New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-07-03

Wainwright on the shoulder and laughed again
"but they don't If you knew more about Ameri-
can politics. perhaps you'd understand why they
just at this moment Mr. Binghamton and his guest
entered the library of the club. 1t was chamber
appointed with taultess taste low book cases were
ranged along It's crimson walls; every shelf looked
wen MED, Wainwright stopped and examined
some OF the books lie found several of his old
ne perceived that its leaves had the stiff cr3ckle of
booh which has remained unread. Another vol
dISuse.
lie turned toward Mr. Binghamton. Are these
DOCKS ever read (" he asked.
nv, Not often. We have few men who dip into
pe o rey mo~ ana he9 snppHse on the prnc
mere, too OF morning and skim over the maya
ZineSi You see there's n pile Of magazines Yonder
But they don't do much solid Ieading,-blcss me,
You mean at the club ?" SAID Wainwright, look
ing up thoughtfully from book that he was
Oh, not a bit of it," said Mr.. Binghamton 81
classes here don't read; thSts the slmnie ti1nfb.
dn3y haven't time; they live in too great hurry
American knows nothing of leisure"
me young mon have leisure, you say,-those
whom Just now heard talking together downstairs.
Indeed / can hardly believe that it would not re-
qq!c leisure to assure yourself possessed of Il dog
which can whip any other in the whole United
Mr.. Bnghamton laughed. Oh, those arc your
rich young men forgot those"
" 20 they form large class =
Rather. II is growing every year."
And they do not read either h
Dear me, no! Far less even than the fathers
who have toiled for years to give them drags and
brOughamS now"
Wainwright seemed to muse for n moment.
"lhey don't read. and they don't take interest IN
the government of their country And these
are the men who would call themselves our best
1t Is all very strange to me-
Mr.. Binghamton shrugged his shoulders and gave
his queer musache short tug. u can't helm
wondering what YOU expected to find" said the
.nsiShnail, with keen look from his small hazel
Mainwrght broke into q broad smile. al cx
Pccted to ind America iu OF AmelicanS.' he said.
Az m Go" hreEioHsN he had replaced ON ITS Shelf
above him. on the polished top of the low hook-casc
rested tome of really cumhrous bulk lie drew il
toward hln with both hands, intending to read lis
title But the cover loosely detached came of in
ms Grasp aud several OF the leaves fell out in dire
Good gracious" exclaimed Wainwright, "what
mischief have been cor mittingl
THAT'S the British Pcerage. | happen to know
that the club has ordered a new one
"A curious Look had crossed WalnwTights face.
He had set his eyes quite ixedly upon Mr. Bing'
hamt9n " thought you told me that they didn't
~, r." Oh, bless my SOUL they read the Pecragc
y n.y. we wear out anew one every year So the
4" Is it possible p said Wainwright dryy.
These useless young men are represented appear
ing in several distinct "scts," the respective cnar-
accrstics of which are drawn by Mr.. Fawcett with
considerable force. The rich foreign banker with
his beautiful American wife, dispensing faultlcss
wealthy and well-bred people; the exclusive
knlckcrbocker family, with an od-fashioncd man
SION on the SccondaVc, and severe opinions on the
subject OF the decay of gcntility; and the dstinc-
lively fast set, i'll which Mr. Townsend Spring. an
adventurous stock gambler, and his pretty piquant
ana excessively demonsratiVe wife, the leaders
all these we'll two three smaller circles are
described with acuteness with accuracy and at times
with humor; while more or less eccentric individual
characters are APPLY introduced to onliven the |
progress of the story. The best PAGES in the book
are perhaps those devoted to the Townsend Springs |
Wainwright ventures to make a remark a propos of |
Mrs. Springs behavior:
Both her friends and her doings seem rather
picturesque" said Wainwright deliberatly lettering
a little over the last word.
Picturesque" repeated Ruth, with an ntonaton
oil bitterness "lcs-that Is precisely what they
are. The clique of persons who surround my sister
are Tor tie most part, Ignorant -irightfully gno-
rant. ! hcY never read they never think; they
nave hunger for amusing themselves, and that is
about AZ They are, perpetually getting up
things 1t is either dinner party in Il fashionable
restaurant or dryingparty on an English drag,
or suppcr-party with german afterwaId. at
which they all ronp about hike so many school
chlldrcn Occaslonally they 90 70 the strangcst
places. Yesterday Fanny lunched with a number
OF hilarious Inmates at Fulton Market IN a common
little eating house where the oysters are said to hc
remarkably good. A few nights ago she was one of
u party that went and filled two boxes at n bio
third-ratc theatre, where ladies and gentlemen arc
not supposed to find anything worth hearing or
VINO patlOnlZcd The balcony regions of enormous
bcer-girlen. OF somewhere in the Bowcry, whcrn
our lower classes listen TO asscmhaec OF inferior
GERMAN musicians playing amid odOrs of bad to-
bacco. lheS call this kind Of thing lark and !
am sorry 90 tell You that their larls are exceed
ingiy numerous. Nearly all the ladies of the set
are married ,-whch is at least a fortunate oircum-
stance But they are tyrannicay cliqush. They
have a predictions idea Of themselves With an
absurd sort OF sarcasm. they insist upon your being
somebody before they will permit you TO pass
their charmed limits"
a Gentleman Of Leisure " is in short so good that
it is impossible to avoid feeling Of irritation with
Mr.. Fawcett because he has not made it better. His
worst failing is hasty and careless use of lam
guagc. lie has the essentials of a neat, epigram-
matte, musical and effective style. The construc-
ton OF his sentences is generally clear and harmo-
NOUS, and it is varied with excellent taste. But
when his phrases are examined they yield surprls-
ing results They bctray the common confusion be
tween shall " and "willp" would" and shouldv
and the almost universal error of using restivcD
i'll the of restless whereas its meaning is
just the reverse; they contain mistakes of haste
which arc often amusing and occasionally vulgar
for example, he had never been 10 Parisn-a
they abound in certain incorrect form of express
sion which may be called the most distinct charac-
tcrstic Of Mr. Fawcctts style This consists in the
of epthets. Having two adicctves in
his mind to apply to an object his habit is to turn
one of them into substantive aud then qualify it
by the other The effect of thus diverting the adj
jectlve from its legitimate is sometimes very
droll. Wishing to describe young ady's figure as
gracefully curved and 1.-The he speaks of its
" gIaces of curvilinear lithcness." The figure may
be curvlnear, but of course the litheness is not In
the Same way We have figure of " rounded hcxi-
bility," starlight of rounded calm" n cliff of
" rugged shcerncss," an atmosphere of "damp
blandness," n large view unfolding its panoramic