The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1877-01-14
THE TRAVELLIN0 PRINCES DIARY.
American Pccuiinritic- -.' 'ourtesy md uypoc-
risy-Morais and Proprictv.

New YoRK, July 20.-What queer,
curious people the Americans ire 1t Is 10 per
feet treat to watch and study them. II ID
social philosopher sat down to invent a peculiar
people he could not have conceived ANYTHING
odder In the way ofa civilized nation. Highly
intel'ig NJ, yet utt4rlv disreearding scholarly
culture; rough and brut,I vet extremely Kind
aud obligins; biuntlv frank and open hearted IN
some things. yet consummite hypocrites in
others intensely witty and humorous AS ma
tion. vet profoundly duh in individual CONVEX
sation; a people with whom fimily and religion
appear to be Cnd r ally are) everything; vet a
people more materialistIc III their thoughts and
feelings and iooser IN their family ties than any
other nation on the face OF the rIOue. m n
goes to church here. not because he feels the
need Of praying but because his wife wan him
to 20, or because he ex1ects to derive some so
cal or business advantages from being seen In
pious COMPANY Family despotlsm seems to he
unknown hero. and good American family
IA her or M uther coul servo a. an example to
those Of any other country. Tho perfect free
dom Of both old AMI youny, the profound con
nIence In ant devotion to each other among
the tarents and cnil.lren rro admirable Yet
nowhere do you see families oisily and fro
quently broken up and scattered about, and no
where do you such rctcenco concerning
their perso al affairs prev ling among members
OF the same family. "No questilns ask ID" Ia
the consecrited formull for recovering stolen
properly; the same phrIse serves also as the
great test of I CT an discretion In family life.
Their public and private morals are possibly
stu more curious The corruption of their men
in Office has become provernia. Ste ling on
the most incredi ls scale, II going on In every
department OF public life. Everybody knows IL,
yet nobody seems To care for improving this state
Of fairs. Honest men, men II culture. men OF
what tro called here good families" treat
politics with contempt, keep aioof from public
life. and leave the country's al hrs to be man
aged bv an iRnor Mt mass Of voters on the one
h nd d a set OF cunning thieves on the other.
They remind me Of those tender he .rted per-
sons who run aw ' from wbun led IN IN with.
out rendering help to him, because the sight OF
the wound Is so horrible The evil 10 tolerated
with scarcely any protest against II. To get into
ollce to make money has become to be matter
OF course. aud the oficials, bi, and small, steal
more ulcerenonlously than they do In spain,
Russia, or Turkey.
So much for public morals. In matters OF pri-
va.e morals they appear at first sight more strln-
gent than most EIropci nations are. But on
looking closer into tho matter one soon finds
out that here. as In Enllani. morality Il with
the majority Of the people more prctencc than
fact. Pufitanicl / tfadi ions h ave taught them
great lessons Of decprun. The audience at
Harry II lis prize 1lhting house. where we went
the other night, looked JIst "a orderly md Dig
nined as that IT Whltck's Theatre. PcOpiI in
Europe are noisy, demonstrative, loose in man
nera. Here they are stun, almps, aus'crc, when
they nnJ themselves In a puohc lllce Evov
man tries to be gen lemap, every woman "A
lady. But flesh is flesh and American aesh Is Of
a rather coarser kind than Ei-opean. When
ia.