By occasional remarks, I gathered that the girls had been to an “Eastern” boarding-school, that particular feature in civilization not yet flourishing in the Northwestern States.  It seemed to us that we could trace in the dialect of the several members of this family, the gradations and peculiarities that denote the origin and habits of individuals.  Thus, the grandmother was not quite as Western in her forms of speech as her matronly daughter, while the grandchildren evidently spoke under the influence of boarding-school correction, or like girls who had been often lectured on the subject “First rate,” and “Yes, sir,” and “That’s a fact,” were often in the mouth of the pleasing mother, and even the grandmother used them all, though not as often as her daughter, while the young people looked a little concerned and surprised, whenever they came out of the mouth of their frank-speaking mother.  That these persons were not of a very high social class was evident enough, even in their language.  There was much occasion to mention New York, we found, and they uniformly called it “the city.”  By no accident did either of them happen to use the expression that she had been “in town,” as one of us would be apt to say.  “He’s gone to the city,” or “She’s in the city,” are awkward phrases, and tant soit peu vulgar; but even our pretty young boarding-school eleves would use them.  We have a horror of the expression “city,” and are a little fastidious, perhaps, touching its use.

But these little peculiarities were spots on the sun.  The entire family, taken as a whole, was really charming; and long before the hour for retiring came, we had become much interested in them all.  We found there was a fifth person belonging to this party, who did not make his appearance that night.  From the discourse of these females, however, it was easy to glean the following leading facts:  This fifth person was a male; he was indisposed, and kept his berth; and he was quite aged.  Several nice little dishes were carried from the table into his state-room that evening, by one or the other of the young sisters, and each of the party appeared anxious to contribute to the invalid’s comfort.  All this sympathy excited our interest, and we had some curiosity to see this old man, long ere it was time to retire.  As for the females, no name was mentioned among them but that of a Mrs. Osborne, who was once or twice alluded to in full.  It was “grandma,” and “ma,” and “Dolly,” and “sis.”  We should have liked it better had it been “mother,” and “grandmother,” and that the “sis” had been called Betsey or Molly; but we do not wish to be understood as exhibiting these amiable and good-looking strangers as models of refinement.  “Ma” and “sis” did well enough, all things considered, though “mamma” would have been better if they were not sufficiently polished to say “mother.”