It is curious to observe how
professional are the impressions and observations of Broadway
pedestrians. Walk there with a portrait-painter, and he will infer
character or discover subjects of art in every salient physiognomy. The
disparities of fortune and the signs of depravity will impress the
moralist. The pictorial effects, the adventurous possibilities, the
enterprise, care, or pastime of the scene, elicit comments in accordance
with the idiosyncrasies or aptitudes of the observer. What gradations of
greeting, from the curt recognition to the hilarious salute! What
variety of attraction and repulsion, according as your acquaintance is a
bore or a beauty, a benefactor or a bankrupt! The natural language of
"affairs," however, is the predominant expression. From the days of Rip
Van Dam to those of John Pintard, it is as a commercial city that New
York has drawn both her rural and foreign population. And her chief
thoroughfare retains the distinctive aspect thereof, as the extension of
the city has eliminated therefrom all other social elements,--fashion
being transferred to the Fifth Avenue, indigence to the Five Points, and
equipages to the Central Park. Police reports abound with the ruses and
roughnesses of metropolitan life, as developed in the most frequented
streets, where rogues seek safety in crowds.
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