The New York herald., 1868-02-09

Il
utmost propriety of externals and when nobody
was looking. Besides, Boston was at that time
the American Athens, and II IN authenticated
Athenian cannot indulge in what he likes 1t Is
greater pity than was ever heard Of by an
Iago.
For some years, therefore, Boston had .
monopoly Of the market; and. in literary pan
dering, all America sat at her feet and was
taught until at last the pupil outdid the mas
ter. Moreover, ten years since it was the
fashion to swallow Bostonisms without season
Ing, especially In New York though New
Workers. have since found out that the said diet
should not be taken without plentiful salt-a
lesson for which America has paid some bill
lions Of dollars. Previous to the war, there
fore, most of the New York demand for pru-
riency was supplied by Boston production
but since then the metropolis has managed
to glut Its own market. 1t is even doubtful
whether in the last decade New York would
have tolerated the spectacular though lat
terly New York has been taught to tolerate
almost ything.
The reasons for this lie deeper down than is
generally argued, and cannot be accounted
for upon the principle of the superficial aphor-
ism Of voltaire. There has been within the
| past ten years rapid Pariszation of the Amer
lean people. We ape Parisian ways Of doing
things; !" we bedeck ourselves with gaudy
Partisan tinsel; we are fast imbiblng the
Partisan code Of morals The young men of
New York, as q majority, comprehend nothing
Of what Is meant by the old Saxon word
"home." The general adoption of the restau-
rant system Of living has been one Of the
causes Of this decadencs Of sturdy moral
health; for the restaurant system, though
comparatively harmless In ITSELF presupposes
the lodging house and its utter want Of moral
restraint Sleeping in house where
one knows and cares for nobody, and
breakiasting at q table where 1t is
| nobody's business what one eats, how
one eats 1t, or how one behaves during the
process, form the component parts Of q mode Of
| life which, though general, is to the utmost
degree pernicious. Than this even the board
ing house Is better, since in the latter irregu-
larities have at least tendency to provoke
inquiry and unloose the tongue Of gossip; and
gossip, though very contemplate in ITSELF is
one Of the great conservators of morals. In
our modes of life, therefore, owing to the
general prevalence of the lodging house
| system, there is an unwholesome lack Of moral
rein and in our diet, owing to the general un-
healhness OF restaurant cookery, there is
feversh stimulation which breeds pruriency.
For the sake Of moral straightness one ought
IcIr - 10 ~ L
quainted with somebody and in measure
responsible to somebody; and there is not the
slightest doubt that, could reliable statis-
tics Of the growth of the lodging house and
restaurant system be tabulated, that system of
existing would be found to have been prolific
source Of moral alteration. Other causes have
been more or less actively operative, but this is
one Of the main ones, and through it and several
other causes the Parisization of New York
has gone on until the metropolis has become
to America what Corinth was to Greece.
As people, Too, we are too passive in Ger
tain respects. We tolerate with q sardonic
| grin or grim attempt at witticism what we
ought to taboo with downright emphasis, and
omit to apply the caustic to the cancer, NUT
thus the cancer is left to eat out the moral vi
talty of the public, and spectacles Of ballet pa
geantry and emanations of literature In yellow,
parti-colored and illustrated covers are left to
work tteir way as they will. A little leaven
leavens the whole lump. There is demand or
there would not be supply the relations of
the two are inexorable. The "Black Crook"
tha Tn
artistic lusubrations which nobody can trace
| to their publication offices are but the legti-
mate fruitage of that Parisization of fashions
and morals which pervades the whole fabric of
society. We shall presently out-Paris Paris
itself, even in the pageantry Of the ballet II
| is not the Black Crook which has crept into
manners and morals, 1t is manners and morals
which have developed into Black Crooks"
Onr Musical Amateurs md Cheap Charity.
We have already earned the reputation in
New York Of educating and presenting to both
America and Europe many prime donnc who
have done exalted honor to the lyric stage.
We need hardly mention the familiar names Of
Patti, Van Zandt, Kellogg, Phillips, Morens and
Harris But there is another class, not within
the sacred circle Of the profession. which
New York is educating in the same line, but
occupying humber position, and as yet little
known to fame. We allude to the many anna
teur singers who occasionally astonish the
critical ear at private concerts. Among these
young ladies are to be found voices Of infinite
purity and power, both as soprani and con-
| traii, and o cultivation that one does not ex-
pect to meet in an amateur. There Is to be
found also in this same class q good deal of
the finest capacity for stage delineations-
great dramatic talent in fact, that only needs
q little nurturing to develop itself into what