The daily crescent., 1849-07-02
ENGLIsH 0HARAegERIsTIcs

BY hRs- Q. i. KIRKLAnB.
This word manners suggests 10 me aDother res-
son why London omnibus Is less loleFable than 4
New York one The English seem heartily to have
adopted Mss Marlineau's maxim, that woman
mas no right to expect or accept anv attention or
advantage on account Of her sex For NV own
part, have never been able 10 reconcile this doe
trlne Of Miss MartIneans with the fact than nature
mas endowed every creature with some peculiar
means Of self-defenee. IL vou deprive women, Of
their weakness, ] see not where their strength or
protection ls to be found. But the Englishman's q
motto IS every man land woman toOl for himself
aud he generally acts under this in the omnibus
VI course, there are exceptions and was much
amused % see tall private soldier in his coarse
red coat and cotton swabs, jump ont Of an omnibus
every time lady prepared to alight, that he might
band her out A coarse man who was with him
was disposed 70 sneer lille, upon which cur tall
friend o6served Z. Oh, like to be civil to the la
dies conc luded he must have served abroad.
But an Englishman in ain omnibus generally
seems unconscious Of any iadys presence or rather
bis iabOF0us effort to ignore, betraVs the most in
tense consciousness But he aatiers himself that
be appears 10 notice nobody. He looks either
straight before him, with complete abstraction
and emptiness OF gaze, or down at his gloves as if
he WeTe accustomed 10 count with the aid Of his
fingers He plants himself so as to occupy everv
inch Of seat and floor % which he Is entitled and
by mere PES inertig maintains this place good
against all chalengeFs. On one side Of him NAV
be a crush of humanity while on the other there Is
yet mOdieum Of available space he budges not
nor appears 10 observe that the lady next him s sit
nns on the very edge cord Of the seat and support.
ing her weight on her feet, for niles have
looked at this sort Of man, and apacuatsd within
myself whether be was really tFps Of ths national
ees "a cheEecial. Ceeain Engliah tsfiIe5H ssy Ves
ano shey call tne dlsp0siuDn which have inai.
e.sa o.,a,siltg, oat thn severity Z tha duty of
The smnll steamers on the Thames exhibif ths
same acoFn Of the beautiful the same disregard of
the comfort Of passengers, snd for the same reah0n
they are not intended for the service Of the higher
classes This is one of the most disagreeahle mani
teslatiOns Of the aristocrauc principle Everything
IN England tends 70 make wealth seem the supreme
good; for even birth, if it lack money, is despised
Inc tendency IN our country to mOnied aFstoc-
raey is sometimes aatrized, sometimes lamented :;
the English represent il as the hopslessly vulgar
result of democratic institutions But the Ameri
can who views il as q national folly and who is
led sometimes TO fear that the English view Of il Is
true, console himself BY observing that in England,
under the midest and most tOlerable, and most adj
van'ageous form Of monarehieal and aristocTatie
rule, the very same evil is most obvious. Money
rules the English soul with even mora binding
power than the American. We manage TO getnp
little illusion about it, we can see the thFDuqh
his thEeadbare coat in England, poverty orscaniy
meanss If confessed or even suspected; is simply
contemplate. There is practically but one single
division IN English sOciety-the rich and the poor
and this division is mOnstfOus. could not help
not intended for the wealthy. The extreme coarse
ness they display is striking 70 the visiter from
the United States, who has been ccustomed to see
plain farmers and mechanics entirely at home amid
the utmost ependOr and delicacY of outfit in steam
eTs and railway carriages, capable Of using such
things with pFoprety as Prince Albert himself Ia
England he would find himself condemned 10 bare
boards, sloyenlY surroundings, and general dis
comfort which is positively insulting when we con-
trast 1t with the provision made for the herdtary
lords of the soil
The effect Of this kind Of distinction upon man
kind is most obvious. Nobody ever saw an ap-
proaeh 10 eheeFfulness, good hnmor, ora frank and
friendly demeanOr among English people in a pub-
lie conveyance. Look at the deck Of Thames
steamer, with a narrow bench TO sit upon out Of
doors, without awning to protect the head from the
sun, or cabin TO retire to in case OF rain See the
demeanor and general expression of that crowd, |
1t is snry, dscOniented, all but aggressive. Let
stranger ask civil question of any man there he
will not probably receive an nucivil answer, but
the reply will be in the ieWest possible words and
there will be most careful guard against the least
betrayal Of sympathy or interest. This must not |
be considered exactly national for according tony |
experience similar application Of stranger to a |
member of the higher classes is invariably met with
the ready politeness and generous interest which
one well bred person has right to expect Of Hno-
ther / recollect an instance which went even /
farther. We were standing in the lobby of the |
House Of Lords, waiting for the appearance Of an
official, when one Of the gentlemen who were /
convsrsing in different parts Of the hall, came to
us, and with the unmisiakeable air Of high breed |
ing said, You seem 10 be strangers; can lido any
thing for you :" We fear this could hardly have |
occurred in the lobby Of our Senate chamber.
Bat the rudeness and unpleasant manners of the |
classes below the decidedly refined, in public con-
yeyanees always seemed TO me chargeables al least
in part the utter and irritating cOaFseness Of the
accommodation. No human creature endowed |
with the faculty Of taste can be in contact with |
sludious ugness and unnecessary discomfort, with
out a feeling Of rePuenanee, which, whether de- |
teeied or not will affect his humOF for The time at
least And to hive always in the presence of OBJ
trusve and mOrtfying contrast between rich and
poor, is apology enough for the Englishman, whe,
though no philosopher, has yet an iHdomtable self
respect, and who cannot, while he has Anglo
Saxon blood in his veins, be convinced that he is
properly excluded from so much that beauties life
and refines human nature. lf should undertake
the civiizing Of the lower Ehglish and the inten-
Grating Of the coarse and hard class Immediately
above this lower, and the sweeteDiug'o of the man
neFs Of an immense class one degree above these
last, ] know not but should certainly hope much
from the substitution Of beauty comfort, and neat
ness, for the present disregard Of all these.
--a0a----
Oas- Phidias made the statue Of Venus AZ Ella
with one foot upon the shell Of tortoise, to signify