Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1879-02-07

social life in the American city not as
/ guest, but as a traveller, / think |
can more impartially judge of what
would be the impression made on a
cosmopolitan than had | traded on
being an Englishman with a handle
attached to my name as
probably most. Britishers with
such an impediment would do. |
mixed with all classes, in the street.
car or omnibus, (Which, in its Ameri-
can form, is as superior to our London
bus as is a Partisan Victoria to a
'grOwler," y in the Union Club-the
of New York-and in the
palatial steamer of the Hudson river,
to which steamer and to which river
we have nothing to compare in the
Old World. Wherever | went l found
all classes of the Americans not only
civil, but highly civilized, as compared,
class for class, with the English: not
only amiable, but, as a rule, kind and
courteous, and, with rare exceptions.
well -bred, and having more refinement
of manner than any other people |
have ever come among. What struck
me especially in New York was the
inyariable c%ivility shown by all classes.
Of men to women, whether the women
rustled in silk or wore linsey wolsey
or homespun; however crowded the
car or the footway, room was at once
made for a lady. Does not this some
what contrast with the surly, grumpy
inciyility that is shown to the fair sex
in our public carriages and streets?
This p%oliteness is not as in a neigh
boring country to ours, mere lip and
eye ciyility, but arises, | believe, from
a mutual and intuitive good breeding
with which, as ] said before, the
Americans Of every class are en-
dOwed.
For instance, if one entered a room
in a club or hotel, one was not met by
those assembled with a Who the
dash is this person who none of us
know, and what the dash does he
here? sort of look nor, if one en-
tered into conversation with some one
in a railroad car or steamer, was one
greeted with hat truly British stare
which, in this country of insular
prejudice and arrogant assumption.
conveys as plainly as words the ques-
ton, What the mischief do YOU
mean by speaking to me without wait
ing for an Introduction 2"
Ny experience has been in America
that if you ask a service from a stran-
ger it is accorded readily, without
condescension or fuss; that among
them is little of the snobbish wish to
appear to those we do not know as
greater people than we really are. lit
tie of that disgusting patronage Of
manner that prevails in this country
among the richer classes, and none of
the no less disgusting cringiness of
manner which as greatly prevails
among our tradespeople, and which
makes me, for one, hesitate before
asking my way in the streets of a well
dressed man, or entering a shop, where
one will Unknown as a good custom
er be received by a mealy-mouthed
mortal all smiles and grimaces. who
will think that he will more readily
secure a purchaser by showing
some article ordered by my Lord
This or my Lady That. On the con
trary, the New York tradesman or
shOp-keeper receives you with civility.
but without any Of that eringiness of
manner which seems to me little less
insulting han actual i%nsolence: he
will allow you to look as long as YOU
like at any of the articles his shop
may contain, and will be equally civil
If you purchase or if you do not: but
he will not rub his hands and contract
his features into a leer, and if You
were to show him your superiority Of
position by affecting to look down upon
him as being only a tradesman. he
would probably show you that there
is something more in being a citizen OF
a great republic than mere sound, and
that, although you may fancy yourself
a superior being from not being a
republican or a shopman, he might
be able to prove to you that one man
is as good as another.
! mixed thus with all classes. and
spoke to all with whom / came into
contact, and in no single instance did
meet with anything but perfect
ciyility-the ci%vility Of equals, which
IS alter all the truest. | admire with
all my heart this great people. our
brothers, who, although we have for
SO many years presumed to treat
them as poor relations, are in some
forms OF common courtesy and general
politeness far superior to ourselves.
| grant that the Americans we meet
on the Continent Of Europe are often
offensive IN manner, aud give a very
unfayorable impression Of their coun.
try beth to foreigners and to English.
men but, believe me, these are the
exceptions. AS a rule, they are those
who have inherited or made fortune.
which they know not how 10 spend
and therefore have come over 10 Tho
Old World, which they astonish with
their vagaries and extravagances. Ba,
it would be most unjust to Judge thf
American people by these units
What Englishman but regrets, and /.
heartily ashamed of his fellow-coun.
trymen and women whom he meets On
the %bouleyards of Paris. on the Rhine
steamers, or in the galleries Of Rome
Where, he cries, do these origi.
nails come from? What corner o.
England has produced such flights
Great heavens 70 think that they
should belong to u.s." And what can
be more preposterous and unfair thar
that, because the Palais Royal Thea.
ter and NJ. About regard the Minor
Angalis as a subject Of everlasting
ridicule, all English lords should BE-
put down as having long red whiskers