San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-09-07
OUR ANGLOMANIACS.
IN FORMER DAYS FRENCH WAYS
WERE THE FASHION.

Angiomania Confined to . Limited Glass
The American Habit of Mind Is Re-
sponsible for 1t AL - Not Serious
Matter.
The newspapers are constantly satirizing q
tendency to Anglomania, which is said to
prevail just now in American society or at
least in few cities and watering places
along the Atlantic shore IL is not habitually
mentioned that this IS but q swing OF the
same pendulum which seemed, twenty years
ago, to be swinging the other way, and
carrying us away from everything English
and toward everything French. The same
pendulum has been steadily vibrating, in
deed, ever since the foundation OF our gov
eminent, and its movements have never had
any great or important influence upon the
mass Of the American people Be this as it
may, it Is perfectly certain that the whim in
fashion thirty and even twenty years ago
was quite unlike what it now is.
Good Americans were said, when they
died, to 60 to Paris, and even the wit OF Tom
Appleton never ventured to suggest that
they should 60 to London. At Newport it
was for many years held essential to do
things in tie French way, not the English.
T. was st the French court that fashionable
Americans yearned to be presented; they
uniformly preferred to live on the other side
of th, English channel and | remember TO
have had this explained TO ME by a man OF
some fashion, on the ground that II an ambi
tlous American family lived in Paris they
were not vexed at being omitted from this or
that entertainment Of the nobility; whereas
in England, where thsir own language was
spoken, that sort OF omission chafed them far
more The reason thus assigned may have
been 6ilnsy, bat the fact recognized was i'm
portant; it indicated period when French
standards, not English, prevailed IN our
more fashionable society
LIMITED CLASS.
1t must be remembered that Angtomania b
confined among Us b limited class, and to
certain very limited pursuits and interests OF
that class. 1t does not exist, for instance,
among our men OF science, inasmuch as they
go to Germany in shoals for study, and rarely
visit Eng land since the death Of Darwin. II
is now charged upon our literary men, since
the death Of Richard Grant White, who was,
moreover, as ardently anti English IN some
directions as he was vedemeltly English in
others. II is not found in our Journalism,
" betb1 iLou sANA oSeoHh<Ay
leads it in enterprise, while falling behind It
in eveness Of execution and in the minor
proprietses Of hte 1t is not to BE- found in
our public school system or in our college
systems, for these, where they are not Aaeri
can, are German. II is not found in our
library methods, Sor in the librarians con-
ventions OF the last few years Americans
have he'd and not followed Even when we
come on more intimate and domestic ground
limitations still exist Our standard Of
cookery, so far as we have any is Preach and
not English.
No American lady would wish to be charged
with dressing hike an English woman, and no
American man, whom travelling anywhere
but i'll England, would wish to be taken for
an Englishman, for the simple reason that
Americans are everywhere so much more
popular. The key to this alleged Anglo
mania, therefore, is simply this: that the
American habit of mind is essentially cosno-
politan, and goes TO each nation for that
which it finds best of its kind As unerringly
as il goes to Germany for its scientific IN
structions, or to France for its cooks, so it
goes to England for what is not 50 we'll 10 be
found in France or Germany-the minor
convenbsnces and facilities which belong to a
highly trained leisure class.
BORROWING FROM ABROAD.
ITSELF newly developed. this Amer;zGS0Las-