University of Virginia Library

As you appear to have taken to yourself the trouble of
meddling in the concerns of the beau-monde, I take the
liberty of appealing to you on a subject, which, though

considered merely as a very good joke, has occasioned me
great vexation and expense. You must know I pride
myself on being very useful to the ladies, that is, I take
boxes for them at the theatre, go shopping with them,
supply them with bouquets, and furnish them with novels
from the circulating library. In consequence of these
attentions I am become a great favourite, and there is
seldom a party going on in the city without my having
an invitation. The grievance I have to mention is the
exchange of hats which takes place on these occasions;
for, to speak my mind freely, there are certain young gentlemen
who seem to consider fashionable parties as mere
places to barter old clothes: and I am informed, that a
number of them manage by this great system of exchange
to keep their crowns decently covered without their hatters
suffering in the least by it.

It was but lately that I went to a private ball with a new
hat, and on returning in the latter part of the evening, and
asking for it, the scoundrel of a servant, with a broad grin,
informed me that the new hats had been dealt out half an
hour since, and they were then on the third quality; and I
was in the end obliged to borrow a young lady's beaver
rather than go home with any of the ragged remnants that
were left.

Now I would wish to know if there is no possibility
of having these offenders punished by law; and whether
it would not be advisable for ladies to mention in their
cards of invitation, as a postscript, “Stealing hats and
shawls positively prohibited.”—At any rate, I would
thank you, Mr. Evergreen, to discountenance the thing
totally, by publishing in your paper, that stealing a hat is
no joke.