New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-07-06
SOCIAL SILHOUETTES.'
er,Sa THE IMPRESSIONS oF MR. MARK MAN
HAITIAN.
TIE DEMOCRATIC AR1SToCRAT.

And nay reason for sncE reminder is by no means a
reroudite or subtle one. Mrs Ahercromom hmlth
Gt has never occurred within the recnl'ocuon oi
my friend or acquaintance OF this lady " nave
heard her called the plain " Smith without the
etnamentng and Qualifying AbercIomple mas
necessarily refused to he socially dchhed. go"
assert that she has consciously opposed 'nch "et
milton !, - my belief that she has allowed hel''"
e. DRIFT securely along on tho curront of hor own
complex personality.
( call Is complex personality because she u u
ma,ron of no single discciublo aim. WITH othor
women Of her distinct place and rank Won can ''''
inst what they desire TO accomplish Ihcv AFRO
ao,nobody aud they propose 10 remain p"Wop"'J'
Empowered with precious Prof"gatiN"' thoS '','"
this through an unnuohing dctorm nation i"i
cannot WOO or wheodle thom into AN mpru"'nt
concession. Thor drawing room N th''r o"''''
md ia storm their castle - to "ccN"" P'""P'
broalsdc of imposing rehuko. They have tho'' NV
pu,chns,ble smiles. their incorrupthc clononc'oS'
Whom thoy VII. 10 TcceiV" they receive "'" - Wy
strategy YOU enforce from them reluctant hospital
t,oA they know how to revenge themselves ny u
future disfavor rs polite a. u ls relentless
Bnt with MIN. AbercIombie Smith ionhd 'h'S
order of affairs most amusingly reversed ohe WIZ
about hve-and-lorty when / first met nor ana
handsome with that mature beauty when an unas
yressive syabonpoinL a par OF nfaded hazel eyes,
two positively time-dofyng dmplcs. and com
plexion of soft memorial bloom Will make any
woman of her admitted years There was no qnoS'
tion about her right TO rule and rcign She was
Smith but a special. particular. and oven pho-
nomcnaI smith Multitudcs of other Smiths had
obscnrely live i aud died. But her late husband
who had also lived aud died. had been the near
relative Of untold Knickorbockor grandees l
never saw him; lac was dead before my time. so 10
speak Nor have ever known Just why no was 80
remarkable and exceptional "A Smith, nut assure
the incredulous reader of these confessions tha'
there IN not n grain of doubt regarding ms na"loss
origin. ] cannot record who Mrs Ahercromn"
Smith had herself been. Derogatory Whispers hlay
once have snunded. hut these had long ago drowsed
into respectful silence. The overwhelming power
of her matrimonial name may have covered any sort
of hereditary origin. 1t is my private opinion t"at
Mrs Abercrombie Smith sprang from very I'M
known stock / like to take this view, since II &C
counts for and just6es the sinewy repuhicaniSn IN
her which am on the verge of chronicling.
She went everywhere. Nobody ever presumed 10
question her right to go everywhere. here 'aY 'no
pregnant and bitter of her continuous qnarrei
with society. 1t was silent and furtive quarrel
but it was mono the less pronounced one one
ought to have been very popular, and sic conid
certainly have made herself so with niue CIT
cumspect effort among the mGgnates who now
know ut least ten feminine leaders who would with
10y have erased her name from their visiting books
But this was not possib She was too Important
nm aversion Everybody would instantly have un-
derstood why they had dropped her snch a pro-
ceeding would have raised hue and cry nom
which the bodest egitimist in orr dear democratic
city modestly shrank 1t would have been to disio-
cate pillar of society the whole classic edlhce
would have quivered from the shock she must DC
endured, therefore, and courteously deteSted.
She represented a perpetual irreparable breach in
the walls of arstocracy. She was Zoe IN the
camp of the select If she had worked her treaoons
insdiously from without, she might have been
met by a wrathful phalanX of opponents. But she
worked them openly. from within she was H.
cesssmtly bidding the enemy enter, with cooi
courage that eXasperated while 1t nonpln'sed her
natural allies She never proclaimed herself either
forgetfu or scornful of what is meant bv caste she
eImply assumed tow ard the whole matter KIND "i
rebe lions innocence blent with good deal OF sweet
yet secure dignity If you put to her an adrot qnes
ton or two on the subject of her position she
would respond with the nonchalant serenity OF
queen explaining some nice point of usnage to an
intcrroeatlve courter.
She has always got some nobody in tow" said n
man of the gded cliquos to me, when hrS' asked
for a direct definition of her unconventionalisn
- II is quite rs often a man rs woman. She gets
people from the highways and hedges and drigS
them into decent places She Is forever making
society swallow somebody whom it doesn't want
10 swallow | don't wonder that she tires its
abused larnyx Some day it ought to revolt against
another pleboian morsel. Some day suppose IL
will. and fer my part earnestly hope So
A little later one Of my aunts-a certain Mrs
Rensselaer, Rivington-said to me with gent g wall
Ia her usually docOrous tones: My dear Mark,
do think that something should lac done to stop that
dreadful Mrs Ahcrcrombic Smith"
cato stop her, aunt p inquired, iteratiyely.
eyes You know | am gong to give my Gertrude
. Blue Room next Monday" This was in the days
OF the old Fourteenth Street Delmonico's, when a
& Blue Room at that charming ediice of fcstvity
meant a small evening entertainment whence all the
social strugglers were proscribedJ ." OF course !
wanted II TO be nice But here II Mrs. Abcrcrombie
Smith. who writes me requesting invitations Tor
her two dear intimate young friends Miss Matt
aud Nh. kOsenthaL' Ihore are certainly two hun
dred people of the sort that one knows and visits
whom would much rather have than either Miss
Mutt or Mr.. observation-disclosures they may be, with |
their Outrageous names! But my affair was 10 be a
small one aud Mrs. Aborcrombio Smith was fully !
ware of It. Yet she forces me to receive two
strangers 1t is simply abouunablo' STILL might !
have been prepared for her She has done this horrd
kind OF thing Tor years"
4 followed up any aunts grievance, so TO |
speah, and observed the lady and gentleman |
whom Mrs. Abercrombie Smith had thrust
upon her unwilling cylties The first was |
a pale girl with a rcctillnear band Of iaxen hair |
across either temple AMI notably demorazed |
way of carrying her fan. She looked rs If she |
might have come yesterday from Topeka. Her |
large. mild blue eyes stared upon her brilliant sur
as though she were at some kind Of CANDY
provincial fair. and every guest were decorated
booth of special equipment. had sensation quite
disconnected with irony of asking her whether she
wOud permit me TO procure her a tumbcr of lemon
ade Her lnnse wide smile ha So saccharlne a sug-