New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-06-29
SOCIAL SILHOUETTES.'
nErNs THE IMPRESSIONS OF Mr.. MARK MAN
HAITIAN.

indeed. From childhood had always invested MS
name with n certain reverence which even now,
when | am thirty -four, find that no amount Oh
republican radicaSm and mature common sense
will entirely overcome NY poor, dear dead mother
usel TO say to me when was surely not older IMAM
twelve: Mark. | hear that young Nerpianck
Schenectady has such excellent manners His
mamma is very proud OF him. She thnhs nc Is going
to be a great credit to the family"
As years went on this promise became fulhlment.
don't know how Schenectady acquitted himself at
Oxford did not 90 10 Oxford myself, bnt to Har-
ward And a short time after his return from abroad
met him: we were re-rntroduced, one evening at
The Metropoitan Club lie was nearly six feet tall
and excessively blond. lie had pale face, with
well-chis He'd features and pair OF mild dark-oiue
eyes. His hail. brushed in two straight lines from
its central parting rgdly either temple TIL 1t
met either ear expressed the sheen and compaotness
Of metal: Won had sense of any individual hairs;
il was all a miracle of glossy attrition. He wore
trousers and coat of faultess fit they had YER
tca creases in them here and there, as If they had
been recently exhumed from n foreign trunk,
tbough perhaps this effect was due solely to the
sednlous iron of his valet. He held pair OF tawny
dogskn gloves in one white hand, on which GIT
terde more than a single costly ring. 1t had been
roundly stated at the Metropolitan, not many hours
ago. that he was the undoubted pOssessor of
81 know j.: for fact-a fact SIR had affirmed old
Vanderveer who is the most dogmatic of our many
elderly genteel club gossps But have long been
bristling sceptic with relation to all Nanderveers
facts" and his present confidence OF statement
made me feel secure in placing Schenectady's in
come at no higher than $4,000.
The young Oxonian shook hands with me very
warmly aim awfully glad to meet you, old chap
he SAID with, the most broadly British Of accents.
al oil hnpr A Z lie al
OF our converse l found it impossible to rccolle;t
anything that my companion had said. could
recolect his manner. however. and the cultural
drawl of his pronunciation. very clearly. lie
seemed indeed. to express nothing except manner
and pronunciation. lie not by any means
caricatue; should deplore implying that he was
In the faintest degree carcaturc. The effect
which he produced upon Inc was one of prodigous
and overwhelming gentlemanliness. can find no
other,wOrd than gentlemanness andyet l do not
like the word. ( have a fancythat an absolute gen
tleman should never give YOU the idea that he is
ut aIl-that tho belief of his being should rest
latent and unobtrusive until some suggested doubt
calls IL into activity, and then that yonr assent
should be cordially vehement. while yOn remcm-
bercd inst how perfect gentleman he was. But
with Schenectady the assertion. in this respect be-
came professionally manifest He shifted his feet,
clad IN their efugent pointed shoes; he squared his
changed the posturcs of his wcll-attired person. he
slapped his leg carelcssly with his grasped dogskn
gloves; he threw back his small head. balustrated
Mt the throat by its high, stiff collar he did. in
short every minor thing of this unlmpOrtant kind
as though the movement were result of some
special patrican art and tact, and had been studi-
ously cultivated as we'll from vigilant watching of
some valued model. lie seemed to me like person
of the most placidly magnificent confidence i'll his
here WIS
about his disciplined security. All his little acts
and gestures appeared to have pretty cIchd upon
them like the embroidered crest on handkerchief.
He employed she words bcastly." and swaggcr,"
and filthy" and Jaw" and rot" with so much
evident certainty in their entire fitness for
polite usage that began to acquire reflective con
fdcnce myself in his lawess behavior. He must
be right, thought because he was 50 calmly con
WINGED of his own decOrum. If he had put his feet
upon the back OF chair or dropped fragnentary
cigarette into my hook and settler or skiluy up
set one Of onr democratic spttoOns by single kick,
don't know that should have viewed these acts
Mt all harshly, in my present enthrdied mood. A
little later, il is true, might have questioned the
exact English authority for their commsSI0n but
perhaps even then should have had lurking faith
that they had all been done before by exalted trans
atlantic dignitaries Schenectady drank nothing,
himself but Vichy. IThanks, no. he said, when
asked TO partakc of stronger refreshmcnt. and the
Iaconc refusal seemed to an impressive hint
that hc drank Vichy at this particular hour from no
inclination trivial rs a merely personal one but
because the drinking Of it just now was sanctioned
by lofty foreign precedent. " ! got away with lot
of Triple where dined' he was good enough TO
add and this kindly admission saved me. the mex
of time from "A sense of objectionable inebrety.
But distance dissolved the aristOcratic spell he
had wrought over me. reflected upon him. sab
t;g ID do not IN NOV tai lie
sarcasm to careful analysis. 1t was indeed like
tearing a butterfly to pieccs-and one whose dust
was gold-dust. On what subjects had he spoken,
after allf severe effort of recollection during
which memory pushed its reluctant probe through
a solid crust of assertivc mannerism, assured me
that outside of horses. dogs. Auntln,' "yachtln"
"rowin'" "drIvin' cOaoch," and "bOxin'." Mr..
Schenectady had touched upon no appreciabe
theme His individuality was summed mp for me IN
three items: clothes, department and athletics
Take from him these three cults and he would be as
much among what we call the lower order of animal
life as were any of his own fayorite brutes. And
vet possessing these cults. he was so representa-
lively human! OF intellect in its better grades be
gave not a sign How he had ever managed to have
himself graduated at Oxford seemed a marvel to
me- This conjecture also woke my sharp curiosity.
When we next met, which was soon, had grown
invulnerabe to his charms of artificial ctQu stte
and punctilio. although had already heard MS
praises rs "A devish lnc fellow and " real Thor
oughbred gentleman" sounded widely throughout
The club. But was not to be- blinded by popular
adulation | wanted to sec and judge and deducc
for myself had more than once heard 1t said OF
handsome fashionable fools, Over-lillgreed with
smart embellishments, that they could be clever
enough when they chose" or that they bad plenty
OF brains if they only cared 10 use them and don't
Won make any mistake" | had grown seriously
doubtful of late rs TO any men possessing brains
md not caring to use them. | had st)utly made mp
NV mind that all men who possess brains are quite