New-York tribune., 1884-11-02
SOCIAL SILHOUETTES.
.v,so THE IMPRESSIONS OF MR.. MARK MAN
HAITIAN.
XVI
rur VOTING GENTLEMAN WHO SAYS "'

,h;nl without having a special, dominant trat
;nstan,ly suggest itself. believe 1t Is the gre'.
Tanie who says. in speaking OF Shakespeare e"' Vi
misunderstanding. that the people ma"e 10 ".o ~
his dramatic contemporaries always s'""" ''' :"
single uuali,v as revenge hate, Vcr"c"S' "o""'
o,,v and so on through the whole glmut OF Wees
virtues foiblcs sins peccadllocs: whiie 'he o'o
master wrought complex pcrsohait"s l" ""'0"
fon,, ora excellence. flaw aud purity, were won
ar,nslv and humanity ntcrblended From TINS point
of view il is not my opinion regarding Mr.. JOSIAH
S,;cer that Shakespeare would have cared very
mncb about handling him. i think the master
would have passed him over to Ben Jonson or some
lesser uninarv. without n murmur. The moment
Won saw him or rccollccted him yon were rcmlhoeo
of single iact-hs excessive modesty. Ii seemed
indeed. n sor, o hodncss because II 80 mahtc"
him. so distinguished him, so emphasized hm'
lie was not moro than two-and-thirty when nrs'
met him. He went TO all the places where WENT
His tough prosac name-Josiah Spiccr-"aS -"
oll ono in New York rs old names go here There
had surely been five anterior JOSIAH "Picois' anu
since the first had made himself important wei over
century ago in mercantile dealings, all the others
had done something or been sonnet hing pIeser'a'No
nj the family prestige. There was not. however
any prestige at all about my Josiah lho money
which usually went with the name had not eon'
with his. II had driftcd oil into channel OF some
what remote cousins and the existent JOSIAH had 10
g,t along on n rather moderate bank-cerkshIp
have always thought this decided pity. lie wonii
have taken care of a fortune SO consciehtiousiy
and neatly If he had had one. lie took care oi n'n
self 40 conscicntousy and neatly. lie was qu''e
short Of stature and had long, pale bcardess iace'
with n mustachc that was IA little tlmlo' oo"hy'
1axcn curve He dressed with great pfcclsioh'
which. after all was not shnngly to his credit as
there was really So little OF HIM TO dress. Ills
shoulders were slight and dropping, his chcst was
80 narrow and puny his figure Was so spare ana
fragile that you could not help fancyng his tailor
and sblrtmaker must reap solid proit from their
limited proportions.
II he was not liked in society he certainly not
disliked there 1t might be recorded of him that he
WAS most rcnially and ndul lgently tolerated. The
honohtiest yonng belle would not have dreamed OF
snubhng him. though her adorers were score ana
her bouquets legion. He would never have put
himself in an attitude to he snubbcd. AT parties
he was always a nimbe. bland. Obligmg convent
ence. All that he apparently wanted to DO III the
CAV world was to hand an oppOrtunc ice to siip ior-
ward "A desired chair. to propel his the, aiert i'tIo
shane through voracious crowds at the supper-tapie
and bring calmly, securely but never triumphantiy
perhaps a glass of iced water to some parched
maiden. He filled place, and he hed u WITH con-
sulnInatc Iucllty ana tuoIouShHcH' ii' "'''F'NN
social life not merely as pleasure but as a duty
He was very much in earnest about 1t lie mad not
shadow of the ordinary afectations which one
meets: he knew everybody. cvcrybody's grand
father evcrybody's lack of a grandfather. every
body's claim rank status. But he was not at all
snobbish; he simply took the fashionable Ncw-lork
world as he found It, and danced with It, TAXED
inanitles TO it waited on IT. fed it carried ITS iahs'
called its carriages, enjoyed it, respected IT. and III
ms way supported bcfrended. ameoracd it. l
used soemtimes to watch the numerous bored people
about Josiah we always called hlm "Jo>lah III
full as if by sort of harmless ronc plcasantIy ana
ask myself whether. with all his lnSlgnlhcance'
absence of repose. unarstocratic good dhumor and
willingness to let people make use of him. he was
not having decidedly the best time of 1t. Whether.
In short among all the futile maze and babble and
masquerade of the thing. he had not been lucky
snongh 10 find the one true tallsman Of hearty en-
oymcut the elusive yet tangible secret dt bonh6"r
always liked to have him hear me when led
the cotillon He would give me little practical
hints that were Of no moan worth: lie would
aid me by q wise whisper. in the general
ship of my flying artillery. my light infantry.
.ny phalanxcs of rosebud dansols ana Columbia
Collrre s,rpnrs lie nearly .always danced with
Nh uncompassiunaicd wallllowcr lie had not IN
come enough to engage n partner beforehand and
s,nd the imperative bouquet But don't think he
enred II was part of his phenomenal moiesty and
humility not TO care.
That hard cold handsome Anne 1rinitvchapc.
with smile like liz steel and.a wit like the stab oi
needle. once spoke of Josiah 20 mo Us tho Young
gentleman who says q my" bit my lip WIN
vcxation being n sworn ally of Josah's. but II Int
HIM on ~ aply aud shrcwdly that its cruel cen"
never left my brain. Anne Trinity chapel had
akctohcd him ondurngly for me by single logaril.
Ian stroke.
lie certainly did say o my" great deal lie
exclaimed IT, he murnured IT, he prattl"d H. ne even
looked Il when he dld not say 1t. HIS voice was
naturally high and thin; no other voice could nave
bccn cypectod from SO mcagre a personnel | grow
TO be 80 haunted by this causic little eplgram con-
,ernng him that one evening in Lent when ho
dropped into my room with me after small dinner
n, the JoIseyfats | was on the verge OF telling
Josiah frankly to guard against his beloved voca
tive.
Bu, soon discovered this same evening that he
bad become unwoniedly melancholy and soon
learned the cause of his depression. Tins put all
Thought of his % mysw out of my head. ana
tyen forgot his peculiarty while he began. III fam
iaI though subdued iaseito
"Oh nm Mark It's dreadful, Yes. IT'S perfectly
dreadful! The older grow the more get to think
how dreadful il is! mean about my never having
been abroad, you know"
"HaviDg been abroad Joslahf' repeated
swell really, don't see anything SO very u'cauiui
IN it. Do your
"DoIl' Here Josiah gave q little sneeze, 10r we
were sitting rather close together and tie smoke Oh
my cigar took course straight INTO his minute
mink nosirils. lie hates tobacco. thongh he says
he doesn't. "Oh, my" he pursued, with extreme
seriousness it seems to follow me, Mark, every
xxborei Yes il does never meet any stranger.
aud talk fen minutes, tha. | don't dread some
reference to Paris or London or Vienna. ] don't
mind Vienna 50 much. because lois of Americans
you know. haven't been there. But London and
Paris ,-ere,ybody has seem t,cm. Everybody except
me, And Pm ALWAYS afraid they're going to find