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men and women of them is no doubt one of the causes, but still it must be acknowledged to have some good effects too.

At whatever age you may see an American boy and girl together, you are never pained by that wretched mauvaise honte so common in England.

A college boy of fifteen, or seventeen in New-York will make visits to his girl friends of thirteen or fourteen, and treat them with thorough courtesy. He will have plenty to say to them, and will say it naturally, not in the least off his ease, and yet not as a general rule forward. It is his ambition to know many of them, to be a favorite with them, and their pursuits and amusements out of school will be in common. These boys go into society at a ridiculously early age, and are often very indifferently educated. Many of them of course are readers, and make up in later life for any early deficiencies, but many are apt to have an extremely low intellectual standard; being quite contented with that amount of knowledge or native smartness that will enable them to succeed in importing fancy dry goods or in selling stocks and gold in Wall Street; and yet with all that there will generally be found a "grace of courtesy" ingrained in them which makes it impossible for them to be otherwise than polite to a lady, or indeed to any other human being.

It would be absolutely impossible to find twelve American gentlemen in an omnibus on a wet day some of whom would not make room for a woman-and do it with grace, as if they had a pleasure in the doing of it. They would always prefer even that a man should come in and stand on their toes with his umbrella dripping over them, than that he should be left out in discomfort. Most of us who take occasion to travel in these not very aristocratic conveyances in London may remember to have noticed the expressions and actions of the five on each side when a lady passenger makes her appearance as No. 11 at the door-the alacrity to make room and remove her embarrassment as to which side she should choose, and the pleasant welcome given! However, we have rules and regulations as to complements which are conspicuous for their absence in NewYork. It is outrageous the way in which they fill their omnibuses and cars-exactly like the carts one sees in London streets filled with calves-not only with all the

sitting and standing room taken up, but with men hanging on to the platforms, and that under no necessity of exceptional pressure, but as an every-day occurrence. One is apt to hear in this country unfavorable comments on American manners, and it is true that they may often be found not altogether consonant with the highest grace or finish, but a stranger may travel "from Maine to California, and from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico," with very tolerable certainty that he will never encounter the slightest willful impoliteness unless he himself gives occasion for it. On the other hand, he will often find excessive courtesy from rough exteriors where he might little expect it, exhibited not in waste of words, but in kindness of action. Even in a California emigrant steamer, an Englishman, busy in taking care of his guns and of his bath-tub and of himself generally, may, if he has the eyes to see and the heart to understand, learn some lessons in chivalry-an accomplishment of by-gone days-from these same rough Western fellows, who may have shocked his delicate sensibility by eating peas with their knives, and by chewing tobacco. Under a glaring tropical sun it will be their first business on arriving at Aspinwall to carry ashore the chairs and other movables, including babies of women in no way connected with them, helpful to get them good places in the new steamer at Panamaunmindful, till that is done, of their own comfort. Is it, then, this equality of conditions that tends to greater courtesy, greater kindliness in manner? Certainly these qualities are noticeable among American

men.

As for the women, they are very bewitching from their sprightliness, but they are sometimes spoilt more or less by the attention they receive, looking upon the men merely as providers for their amusement, and they may be a little too apt to regard what they designate "having a good time" as the most important object in life, but still as a rule they appear to make good wives and mothers. And while they are young life certainly is made very easy to them, very joyous, as it naturally should be. Their association with the other sex is encouraged in every direction. Nothing so pleasantly surprises an English gentleman who goes to a New-York ball well introduced, as to be asked by half-a-dozen fair maidens of eighteen to twenty years of age, to whom he may have been pre

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sented, to call on them any evening. As it is only in most exceptional instances that their papas or mammas add to the crush in a ball-room, he is not likely to have the faintest idea who his new friends may be; but the invitation having been given in the frankest, kindest manner, he naturally takes advantage of it, and on the first occasion will probably be introduced to the parents and the rest of the family. But on all future occasions he is more likely than not to find the young lady quite alone. Not that she will deliberately so contrive it as to be alone. It would be truer to say that no one else will deliberately contrive that she should not be alone, and yet so habitual is this custom that there will not be the smallest constraint or consciousness in her manner. She conducts herself exactly as if it was the most natural thing in the world that two young people should be alone together. Perhaps the most common form for the visit to take will be that the young lady receives her friend in an ante-room, while the rest of the family, with folding doors open between, will be proceeding with their ordinary avocations in the adjoining room, precisely as if no foreign element were present. Each girl in the family will have her own distinct circle of acquaintance, both men and women, so that Maria's friends are possibly unknown except by sight to Julia, and papa's and mamma's friends are quite unknown to both young ladies. In some large houses in New-York, where two or three of the girls are in society, each receives her own friends in her own boudoir, where her visitor is shown up straight from the front door, and where she has her piano and her own favorite books and flowers about her. He comes and goes without seeing any other member of the family, and this unconstrained intimacy is apt to tend naturally towards matrimony.

The safety of the arrangement lies in the numbers. For the visitor going out is likely to stumble on another coming in, and the same young lady will walk or ride alone in the park with a different gentleman every day of the week, or will be seen one day perched on one of those marvelous "light wagons," with very scanty room for two on the seat, behind a pair of trotters speeded up to a "two-forty gait," (twentytwo miles an hour;) the next day, alongside a different driver, on an English dogcart with a tandem team; or a third day

[August,

reclining with a third cavalier among buffalo robes in a sleigh, rattling along under the merry music of its silver bells. In whatever form the men amuse themselves, the companionship of ladies seems to be a necessity for their thorough enjoyment.

lightness of the atmosphere of AmeriAnd to this may be attributed the can entertainments. At a New-York dinproportion of young married ladies and ner there is certain to be a very large girls recently "come out," and these women are apt to be so beautiful to look at all in the offensive sense of the word,) on and so coquette, (without being flirts simply so frankly ready to be admired and to be pleased, and so anxious to please, that no man can have time to realize any defects or wants. He welcomes oughly and unrestrainedly enjoying themthe new sensation of seeing people thorselves in their own way. It may not be the highest way, but they are there for the purpose of enjoyment, and they do enjoy themselves, and do not consider it necessary to give themselves airs either of frigidity, gushing sentimentality, literary enthusiasm, or fastness. They are simply natural.

Of course in a city of the size of may be called "the best society," comprisNew-York there are numerous sets in what ture, and it is therefore impossible to give ing every tone of culture or want of culan idea of the average style of conversation. It would not surprise you to find in an average dinner company several men recent works, as for instance the "Idyls unaware of the existence of well-known of the King," "The Spanish Gipsey," or very same table you might find yourself "The Ring and the Book." But at the taken up sharp by a girl in her teens if Mr. Herbert Spenser's writings, or were ventured to air a doubtful knowledge of you probably, however, be difficult to find anyto quote Buckle inaccurately. It would thing like the number of quiet dinner London, where various subjects of politiparties in New-York that may be found in cal, literary, or scientific interest are conversed about with considerable knowledge would be impossible for any one to circuon the part of the talkers, and where it late without a very fair acquaintance with the current literature of the day. "Shop" is the general bane of average New-York dinner conversation among men.

Then there is generally a hearty desire

on the part of every one to have a "good time;" and as hospitality is one of the cardinal virtues of American character, whatever your host has of best in the way of wines and cigars is sure to be forthcoming without stint. There is none of that repression which is the cold blanket on so many English entertainments, where those who consider themselves as a little grander socially than their neighbors must always be asserting their supremacy; and where from the butcher to the baronet so many people are always striving to be what they are not, and to force themselves into the society of others whose whole end and aim in life is to avoid associating with them. In New York the lawyer, the banker, the merchant, and the broker all associate on terms of perfect equality as gentlemen; and out of business hours you may see the young broker without a shilling of fortune, but who is a gentleman, take a position in society that a millionaire banker who may not be a gentleman would give his ears to obtain, and never can obtain. In England there is a very general-almost universal -impression or reproach that money will do any thing in New-York; but we who live in so thin a glass house can not afford to throw stones. Many a railway mag nate who may have amassed a fortunecompared with which Hudson's in his palmiest days would have been scarcely a competence-is as rigidly interdicted from any decent society in New-York, as Hudson was warmly welcomed in those circles which claim to call themselves the select society of London. It is very hard to say what does constitute the right of entrée into good society in New-York; but it most certainly is not wealth alone. There seems to be a sort of process of natural selection of all those people who in themselves contribute something to the general enjoyment. For in all their social gatherings enjoyment is the chiefest point considered. This is especially noticeable in a ball-room. The genius of the people goes out much toward dancing. Nothing can be more perfect of its kind than one of their assemblies at "Delmonico's." "Delmonico's" is an institution of New-York, a Swiss family of that name having for long been the chief restaurateurs of the city. They have rented a couple of the handsomest houses in Fifth Avenue, and have built a ball-room behind them, which is used not only for these public assemblies, but is very

NEW SERIES.-VOL. XVI., No. 2.

generally hired by any one wishing to give a large private ball. The suit of rooms is sufficiently handsome; and as four or five hundred people can be accommodated without crushing, there is generally room to move about and to dance. The bulk of the matronizing is done by comparatively few young married ladies, each of whom will take charge of any number of girls who report themselves to her as a matter of form. It is a very pretty sight to see one of these young matrons enter the salon bleu, the reception room, with half-a-dozen girls in her train, each carrying from one to half-a-dozen bouquets of exquisite flowers. They have a rare faculty for dressing well--understanding how to wear their fine things, and having in general a perception of the harmony of colors, aided by a liberality in allowance attained by a diversion of much that English fathers devote to the hunting and, shooting proclivities of their sons. A ball-room presents a rich, brilliant appearance, like a gay parterre of flowers. Dancing has been elevated almost into an art, and it is very rare to see either man or woman who does not dance really well. Pace and endurance are not so cultivated in America as grace: and the whole room does not set-to dancing, or rather jostling one another at the same moment. Rows of respectable but uncalled-for papas and mammas consuming valuable air and space are unknown. The young girls are consequently the lords of the ascendant, and they look as if they felt it as they are entitled to do in a ball-room.

Quadrilles and lancers are never danced, having gone out of fashion as completely as stage coaches. Waltzes and galops alternate till twelve o'clock, when the favorite German cotillion, with its many fanciful, pretty, and graceful figures, commences and lasts till any hour in the morning. Dancing young ladies seem to be divided into two sets: one of which dances any thing except, and the other nothing but, "the German."

The men having been taught dancing from their infancy, and having kept it up ever since, seem to enjoy a ball as much as the women, and the women are radiant. The universality of flower carrying adds very much to the effectiveness of their appearance. It is extremely rare to see any lady quite bouquet-less; and it is a pleasant custom and a natural one that a man should send to any woman or to many

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women whom he admires, or to whom he may be indebted for civilities, flowers either in baskets for their boudoirs or in bouquets to swell their triumphs at a ball. They express a sentiment as lightly as it can be expressed, without having any undue weight attached either by giver or receiver. The sending of the flowers is good for the man, in that for the moment he has thought of some one's pleasure besides his own: the receiving of them is good for the woman, because it puts her in charity with all men and women. The drawback is the want of moderation apt to characterize things American. The cost of a choice ball bouquet is ten or twelve dollars, so that a belle may often be seen entering a room with ten or twelve pounds sterling worth of flowers in her hands, as five bouquets will be no unusual number. As they will all be cast out next day, the waste of money is excessive and reprehensible, for the sentiment can not be measured in dollars. Baskets of flowers of course run to much greater excess, twenty pounds or forty pounds being often paid in winter for hand

some ones.

Even in their club life, the New-York men seem to aim at including the other sex. They have a Four-in-hand Club, which certainly belongs as much to the ladies as to the gentlemen, so far as regards the uses to which it is put, and the pleasures derived from it. The Club House is beautifully situated on a knoll overlooking the Hudson, some eight miles from the city, and was built for the purpose of giving dinners and dances. The view from it up and down the river is lovely, and many a pleasant ladies' dinner (always including unmarried girls) is given there in the long summer afternoons. In the winter time, dances with thirty or forty couple, and the return home in a sleigh behind a gentleman whip slightly exhilarated, (of course by the keen frosty air,) and doing his honest sixteen or eighteen miles an hour, with the moon shining out cold and clear-"no nebulous hypothesis" as we are accustomed to in this little isle -and the bright stars, (much more steadfast than the driver,) and the solcs and the choruses accompanying the joyous ringing of the silver bells, leaves a pleasantvery pleasant-impression on the mind of him who, through the storm of the singing may still be listening to a still small voice very near him.

Another pleasant innovation is the custom of giving theatre or opera parties. Any unmarried young lady or gentleman can select a matron and ask half-a-dozen or a dozen of their friends to go to the theatre or opera; the entertainment being generally prefaced by a dinner, or followed by a supper and an impromptu "German" at Delmonico's. You very rarely turn into any theatre in New-York without seeing a party of young people enjoying themselves in this way. It is, perhaps, as pleasant a way of passing an evening as any other, to dine at half-past six and go to the opera afterwards. If unfortunate in your right and left at dinner there is the chance of a new deal subsequently, and, that again failing, there is always the piece to look at, with closed eyes perhaps if the light is strong! It will be understood that the opera is a much cheaper amusement in New-York than in London, and in itself inferior in fully equal proportion. In fact, there is nothing first-rate about it except the toilettes of the ladies in the audience.

But whether a young lady prefers the constant society of a gentleman or gentlemen at her theatre parties or in her walks, her rides, her drives, or her church-going, the point that makes her life in America different from any European experience is that she is free as the air to dispose of herself as she thinks best. It can scarcely be said that any part of the mode of life described above is likely to contribute much towards making people wiser: in fact, a disposition towards mere enjoyment is apt to be much contemned by superior people who are impressed with the many difficult problems in life which have to be solved, and in the solution of which they themselves may be aiding. But it must be remembered how few of us are superior, or have any intention-even granting we have the ability-to apply our leisure time to schemes for the improvement of ourselves or of our fellow-creatures: and if we don't get the amusement to which we, rightly or wrongly, think ourselves entitled in one way, we will attempt it in another. Pretty constant social intercourse is good for the great mass of young people, even if a little frivolity be superinduced. But if ladies and gentlemen are to associate together, let their proper relative positions be maintained. Don't let us get and keep the wrong side uppermost. However inferior New-York society may be in

its intellectual development, on one point it may take its stand-that a man of thirty unmarried is looked on as a helpless, hopeless bachelor, and no girl dreams but that she will be married should she so desire it.

And notwithstanding the luxury in which these young ladies are brought up, it is a common thing to see them marry men without a shilling of fortune except their brains, and, after having been surfeited with every kind of attention and amusement, take up their quarters in a threepair-back in "Bridal Row" without a murmur, and live for a season on about the cost of the bouquets sent to them in a previous season. As far as an outsider can judge, they make contented, loving, and faithful wives; and perhaps, after all, they can not more worthily fulfill their destinies. No form of life can be more beautiful than that often practiced by English girls, of devoting a great part of their time and attention to visiting the poor and to ministration in Sunday-schools, where the motive is pure benevolence, a strong desire to alleviate misery or to root out ignorance, apart from any selfish idea that such conduct will insure their own future benefit; but, on the other hand, one often sees a character wholly devoid of that talent for real benevolence, wasting a life in a public exhibition of charity, while the poor whom she has always with her at home suffer from a spirit of discontent and dissatisfaction which might be relieved by a little natural romance, for which nature has fitted her, if circumstances had only been more favorable. For all such

"Were it not better done, as others use, To sport with Amaryllis in the shade, Or with the tangles of Neæra's hair ?" It would, however, be assuming too much to maintain that there is any necessary incompatibility between the two forms

of living. It is quite possible that the same young lady who may sport with her (male) Amaryllis in the shade from four to six in the afternoon, may have been doing good work from ten to four. The records of the Sanitary Commission during the war showed wonderful achievements on the part of American ladies, and of these New York claimed no small share; and the splendid charitable institutions of the city itself bear witness that these duties are in no way neglected.

It does not follow that work will not be well done because play is well done. And although the walks and the rides, the drives and the dinners, the croquet parties and the evening parties, of ordinary young people may seem to be matters of very trivial interest or importance, it must be remembered that the sum of these small daily incidents powerfully affects the disposition, the manners, and the bearing of whole sections of society. We in England are too apt to think that because the best specimens of our own countrywomen and countrymen show types that are very rarely equaled and never excelled-so that the words English lady and English gentleman convey, and convey rightly, to our mind quite a distinct and different notion from mere "lady" or gentleman"-therefore we are entitled to believe that our average Briton holds something of a superior social rank to all foreigners. But when the choice specimens have been culled out, the fact is that, owing to our inequality of condition, the residuum in Great Britain is of a dull, pompous, selfish, ungenial nature, and may learn something from much-maligned NewYork a city whose ways are ways of pleasantness, and whose paths we may hope will be paths of peace, notwithstanding the too great smartness of Yankee lawyers and the blatant nonsense of the New

York Herald.

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[From Macmillan's Magazine.

A CHAPTER FROM THE LIFE OF AN ARCH-CONSPIRATOR.
BY T. A. TROLLOPE.

PIERRE LENET was a born conspirator, if ever there was one. And he had the happiness to live in times which offered a field for the activity he delighted in, such as perhaps no other period and no other society ever equaled in that respect. He was born at Dijon in the early years of the

seventeenth century. The exact date of his birth is not ascertainable. But as he became procureur-général of the parliament of Dijon by the cession of his father in the year 1637, he could not have been born much after the beginning of the century. He died at Paris on the 3d of July, 1671..

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