Good taste was lost in tinsel and glitter; what a thing cost was the only standard of its beauty.

Great gingerbread palaces were everywhere run up, and let even before they were out of the builder's hands.

It was deemed fashionable to drive about in a carriage with four horses, with perhaps a black man to drive, and an Arab sitting on the box by his side.

Dresses by milliners in vogue gave a ready currency to their wearers.

The Raphael of his trade gave himself all the airs of a distinguished artist; he received his clients with vulgar condescension, and they--no matter what their rank--submitted to his insolence in the hope that he would enable them to outshine their rivals.