Dolly Dialogues

The "e; Dolly Dialogues "e; serve much the same purpose that the ballet does in an opera-they are a divertissement pure and simple. The winsome, irresponsible "e;Dolly"e; picks her steps amid the conversational pitfalls which the adroit "e; Mr. Carter"e; spreads for her, with as much dainty sureness as a premiere danseuse, and we cannot but admire and applaud her grace and vivacity. There is no hidden meaning to the "e;Dialogues "e; any more than there is to "e;Dolly."e; They but reveal the polished inanity of the modern ball-room, the fashionable frivolity of the five o'clock tea-table, and the harmless flirtations of the lawn-tennis court. As "e;trifles light as air,"e; Mr. Hope offered them to us; as trifles we accept them, and who but the most nobly serious could refuse to smile over their gracefulness, their immaculate innuendo! As a hand-book on "e;Polite Conversations; or, The Art of Saying Nothing Gracefully,"e; these "e; Dolly Dialogues "e; might almost take rank as a serious classic.