Litchfield enquirer., 1878-01-31

r. Eo9g lFrom Blackwoods Magazine.l fsa7 THE TENDER RECOLLECTI0NS OF lasl IRENE EMACGILLICBDDY. .es
 |af so 3asin ade 6 7T7T-zsssl sslf ai ssssusfs ,,,. te, .,.r..s- PART Ls;sgy srgyrv sf aa ls I There is something very appalling to one so i young and inexperienced as myself in the ef- fort of sitting down for the first time in my. | life to address the public. Apart from the horrid doubt which haunts me, and which
 seems to paralysei nypen; that perhaps after 1 all my trouble shall not be able to find any
 publisher with sufficient appreciation of my 1 talent to accept my manuscript, there is the I conviction that the little story am about to l tell will produce very considerable sensation
 upon one, if not upon both sides of the Allan tic; possibly it nlay not be altogether favoufa- I ble to myself l shall be called unpatriotc, ] uniady Like calumnious, perhaps even indeii- 1 cate, for describing a, few episodes of any
 somewhat rapid career; not with any view or
 forcing my own insignificant personality upon
 the public, but because it is impossible for me
 otherwise to illustrate the manners and Gss-
 toms of the society in which was brought up. l Ever since was transplanted from the sFaefi- | did brown stone mansion on Fifth Avenuesia i New York, where Iipassed the giddy .seasons
 of my girlhood to the modest luxury of the villa in. Richmond, from which Lam nows Wri l ting, have felt possessed by an absorbing del
 sire to 'show up, !" so to speak, the life by the world of fashion ip the American metropolis, from purely philanthropic point ef4viesVse 1t
 has seemed to me that the only chance ofsdO-
 ing it any good was to expose it, not unkind-
 ly, but with the faithfulness and affection of 8
 friend who tells another his faults. aIathink it will be new to my English readers, who may
 rely upon its accuracy ; but they need not on
 that account fiatter themselves that the spres-
 ent condition of London society is,in any re- !! spect superior to that of New York. IL tell
 you, mothers of London, that in your powers
 of setting matrimonial snarses, and of success | fully dispesing of your marriageable wares, you are more than match for the s:snlartest1 | of your American sisters, sWilO leave their t-daughtefs to take care of themselves; and you young married women of high degree, do not imagine that the frisky matrons of New York
 can teach you anything you did not know be-
 fore. Indeed Ithink<it is fortunate for you
 that the, social connezances of Londei deny
 you the freedom which they enjoy. ltis not | to either of these two classes that have any
 thing very new to reveal, though they may
 pick up a few hints or draw comparisons in
 vidious or otherwise It is you, my dear girls,
 who are heedlessly flirting and fluttering on
 the brink of the matrimonial abyss, whose good | nave at nedrt. 5ssaes ..t% -b 1T4 "f -s l I.have tried both Worlds. Oldand New ;and
 SO far as faults and follies go, I don't think |. there is much to choose between them. My
 present business is with tue faults and follies ! of my own country, with whichI feel more es-
 pecially competent to deal, and which l anl
 most desrOus to see corrected and reformed
 Having violently reacted for them myself, 1t IS only natural that | Should be consumed by the
 fervour of proselstism. and should, regardless
 of consequences, exhibit myself as a warning,
 if need be; to those wish to. serve, When 4
 first appeared upon the social horizon, may
 say without vanity that was the kind of girl
 who in London would have been called a
 sumner" a s.screamer," and who in New
 York is sometimes described as "bouncer."
 My father was the son of a Scotch gardener
 of the name of Macgillieuddy, who had emi-
 grated to New York, engaged in the grocery
 business, and by superior shrewdness and
 Scotch caution had amassed a considerable for tune, which enabled him to give his son a
 good education-in other words, to make
 gentleman of him. Uusually successful in ear-
 ly life in railway and stock SD calatiors, my father soon became the possessor of hand some mansion on Fifth Avenue, and tinan-
 cal man of some prominence. Far too respec- table himself to become a politician; he never theless enjoyed great influence with his party; and there was an air of substantial dignity about him, which, taken in connection with the invariable success that attended his busl- ness operations. secured him a commanding position in society. Originally Presbyterian he had become attached to an Episcepalian church with ritualistic tendencies, astheologi- cal step almost rendered necessaryChy3 his fash ionable standing; and his box at the opera, which cost him s3000, and expensive pew in St. Grace's, for which he paid e200O, though apparently useless luXurles s-fOf lie never pFac- ticed what he professed i'll the one, and rarely went himself to the other, as he did not know the difference between the wedding march in Lohengrina and4s Tommy make room for yonr
 Uncle" were, nevertheless a: recognitionsof
 the claims of God and of society with which he couldnot afford tosdispense. He had, ,onebrotll- CT who had never risen above the level of a stone mason |; andst him, therefore, it is not
 necessary here further to alhade. | My another
 had been quite a sbellet, and an heiress insheg time. Her father had made his fortune in
 ''dry goods, and my material uneles were
 both men enjoying great social considerations on account of their wealth.4 One was in the hardware business. and the other had struck
 oil My mother was a remarkably clever and well-educated woman. She had spent several
 of the early years of her life in Europe, where she had acquired a taste for art, which my fa- ther also affected, without, however, knowing
 
 combined taste was somewhat florid, that.our
 house looked like dly-arrangeda museums She was, moreover, an accomplished musician. with a magnificent -contralto voice indeed, she was as much superior to the average anna teur performer as her cook was to ordinary cul- mary artlsts; hence it happened that our din- ners and music were both celebrated In ad- dition to all this she had an unrivalled knack of capturing distinguished foreigners, and es- pecially British aristocrats, immediately on their arrival in New York 1t is needless to say that we had cottage at Newport, where we spent three summer months in g perpetual whirl of gaiety; from all which it must be man. ifest that nothing was left ssundone to secure that social position which became at last an object of envy an admiration toevery weil-con- stituted New York mind It would De mis- take to suppose that this enlinence was attain ed without infinite trouble and contrivance. was too young to take an active share in my mothers early social struggles but even to the end she. never succeeded ! in tn thoroughly ' breaking down an indefnable sort of barrier, behind which certain ultra exclusive set chose to entrench themselves. I used to think the presumption and conceit of these people quite intolerable The idea, in a democratic cUun- try like ollrs, of selectfew birding themselves on their ancestry and gentility and hereditary refinement, and all the rest ot 1t, and thinking us, not good enough to be admitted into their circle, was quite preposteroqs. There were the Persimmons. for instance, who assumed the arms of the noble family of Persimmons in England, and claimed relationship with them. and had actually family portraits of Knights in wigs and ladies in stomachers,a and and all that sort of thing young Dick Persimmpn was a clerk in a. wholesale tobacco store and there.were the Poppinjays, and the Barebones family, that had a fancy portrait of their great historical ancestor, Praise God Barcbones,
 who came over in the May flower, and whose descendant, as is well known signed the Dec laration1 of Independence. They turned up their noses at us because grandpapa had orig
 inally been gardener as if anybody conld have told what the original old Barebohes had been. Then in close .alhance with these there was the old Khickerbocker set, the, Van TYil- Hers, descended from the original Wouter Van