The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-02-15


alleys: no refugees, I'm fa ct, for light and shade.
In the State of Virginia, tk ere is one of the largest
natural arches in tie world; but in American
architecture n curved vauit Is one of the rarest
of structures The very bVidges are on piers
without al lches Sign-boards and trade efligies,
it is true, project from the houses. but always at
right ANGLES This rleidity OF outline makes
its mark on the nomenclature and on the
manners of the people. The names OF the
streets are taken from the letters of the alpha
bet and the numerals in the ''ReadY Reckoner.n
/ have lived in G street. / have lived in West
Fourteenth, between Fifth and Sixth avenues
Mathematical calculation is the basis of daily hfe
You are fed at the hotels at stated hours and
the doors Of the dining room are kept locked
until within q moment of the gong's sound
ing. At some tables dhote, fifty negro
walters stand mute and immobile behind the
chars OF two hundred and fifty guests, and
at q given senal uncover with the precision of
clockwork one hundred dishes. These are not
matters of opinion; they are matters of fact
Routine pursues you everywhere: from the
theatre to the church: from the fancy fair to the
public meeting. In the meanest village inn. as
in the most palatial hotel there is travellers,
book, in which you are bound to enter your
name. You may assume an alias; but you must
be Mr.. Somebody. You cannot be, as in Eng.
land, the stout party in Number Six, or the
"tal gent in the Sum-" You must shake hands
with every one to whom you are introduced;
YOU must drink when you are asked, and then
ask the asker to drink-though am bound to
say that this strictly mathematical custom has,
owing to the piteous protests of Europeans,
somewhat declined of late If you eater a
bRrbers shop to be shaved, a negro hands you
a check bearing number, and you must await
your turn. When your turn arrives, you must sit
In a certain position in velvetcOvered fauteuil
with high legs, and must put your feet up on q
stool on a level Herewith. The barber shaves YOU,
not goa like but as he likes, powders you strains
a napkin over your face, sponges you, shampoos
you, pOurs bay rum and eau.de-Cologno on your
head, ereases, combs you out, and "fXes' you
generally. The first time l was ever under the
hs,,, Il g.Nfa AVNNpw haV
he had laid down his razor, and made a move in
the direction of The washhand basin. He stared
at me as though had gone mad. Hold on J"
he cried, in an authoritative accent. "Hold on!
Guess III have to wash you up" That / should
be washed up or ''hXed,n was IN accordance with
the mathematical code.
This all but utter absence of variety OF form,
of divergence of detail, OF play OF light and shade
are productive in the end of that petulant ois.
contented frame of mind-of that soreness OF
spirit-with which almost every tourist who has
visited the Great Republic has come at last to
regard its civilization. AS rule, the coarser
the travellers OrganiZatlon-the less he cares
about art or lterature-the better be will gee
on in America. l met a fellow-countryman
once, the son of an English Earl at one of the
biggest, most mathematical, and most comfort
less, OF the New York hotels, who told me that
he should be very well content to live there tor
ten years. "Why," he said, ''you can have five
meals day ii you like" This is the kind of
traveller, the robust, hardy, str9ns-stomached
America and does not grumble. But do you
take, not travelled Englishman, but travelled
American, one who has been long in Europe,
and has appreciated the artistic glories OF the
Continent, and you will discover that he finds it
almost impossible to live in his own country, or
"board" at an American hotel. Every continen-
tai clJy has its colony OF cultivated Americans,
good patriots and staunch republicans, but
who are absolutely afraid to go back to their
native land. They dread the mathematical
system. Those who, for their families or their
interests sake, are compelled to return live at
| hotels conducted not on the American, but on
| the European system-that is to say, where they
| can dine. breakfast, or sup, not as the landlord
| likes but as they themselves like. Those who
are wealthy, shut themselves up IN country,
houses, or splendid town mansions, surrounded
| by books and pictures and statues and tapestry
| and coins from Europe, until their existence is
almost ignored by their countrymen, In no
| country in the world are so many men of shining
talents OF noble mind, OF refined tastes buried
| alive as in the United States.
That which call the mathematical system is
| only another name for very stringent and
offensive social tyranny; and, did we not re-
| member that humanity Is one mass OF lncon-
sistencies and contradictions, Ii would be difficult
| to understand how this social despotism could
| be made compatible with the existence of an
amount OF political liberty never before equalle d
| in this world. Until 1861, the American citizen
| was wholly and entirely free; and now that the
only pretext for the curtailment OF his liberties
| has disappeared he will enter upon, it is 10 be
| lOpeQ, a lreSn lease OI Ir0euOHl, as WuOlG anu
entre as of yore. How far the social tyranny
| spoken of has extended, would be almost in
credible to those who have not resided in
| America. "Whatever you do" said an Ameri
| can to me on the fist day OF my landing in the
States, "don't live IN clearinghouse where
| you are treated as one of the family. They'll
| worry you to death by wanting to take care o
| your morals" To have ones morals taken care
| OF is very excellent thing; but as rule, yor
| prefer to place the curatorship thereof in the
| hands OF your parents and guardians or of YOU
| spiritual director OF, being OF mature age, o
| yourself Taking care OF morals" is apt to de
| generate into petty impertinence and espionage
One OF the most eminent OF living sculptor in
New York told me that tor many years he eX
perienced the greatest difficulty IN pursuing the
studies incidental TO, and indeed essential to
his attaining excellence in his profession, owln[
to the persistent care taken OF his morals by th'
lady who oticiated as housekeeper in the cham
bers where he lived. II must be promised tina
these chambers formed part OF building spe
cially erected for the accommodation of artists
and with a view to their professional requt re
ments. Our sculptor had frequent need of thu
assistance of female models, and the ''Jan1tress
as the lady housekeeper was called, mad Vlr
tuously indignant objection to young persons
who posed as Venuses or Hebes in the costume
Of the period for ID dollar an hour. She coult
only be induced by the threat of dismissal iron
the proprietor of the studio building, to gran
admission to the models at all; and even thel
she would await their exit at her lodge gate, an
abuse them as they came down stairs. Mucl
more acclimatized to models was the good siste
| of William Etty, who used 10 seek out hi
Venuses for him but transition state of feelih
was that of the wife OF Nollekens, the sculptor
who, whenever her husband had professions
sitter, and the day was very cold, used to burs
into the studio with basin in her hand, CRYING
| ''YOu nasty, good-lOr-notbing hussy, here's som
not mutton broth for YOU"
To recapitulate little. Form,sickness is tn