Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1873-04-09
Whole No. 2949.

/, a German viii, under the same cir
!, eumstances, do things,much differen
s for no other reason thanthat French
: human nature is totally differen
I from German and again from Eng
I Ish human nature-thsse are posi-
l tions which are axioms TO Europeans
and because they are axioms in Eu-
rope II seems only reasonable thai
? they should be axioms here. Thai
2 tnere may be country in which
, there Is no fixed typical "society,
? ana no liked national type is difficult
: Tor a European to believe and vel
such country does really exist.
vi course, that there IS plenty OF
| society in America none would be
foolish enough to deny. The girl
: who grows up "goes Out,n as a mat
ter Of course /; the man who reaches
the age Of sixteen is very likely to 20
to dancing-elasses, and two wears Ia
ter to balls. But there Is no social
code, except such as is imported from
Europe, and when you say '.import-
ed from Europe" you do not mean
from any one country, but some Gus
toms from England, some from
France, some from Germany, some
new, some old, some bad, some good,
some destined to survive, some to
perish. 1t is, in fact, with social
ideas in this country as it Is with ev-
eTything else intellectual, moral, and
physieal-exeept such manufactured
products as we think It necessary 10
exclude by taFif-everytIIIng and
everybody is allowed to come and
maintain himself, or herself, or it
self, If enough can be found to live
on. All ideas, principles, thoughts,
feelings, processes, and traditions
that have ever made their appear.
ance in the world find in the United
States a common field in which the
struggle for existence results in the
survival of the fittest. Nothing is
settled, nothing is fixed. There are
no decisions which are final. There
are no laws or code Of the Levitieal
kind. A general sense Of social OBJ
legation Of course exists. 1t would
be impossible for 3 gentleman who
wished to cut figure in the society
Of New York or Boston to make a
habit of drawing q beadu on his
hostess whsnever anything went
| wrong In the cotillion, or of picking
the pockets Of his fellow-guests; it
would be out OF the question for a
walter to sit down to table with the
company, or for the ladies at form
al dinner-party to remain with the
gentlemen after the hostess has gone
into the parlor. Within these rath-
er broad limits, however, there is
such an amount of freedom as to rem
der it an impossibility to say where
the true lines are. For example, you
receive an invitation, stating that
''Mrs. Smith win be happy to see Mr..
Jones on such day at such an hour
-Kettledrum." What are you to do ? /
"Kettledrum" Is obviously a forneig
importation but what does it mean |
Is it authorized? II so, by whom
Does it signify that no answer is re. |
quired? Or does it refer to the char |
acter of the entertainment? 1t would |
be quite safe to say that six months /
ago not one person out Of a hundred /
in New York would have been able |
to answer these questions, and that /
the word and the entertainment to-
gether were imported as a mere |
whim. 1t is very common for any /
one who Is to dance the German to
send flowers to his partner, but there
is no necessity in the matter. It is
good manners to talk to your host and
hostess at q party as well as to their
guests, but the duty may be very /
easily shirked II you choose. It is
not universal practice for girls TO
carry on correspondence With un-
married men, but girls who like to
do it may. unless, perhaps, their fam
llies have European notions" in
which case they may not. Girls may
go out walking, riding, driving, or
skating with young men but they
may refuse II they choose, and make
: habit Of never going anywhere
ehaperon.
It is absurd in such q society as J
,urs to talk Of what is allowed, what !
s permitted, what Is dc TiqUeatr, and !
what is not. The idea Of the neces-
ity Of social ordinances, and the ma. I
,hinery for their application, are de-
lived from familiarity with fixed
tates ofsceiety, in which for gener-
Iuons the means of social amuse-
nent have been concentrated in the
anne or nearly the same hands. But c
We have adopted change as the basis 5
4 existence, In this as in every other b
ranch Of life. From another point 4
f view the matter is still clearer p
When 9 girl "eomes outn with US,
r q man begins to 60 out, the amuse- Il
nent to which they are chiefly con- 6
med is dancing, and 1t is the dane
ng together Of girls and boys be- Q
ween the ages Of eighteen and tWen- b
y-two which really constitutes what e
Oreigners hear of when they get n
heir information about American o
Ociety." After that they in almost b
II cases marry and settle down to Y
york, in the case of the girls who re- Z
lain unmarried retire from the field, p
themselves to 3 single life, &
T take, in the case of a few of the q
older ones, to some occupation. But Il
leantime a new generation has en- o
sred the field. New freshmen and d
sisters are dancing the a
lerman together the older set has y
There are a few, q very p
w, of both sexes, who wearily keep II
up for few years longer with
luch tribulation and difficulty. But I
ley are few, and are beginning TO Il
ave gloomy thoughts about the van d.
y of earthly affairs. They, too, es
i'll soon marry or retire. With this "
movement going on, So n
81 existence cannot produce a $50 W
etV n-GQI0EU for March. In