as they style themselves), who, in the present day, have almost entirely driven from these assemblies the old traditions for mystification, and that tone of good society which did not detract from the piquancy of adventure. Then, as now, the fashionables of the day congregated around a large chest, placed in the corridor of the first circle of boxes, between the two doors of the Opera "crush-room."…
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