New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-07-06

friends or ancestors VINO nau u ioi"'"'"iN
upon peculiar heed.
But Mrs Aherorombie Smith had another ga ing
fault. She did not merely insist upon your re-
ccption Of her variant constituency of followers
She wanted YOU TO meet within her own drawing
rooms whomsoover she might chance to invite
there. at u perfect rabble' declared Caroline
Ten Fyek to me- while we stood together IN
throng assembled by this unparalleled hostess
Al sorts of people are here. There ~ danger VI
meeting your tailor OF your drcss'naker
could not help somewhat satiricaliy answering
that this might 10 the reason for some wcll-RhoWh
masculine and feminine faces being absent.
"Oh. that's Just like you" exclaimed Caroline
who has always accused me Of cynicisin. and VINO 10
sono sort of a COnsn of mino ana thereiore pIlN'-
lrged 90 break an occasional lance upon my o.
fcnsiyc euirasS. But you know perfectly what
mean, Mark. A few minutes ago saw man Win
"A lavender satin cravat'
"ls there any dark crime IN wearing u lavender
satin cravat of an ovcning'" replied.
Caroline tossed her comedy auburn head which has
such n curly grace Just whore tho poary tint OF her
tsnplc meets tho dry. crisp trcsscs Themselves
"Oh Mark :" she cried lrrtably I" didn't say II
was "a dark crimol Call 1t whatever color yon
please"
am call IL u lavender crime them returned
nppnntly.
Caroline IL clever. She looked ut mo with her lips
prcltily purscd. for an instant, and then said.
slightly misquotlpg Tcnnyson:
al object TO the persons cravat, all the same.
There was that across his throat which one would
hardly care TO see"
/ laughed, enjoying the bright nonsense. and en-
couraged her in her random msquoation.
"Comc now. my sweet Lady Clara We're dc Voro'
said let me tell you that you put strange fancics
III my head"
Caroline eyed me quizzically. Don't ask me to
tench the orphan boy to read or tho orphan girl to
sew Mark" sho disc claimed, " for do both. be-
long TO Mission School. which Includes
"Refrain from Wanting your public charities"
interrupted "and give our hostess, Mrs. Aber-
crombc Smith, u little more private charity She
IT, in hor way. a roformor. Caroline quite as much
and pardon me if presume it-consderably more
than you are"
My cousin gave hauGhty smile. al can't see a
trace Of rcfornaton," she exclaimed. in rdicu-
lOusly mixing sets"
"Of course you can't see it. wish yOu could"
GLOW nice of You to pity me p soft cried Caro-
line who had her hot funds of spite " Everybody
knows Mark, that you are getting to be a-what IS
the new word f-crankl You are said to read Her
bert Spencer and Oakley and IIarwin. and all those
awful atheists. on the sly. You said to be"
Here my Oyable wlnsomo little cousin paused, aud
gave me a glance that was meant to be penslvey
rcproachful. "You said to be-Oh. yes, Mark,
you are said to be an actual, Out-and-Out free
imnkerP
Under this anathoma marapathd shoud perhaps
have had the civllity to snCcumb. But did not,
and went talking with Caroline in n way IL at
no doubt shocked her vastly, and was in dread dis
accord with the merry watz-music not far distant.
Yet of course my cousin right. from the point
of view of modern Ncw-York ETY., in what
call its upper realms. Thus judged, Mrs. Aber-
crOmbie Smith did have rabbe there that evening.
But don't think that because good many of the
unfamiliar figures of the couldn't ride a stcepe-
chase at jerome Park in the garb of jockeys and be
rapturously applauded for dong so, they were
necessarily deserving Of this truly brutal substan
tive Nor do think that because not few Of the
ladies were dressed with vague regard for the SOW
ercign mode Of the hour they were for this reason
contemplate. But did not tell Caroline Ten Eyck
80 | find there is no earthly Of telling any
SO who is cutched by the mordant preference as to
" who is who" and what what"
/ afterward felt solid, wholesome respect for
Mrs. Abercrombie Smith / could not help paying
her this allegiance. There was something almost
epcal in the way she ignored the disappearing
groans of those who constantly surrounded her.
All the great poets have won their renown postum
discstcem. Mrs Abercrombe ST. th was not a great
poet am convinced that large share of mundane
prose entered into her we'll governed and cordial
disposition. But she was, nevertheless, whether
consciously or uncOnsciously, pereeptible and un-
corrupted reformer
Nothing could make her swerye. She continued
her career as "A democratic aristocrat with unaer-
ing consistency. She directed the bright, firm ray
of her genial smile well over the reach Of her de
tractors. but she somehow managed to bend it, with
Il glowing condcscensiOn down into the eyes OF all
her friends
She remains supreme until the present day She
is the visible lament of the exclusionlsts. A |
wrote before she pushes from within aud not from
without. But she is comfortably and incradcably
within She is like the Presidential lcvce at Wash
ington you may dislike her but you can't abolish
her.
II seems to me that she is by ans the neces-
sary evil which hear her so frequently called. ]
should name her on the contrary an accidental but
cogent good She might have been an uncompro-
missing and fcudal snob She remains and will re-
main a gcncrous-handed dispenser Of social pass
ports
Long may she ri,sr them with her sunny and care
less indulgence!
If she were outside Of the small restricted world
in which her intrinsic gifts OF dominance yet keep
pOWcI,ll sic NtIf, III ldCl polltlcd Utdu oI
a stanch pioneer concerning any great question of
popular zeal aud heat, should fling of my cap TO
her though it isn't a cap but only glossy modern
shaped cylinder OF n "siove-pipe"l and cry with |
stout ardor like any Of the historic rebe- read
about" Long live Mrs. Abcrcrombie Smith the |
democratic aTiStOcratl" p.
Copyright 1894. By Edgar Favcctt
PHILOSOPHY on THE FGONT PLATFORM !