New-York tribune., 1884-10-12
SOCIAL SILHOUET'TES.
BEING THE IMPRESSIONS UF MR. MARK MAN
HAITIAN
7,uFJADy WHO REFORMED.

,,,aoa % sav when frat pecked the sholl OF my
hohh,cdchovhood aud went out into gay New-fork
soce,v that Julia Clymer the incest girl IN the
xvbo,e world This convection remained an articie
NJ faith with me for several years. You might cN-
hanst a copous list of adcctivcs in searching 'or
that which better expressed Miss Jul'as dnai''ies
than the plain and homcly term of "nce' vi
Coursc her orbit was one of frivohty bu' 'he" s"o
appeared to make frvoliy sensible Nhe "as
garrnlons and little loud-voc'd, S nearly an
American girls when clever are apt To oe' o"c
moved and walked with restlessncss that imp'e"
the nervous temperament she was cNcee"'heN
blonde and had eyes that were like TWO great snh-
inq amelhvsrs in their lucid and lovely color. But
should not have called her pretty. Her chm was
little too sharp tor that. and her cheekbcncs rose
n trine too high. Her arn,, were OF awkward ont
line and strongly inclined to rodncss. She was Tor
ever assailmg them. those poor arms, with
oathctic kind of satire She would say to you. pcr-
chance while you stood beside her, some evening ~
ball or party: "Do YOU think my arms rTs drca"'
fu' tonight - Aud when YOU responded WIN tue
most eager and chivalrous of negatives sho w"u'u
look at you with n sccptlcal toss oi tho hr'u m"
porhaps cAcaim: "No nonsense now lou KNOW
very we'll that my unfortunate arms ave horror
But shc had exquisite foot slender aroh"o NJ Inv
ins,cp and lust small enough To harmoni2e with her
TIC aud graceful tread could glide over ballroom
floors in treless activity Miss Ciymcr was passion
ntely fond of dancing, and she danced with won
drous elegance. buoyancy and skill
Rut this Gift did not explain her popularity. DO
not know if any particular gift cOud be said To ex-
plain it, Perhaps the secret lay IN her extreme
worldiness having made her. after ALL so Ittic OF
real mondaiae. She looked at you trnstiully with
her AMETHYST eyes she made you think how lnsln-
cere other women were beside herself: she i'm
pressed YOU as having warm. large. sympathetic
heart and plenteous fund of common sense III IS
true that her conversation was largely made up oi
sheer unadulterated gossip: but then she gossped'
somehow without the touches of spleen. tho nanrds
lan0ue that so many other women employ uncon-
sciousiy. She now and then gave me flashes OF IN
teliect too: she made me certain that she was
capable OF insight reflection. mature Judgment l
sometimes had the idea that she was a girl who did
everything that she attempted thoroughly. ana that
in playing the role of fashionable idler sne ac-
Quilted herself to perfection within ITS narrow
limits through instinct that whatever was worth
doing at all was worth doing we'll. 1t struck me-.
at such times that she could have done better and
higher things with an equal success.
She had no coquetries. no sly arts. no covert
methods of fascination. The beam of her gaze was
direct one: she possessed an almost provoking
avowal of her love for society. The most monoto-
nous male bore sure OF her courtesy. She had
her marked preferences. but she contrved never to
lot these wound the unprt ferred l should not use
that term GcOntrved." for she cOntrived nothing.
All was fr rink spontaneous voluntary with her. As
q result the most vicious envier. the most mallgn
scOfer. had for her no weapon ID bis armoiy OF
spleens Her smile magical; it bunted all the
poniards of rancor.
New-York, that city which is tho most careful of
all others in the world to ask your right to DO called
aristocrac. because of all very large cities 1t prob
ably has the least right. itself to think about
aristooracy at all-New- York, saw forgot to make
an inquiry concerning the "postion" of Julia
Clymer For m self, forgot to ask because every
body else forgot. Possibly. if had made invcstiga-
tons might have hit upon POughkecpse, an Am
sterdam or a Van Tassel as one OF her near rela-
tves. But am sure that such illustrons kindred
could have had nothing whatever to do with her
bright and genial supremacy. She WAS belle by a
very sweet personal and presumptlyc right she
went everywhere she knew everybody. The care
full diDner-gvers constantly numbered her among
their chosen guests: the proudest feminine leaders
liked TO have her seated beside them III their opera
boxes. Hpr superiority OF place was astonishing be
cause She made no effort to secure it, Her stamp OF
selection. of ultra-ineness of social rarity and i'm
portancc were still more astonishing for the reason
that there were no hali-shunncd halfdiScounte-
nanced people who could lay one pang OF hurt self
love TO her account.
81 think Julia Clymer has mastered the secret OF
how woman can triumph socially once told
myself III "A rummatIve mood. d" don't know now
she has mastered It, but the result is certain !
don't believe that she herself knows. either fancy
il is more than half Just there she herself does
not know either
During the year of my stay abroad she married
and when | returned heard of this marriage IL
had been rather sudden. asked people about 1t.
The conservat yes lifted their brows and shrugged
their shoulders. The liberals (alas regret to say.
much fewer of number, in NewYork society
answered me with few respectful facts soon
gathered the truth. Miss Clymer had married ont
of her set She was living with her husband at
Yonkers; lie had small estate there Her wedding
had been quiet she had sent many cards bat
had asked few guests Her husband was lawyer
and had written a work Political Economy
several years ago. He stated to he rather plain
Of appearance; it hard TO find any one who
really knew him. His name was Kingdom.
Another good year passed before met Mrs King
don, nee Ciymer. One evening AT known,
Newly ork theatre, chanced to occupy an orches-
tra-chair during the performance of certain plaV
which lad been damned 10y current criticism. ana
which IA very good and dear friend of mind bad
written | wanted TO like the play and perhaps for
this reason did like the first two acts of IT much
better than would otherwise have done AS the
curtain fell Tor the second time. gentleman just IN
front Of me spoke to "A ueIghbor with voice unduly
and perhaps unwittngly raised. The gentleman
had what we call Bohemian air; have rarely
seen rnure crumpled shmt-hosOm or a more
slaughtcIOusly crimson ncck-tlc.
"What rubbish this piece is" said the gentleman
t. his companion. 81 always knew that = had
not ray of dramatic tslent Why coald he not
conient hnnself with writing bad verses and worse