Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-08-23
Boston In English Eyes.
london Saturday ReUiew.

1@cHkOt CItuIUuy h6OtSO.
With every BOstonian it is a fixed ar
ticle of belief that the heart of the
world beats under the three hills of Bos
ton. In that favored city, so prolific OF
genius, men are content to dwell in the
comparative obscurity of a second rate
reputation, who, if they went elsewhere.
would blaze forth as luminaries of the
first magnitude. Whether the elite oil
Boston society think more highly OF
themselves than they ought to do, OF
whether they entertain only that just
appreciation of their own merits which
Arts Otle considered to be the index OF
true magnanimity, is a question which
for the casual sOjOurner possesses a mere
ly speculative interest. Throughout the
Old World the consciousness of over
whelming superiority is apt to manifest
itself in unpleasant FORMS We may
look up with awe and reverence to a
superior person." but we do not usu-
ally choose him as a boon companion.
We find that little of his society goes
a long way. In Boston, however, no
one considers himself privileged to be
absOlved from the necessity of making
himself agreeable. A stranger with in.
Productions to the right people will soon
discover that the most eminent citizens
are as kind and attentive as any quite or.
binary persons could be- On the bores
and nonentities of native growth they
may, for all we know, be capable of
turning the cold shoulder, but with the
European importation they are singularly
courteous and genial. His host may
have world wide reputation, but the
guest soon forgets all about that, and is
only conscious of passing a delightful
evening with the most entertaining of
companions. The alistocracy of Boston
is emphatically an aristocracy of good
fellowship. Wealth is no passport to the
best houses; it is scarcely even recon-
mendatiOn. Rich men there are in
the elect of society, and rich men
who spend their money, az is
the way with most rich Ameri-
cans, for they are by no means a saving
people. Luxury and display are toler-
ated, but not encouraged. Boston, per-
haps, in its capacity of capital of the
principal New England State, is we'll
known to be the most English town in
America. Some parts of it have a solid
and venerable appearance that would do
credit to a cathedral city in the old
country. Like our own metropolis, it is
parceled out by the caprices of fashion
into districts of varying residential eligi-
bllity. The district known as 1.-THE
Southern End" is taboo" Moreover.
it is not entirely laid out in those terri
bly, well drawn rectangular parallelo-
grams which characterize the modern
American city. Streets, wide and mar.
row, intersect each other at every va
riety of angle. The chief street, in
which is situate the State House, over
looks the public park, a circumstance
that, taken In connection with the I'M
dulating character of the ground along
which it runs, reminds the cock
ney of Piccadilly, Instead of Buck
ingham Palace, hotels and other
edifices of imposing dimensions may be
observed in the distance across the low
lying greensward. The city boasts two
good public Libraries and picture gal
lerY, IN which the counterfeit present.
ment of George Washington in every va
riety of attitude may be studied by the
rising generation. The average of pic
torial art there prese nted is not high
many of the pictures are decidedly bad,