The sun., 1880-12-05

Unu tHb buT6Wunebb vi ulb N'lulSNo WO "aS
embarrassed to extent not eaualled or APP
proached in any recent book by the redundancy
OF interesting material. There Is scarcely
page. much less n chapter. which has not some
thing in II likely to rivet the attention. some
conclusion or suggestion not unapt TO STRIKE
and occupy tho historical student. politician.
social scientist. or man OF the world. Perhaps
we cannot do better than begin with the pcr-
trait OF the ex-Queen Hortense. who Is some
what grotesquely designated as Agrippina"
Inasmuch as the author takes the favorable
view OF that lady's character lately propounded
| In Mme De Remusat's memoirs. 1t is plain that
| he disclaims for her the vices. while he surely
would not assert for her the virile qualities. OF
Neros mother. Lord Beaconsfleld's impress
sions. however. OF Queen Hortense being de-
rived from personal acquaintance. are well
worth citing.
The lady was fair and sngularly thin II seemed that
her delicate hand must really be transparent Her cheek
was sunk but the expres Of her large brown
| was inexpre ssiby pleasing She wore her own hair
celebrated in Europe and still uncovered
Though the prodga richness Of the esses had disap
peAred the arrangement was still striking from Its
grace That quality pervaded the being OF this lady
and possible not TO be struck with her carriage
she advanced to meet her gucst free from all niecn
ton and yet iu Of movement aud gestures which might
| have been the study Of painters
Then follows an intmatlon that the charges
| OF coarse dopravity levelled by Mme. dc Remu-
sat at the courts OF the Consulate and the Empire
| nre not. in Lord BeaconsAeds opinion. by any
| means deserved:
And I read" said the lady, little indignant, "in
memoirs the other day that court corrupt
and dissolute court 1t of pleasure If you
like but Of pleasure that animated and refined and put
the world in good humor which. alter all, Is good
ernment The most corrupt and dssoute courts on the
Continent OF Europe that have known, said the lady,
| bay hean w arll
MY memory OF those days. said Mr. Wilton. lis OF
ceascless grace and inc xhausble charm"
"weln said the lady, "if snned have at least SUI
feed And hope they only sins of omission 1want
ed every body happy and tried to make them So"
| On the signal change which has come over
London society within tho last fifty years. as re-
CARDS comprehen siveness and complexity. Lord
Beaconsleld offers some remarks which. trite
as the subject is. will repay attention.
The great world them compared with the huge society
OF the present limited In Its proportions and
composed Of elements refined though far less va
rous 1t consisted mainly OF the great landed arstoc-
racy who had quite absorbed the nabobs of India. and
had nearly appropriated the huge West Indian fortunes
Occasionally emine nj banker merchant invested
large portion Of his accumaatons in land. and in the
purchase OF Parliamentary influence and was in time
duly admitted into the sanctuary But those vast and
successful invasions OF society by clnsses which
| have since occurred though impending. had not yet
commenced. The manufacturers, the railway kings. the
colossal contractors the dscoverers OF nuggets had not
yet found their place in society and the senate There
then perhaps, great houses than at the
present day, but there were very few little ones The
necessity OF providing regular occasions for the
bling OF the world OF fashion led TO the in
s,tuuon OF Almacks which died out in the advent OF
the system OF society and in the fierce competition
| oi its inexhaustibe private entertainments
The then brilliant and sustained. but IL was
Hurried People did not so to various parties tho
same night They remained where they were assem-
| blcd, and, not being in hurry were more agreeable
than they are at the present day. Conversation was
more cultivated manners though unconstrained were
more stately; and the world, being limited, knew self
much better on the other hand, the sympahies Of
oiety were contracted than they are at present
The of population had not opened the heart OF
The world attended to its poor in its country par
ishts and subscribed and danced for the sptalhelds
when their normal distress had Overfowed but
their knowledge OF the people did not exceed these
bounds and the people knew very little more about
themselves. They were only half born.
Not only was society a much narrower and
more exclusive thing whom Endymion came up
to the metropolis in tho reign OF Sailor Bill :" but
London life In general was to the strRnGer. the
lounger. to all. in fact. except the privileged
habitues OF a small patrician circle. decidedly
tame and irksome.
At this time London a very dull city instead Of
being, as it is now, very amusing Probably there
| never city IN the wori with population
| WhlCn was so meAnchoy. Inc arlstNcrNCy PROBABLY
have always found amusements adapted TO the
OF the time and the in which they lived. The middle
classes half century had little distraction from their
monutonous toll and melancholy anxieues. except,
haps what they found in religious and philanthropc
cetieS Their general lite must have been very dull
trad!uonary merriment always ngc red among the
working classes OF England Both in town and country
they had always their and fairs and junketing
parties which have developed into excursion trains and
colossal picnics But OF all classes Of the community in
NJ tlera WA atg In
respect OF public Amusements the bachelors about
town. There might almost say, only Two thea
tres and they huge that it was difficult to hear
in either Their monopoles longer redeemed by the
stately genius Of the Rembles the pRhos OF Miss OSe
the fiery passion of Kean already menaced and
about to fall but the crowd Of diminuuye but
sparkling substitutes which have since taken their place
had not yet appeared aud halt pnee at Drury Lane
Covent Garden was dreary distraction after morning
OF desk work. There were no Alhambras them and no
Crcmones palaces OF crystal in tcrraced gardens,
casinos, no music halls no aQuara, promenade con
Evanss existed but not in the ulnes Of its modern
development and the most popular place Of resort
| tile barbarous convviaty Of the Cider Cellar.
Hero Is a description OF the Anglican Church.
as it was just before the outbreak OF the Trac-
tartan movement:
| The English Church had oomretent leaders among
the clergy The spirit that has animated and dstu bed
our latter times seemed quite dead, ani EO one nHtc
pated its resurrection The bishops mad been selected
from college dons men profoundly ignorant OF the con
dition aud the wants OF the country. To have edited
Greek play with sccOndrate to have been the
tutor Of some considerable patrciin, the Qualihca
ton then deemed desirable and sufficient for ONCE
which this day least reserved for coquence and
energy The social infucnce of the Epis ,opa bench
nothing. A prclnte rarely III the Saloons of
Zcnoba. 1t since the depths Of religious thought have
been probed, and the influence OF IN the spread
and OF religious feeling has again recog
nzed that fascinating and fashionable psclaes have he
fCyn In thp of rho
and, while apparently rndugins in the vnnlties of the
hour have ccstablshcd the influence which in old days
guided Matilda or the mother OF Constantine
And here is n remarkable passage in which
the author makes foreign diplomatist. talk ing
in 1890. anticipate the profound transformation