The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-08-11
Bohemian Life In and Out of Society.

'As Pellpateuc, myself am somewhat IN
terested in the Bohemian. | am, therefore,
desrous that the obsclrity about the phrase
should be cleared up. There is no very favorable
meaning about 1t, but there is a less untavorable
and more untavofable meaning. Neither does
a Bohemian always denote wanderer. You
have Bohemans stationary as well as jhemians
perpatetic You see q gorgeous carriage and
pair sweeping through the country. Tue SER
wants and liveries are perfection; so are the trim
lodges, the well-kept parks the noble conserga-
tories. The wines are OF the best, and that
house is perhaps the only one in that division
of the county where man cook is kept. Aud
yet no one goes TO that house.
THE most ambitious squireen Of an old coun.
try family will hardly be seen there. The
reason is, that there is very ugly character
attached to the house. 1t was the dower-house
OF noble lady, but she ran away with her TO ut.
man, and she and the lootman are residing there
in guilty splendor. Or the ugliest of all ugly
mistress OF that stately hall. All the splendOr
they possess cannot disguise that hostile
public opinion which is indicated by the public
conspiracy to ignore them. They would set
before us the most gorgeous dinner We ever
beheld, my friendly reader II only we would
condesCend to partake of it. Theirs is a Bohe-
mian life, on its most unfortunate and disas
trOus side.
There is also such a thing as a Bohemian
crowd as well as Bohemian solitude. 1 do not
mean houses where, after a certain hour, there
are luxurious suppers, and the cards and the
dice probably loaded dice-are produced.
There are such houses, | believe L Bnow
nothing about them myself knowingly inter-
Iupts my friend, Captain de Spurs. but know
man who has got cousin whose brother says
he has been 10 such.' Never mind, de Spur3,'
! It JOIN. / will discuss more modified Bone
mianism than that. We went to that evening
party in Stuccoaia the other night. 1t was
very good OF you to take me there, for / had
never ht ard OF the people before, and being in
the neighborhood next day, tried to 'spoF it
agaln, but was utterly unable. But my instinct
taught me 1t was a Bohemian house. There
was something, too decOdete about the whole of
it-tOo much rouge aud stare and slang and
ialsty. l am used to some very queer things
now. In the best society the great lady Will
wear the tusel of the Palais Royal as well as
the old family jewels; and | cannot be as
tonished by any audaclty of phrase which the
girl of the period may employ. Still l knew
the difference between true London house and
q Bohemian mansion. 4here were too many tor
eIgu titles at the last, and ofthe only two English
noblemen present, one had no fortune and the
other had no character. l was not surprised to
hear that there was something wrong about the
opulenJ owner of the house, aud that he was
the man that great Stock Exchange scandal was
all about.
''But your Bohemian is generally a rover, and
does not often inhabit mansion of his o Nn. He
cannot confine himself to a single spot. He is
impatient of restraint He cannot keep moUey
in his pocket. He cannot keep up his balance
at his bankers. He cha'es against everything
in the shape OF q tie. One of them told me that
his mind became utterly paralyzed when any.
thing presented itself to him in the shape OF a
duty. Another man refused very handsome
appointment because he would have nothing to
| do with anything that looked ike moral obli-
| cation. | was going along great London street
| one day, and was told that celebrated author,
| Of Bohemian propenslues, was in a state of
| honorable captivity at an oyster shop. 1t ap-
| peared that he had plentitully partaken OF
oysters, mtigated by appropriate beverages,
| and was in such state that the people of the
shop thought it would be an act of common
| humanity to make him take bed there. The
| notion pleased the illustrious Bohemian, who
| rom i'm no
| oysters, for several days, and washing them
down, until some friends, to whom his services
| were essential, settled the score and carried him
| off by force OF arm and violence, against his
| will. He certainly was regular Bohemian.
''The artist and the literary man form the
most favorable specimens of Bohemians. And
| so long as they have no domestic ties, and they
| may allege, with some show OF reason, that
| their professional aVoeations call them away,
| there is nothing to be said against their Bohe.
mianism. Both of them urge that it Is their
| business to study nature and human nature.
| The artist declares that it is an absolute Acces-
| sity that he should study at Munich or Rome;
and he will wander into every region where he
may Iealize' nature and obtain pictorial effects.
| The literary man does much of the same thing;
but, as a rule, his heart beats true to London,
which he recognizes as tie worlds centre. He
may be Captivated by the gay society of foreign
capitals; he may wander amid the remote seclu
sion OF mountain and forest; but he owns in his
heart Of hearts that there Is only one Piccadilly
after all. Other men there are who, without an
excuse, the affectati0n OF an excuse, feel upoI
them tie Bohemian restlessness OF travel
~ am become a name
| For always roaming with hungry heart;
| For all experience Is an erch where through
| Cleans ths untIavelled fature.'
"The worst that can be said against them il
| that these are aVoWed absentees, and do no
| spend their money where they get it. called
upon one of these men some time ago. SIS Mr.
Jones AT homer inquired of the tlunkey who
answered my ring at the door bell OF Jones
| town house. NO SIR answered Jeames, rub
bing his hands and grinning. Mr.. Jones is no
! at home Just now, sir; II you please, SIT, Mr
Jones has gone to China The hunkey spoke las
| as if Jones had gone into the next street, o
had gone into Essex. / thought OF that Bohe
mian Jones, who had gone off to China, just a
W, aker men 90 off to Baden-Baden. TheI
there is my llusrious friend, Lady -, VIII
has rGyal touch of Bohemianism. When sh(
, | travels She travels for something, The lunke
| will tell YOU that she has gone to Bombay, or L
| California, or to Terra del Fuego. And SO 1t i
7 THE popular notion of a Bohemian Is 10
nsrrow and limited a notion. 1t is the ma
who loats about amlessly; who has no stake !
> | the country; who is uncertain in his income
| aud still more uncertain in hIs payments; WIN
| only lives on the outskirts of society; who neYe
, | goes to solid dinner party, and never give
y | one; Who according to an act of Parliament, |
4 | a mere yagabond, as he does not work, aud ha
: no visible means of getting living. Wei
7 doubtless there is flavor of Bohemianism aboV
ali that BUG the true notion of a Bohemian
count at any time, and who wanders on tt
face of the earth without any permanent settle
!. abode. II is perfectly conceivable that this