Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-06-08
P A N D O r A
By HENRY JAMES.

AOgelsteiH went Wherever he was
asked, on principle, partly 10 study Amer
lean society and partly because IN W ash
iugtOn pastimes seemed TO aim not 50 nu-
zner0us that one could afford to neglect
occasions of course n the end OF two
winters he had a good many Of various
Kinds, and his stuev Of American society
had yielded considerable frBit. When,
however, in April, during the second year
Of his residence, he presented himself at
a large party given by Mrs. Bonuycastle,
and e which it was believed thatit would
he the last serious affair Of the season. his
being there { and still more his looking
very fre 81 and laxative was net the
consequence OF a rule Of conduct He
went to Mrs. BOnnycastle's simply be-
cause he liked the lady, whose receptions
were the pie3santest in Washington, and
because il b. didn't 90 there be didn't
know what be should do; that absence G.
alternatives had become rather familiar
10 him in W ashingtOn. There we're
great many thiEgs he did because If he
didn't do them he didn't know what he
should do. IL must be added that in this
case. even If there had been an alterna-
tive, he would still have decided ts 20 to
Mrs. BOnnycastle's. If her house was not
the pieasantest there, il was at least diff
cult 70 say which was pieasanter; and the
complaint sometimes made Of it thatda
whole, more people than 1t took in, applied
with much less force when il was thrown
open for a general party. Toward the end
Of the social year, in those soft, scented
DAYS 81 the Washington spring. when the
AR began TO show a southern glow. and
the little squares and circles to which the
wide. empty avenues cOnyerged according
% a plan so ingenious vet so beWildering)
20 flush with pink blossom, and to make
one wish 70 sit on benches-at this pc
Rod Of expansion and conformation, Mrs.
BOanycastle. who, during the winter. had
been a good deal on the defensive, relaxed
her vigilance a little, became humOrOusly
inconsistent, yeTnally reckless, as II were,
and ceased TO calculate the consequences
Of an hospitality which a reference 70 the
back fles-Or even TO the mornings issue
OF newspapers might easily show 10 be
a mistake. But Washington life, TO NO-
gelstein's apprehension, was paved with
mistakes: he felt himself to be in a society
which was founded on necessary errors.
Little addicted as he was TO the spOrtiye
view Of existence, he had said TO himself,
at an early stage Of his sOjOurn. that the
only way 10 enjoy the United States would
be 10 burn ones standards and warm ones
self at the blaze. Such were the refec-
lions Of a theOretic TeUtOn, who now
walked, f6F the most part, amid the ashes
Of his preiudices. Mrs. BOnnycastle had
endeay0red more than once to explain to
him the principles on which she received
certain people and ignored certain others;
but it was with difficulty that he entered
into her determinations. She perceived
differences where he only saw resem-
blauces, and both the merits and defects
OF q good many members Of Washington
society, et1 that society was interpreted TO
him by Mrs. Bonnycastle. he was often at
n 70
n = fund of good humOr which, as l
bS(, '"timated, was apt to come upper
49, ,,-i.t, "a April blossoms, and which
Il37I - ,,aorIo she did not invite to her
house almost a. ann sing TO her as those
she did. Her husband ". hGl ~ lOIi'ics,
though politics were much nm In 1 ~.
the couple had taken upon thems We .;- VIC
responsibilities Of an active patrIU -slll'
thew thought il right to live in AmerIla d,
rein from a great many "a
,,.s ,,,l intabces. who onlys thought II
l Me-. S1 They had that burdensome her
itage Of foreign Renaissance with "
50 many Americans are saddled; but they
carried il more easily than most OF their
country people. and you knew they had
lived in Europe only by their present eN-
ultatIOn, never in the least by their re-
crets Their regrets, that is, were only
for their ever having lived there, as Mrs.
BonnveastIeO once told the wife Of foreign
Minister. They solved all their problems
successfully, including those Of knowing
none Of the people they did not wish to;
and Of finding plenty of occupation in 4
society supposed TO be meagrely provided
with. resources for persons of leisure.
When. as the warm weather approached,
they opened both the wings Of their door,
il was because they thought it would en-
hnnnrrGn hnT
conscious OF pressure. Alfred BOnny-
castle all winter, indeed, chafed little
at the definiteness Of some Of his wife's
reserves: he thought that. for Washing
ton. their society was really little too
good. NOgelstein still remembered the
puzzled feeling cit had cleared up some
what now with which. more than a year
before. he had heard Mr.. Bonnycastle ex-
claim one evening, after dinner in his
own house, when every guest but the Ger
man secretary ( who often sat late with
the pair had departed: "Hang it, there is
only month left; let US have some fun
let us invite the President"
This was Mrs. BOnnycastle's carnival,
and on the occasion to which l began my
little chapter by referring, the President
had not only been invited, but had signi-
fed his intention o. being present. l
hasten to add that this was not the same
functiOnary to whom Alfred BOnnycas-
ties irreverent allusion had been made.
The White House had received a new ten
ant the old one, then, was just leaving
it,, and Otto YOgelstein had had the ad-
vantage, during the first eighteen months
Of his STAY in America, of seeing an cleo
tOral campaign, a Presidential Inaugural
ton and distribution Of spOils. He had
been bewildered, during those first weeks,
by finding that in the national capital, III
the houses that he supposed to be the best,
the head Of the State was not a coveted
guest; for this could be the only explana-
ton Of Mr.. BOnnycastle's whimsical pro-
pOsal 10 invite him, as II were, IN carnival.
His successor went out good deSl-fOr
President.
The legislative session was over, but this
made little difference in the aspect Of Mrs.
BOnnycastle's rooms, which, even at the
height Of the Congressional season, could
not be said to overflow with the repre-
sentatives of the people. They were gar
nished with an occasional Senator, whose
movements and utterances often appeared
TO be regarded with a mixture Of alarm
and indulgence, as if they would be dis
appointing il they were not rather odd,
and vet might be dangerous If they were
not carefully watched. NOgelstein had
grown 10 have a kindness for these con-
script fathers Of invisible families, who
had something Of the tOga in the vOlumi-
nous ADLue VI AuEAL EUAA ealA0AAs Jul We =
otherwise rather bare and bald, with stony
wrinkles in their faces, like busts and
statues Of ancient lawgivers. There
seemed TO him something chill and ex-
posed in their being at ence so exalted
and so naked; there were lonesome glances
in their ewes. sometimes, as if in the social
world their legislative consciousness
lOnged for the warmth Of 2 few cOmforta-
bic laws ready made. Members Of the
House were very rare, and when Wash
ingtOn was new to NOgelstein he used
sometimes TO mistake them, in the halls
and on the staircases where he met them,
for the functiOnaries engaged for the even
ing to usher in guests and wait at supper.
1t was only little later that he perceived
these functiOnaries were almost always
impressive, and had a complexion which
served as a livery. At present, however,
such misleading figures were much less
TO be encountered than during the months
Of winter, and, indeed, they never were
10 be encountered at Mrs. BOnnycastle's.
At present the social Yistas Of Washing