The Arkansaw traveler., 1888-07-21
ENGLISH AND AMERICAN MAN.
 NERS.
Berlin Gaae,tA

The American gentleman ot nigh social position is, as Q rule, thoroughly polite and considerate In his manners. An English gentleman of the sAmc class Is infinitely ruder when he wants to be, although no one can be morc elegant when the humor suits him. An Englishman considers that what ever he does Is right; the fact that he does 1t makes 1t right,
 Americans arc modest in this mat ter, and arc willing to govern them- selves by certain rules of polite so- ciety. Englishmen draw lines and ex pect every other nationality to re- speot them. For example, l heard an Englishman say the other day that he told tho landlord of the hotel at which he was stopping that hc would leave the place If certain common fellow, who happened to be among the boarSiers, continued to como to the dinner table In his shirt -sleeves. i don't wonder that the Englishman was indignant, and am quite sure that the man who pulled oil his coat when he sat down to the table was un- compromisingly vulgar; but this same Englishman pulled of his own coat and sat down In chair on the front piaxxa of the hotel. When some one remarked to him that he did not scem to appreciate tho difference between twecdledum and tweedlesiec, he seemed very much astonishe,i, for he thought the difference was vcry strongly marked.
 In England, he said, a gentleman would sit in his own front yard in his shirt sleeves, but us soon as he went inside the house hc would put his coat on. Now, an American gentleman might go around his house in his shirt sleeves, but he certainly would not be seen outside the door In such undress, Hut think there Is a dItiar- encc even In the matter of shirt sleeves. I do not mind seeing man on his piazza, or on his own lawn, In hls shirt sleeves but think there Is nothing in the world nglicr than to see a man with his waistcoat on, but without a coat, unless 1t bc without n waistcoat If hc wears suspenders.
 
 costume is rather picturesque, partic- ularly If he wears silk scarf about his waist, a costume which Is beoom- Ing quite popular in Now York dur ing the summer. IT you will 70 down to Wall street you will sec every va. riety of silk scarfs around the waists of youthful brokers. Those who don't wear scarfs wear very wide belts, some of them six or seven Inches in width. The belt or the scarf adds finish to the ngliest part of mans, and makes II look almost like an Oriental cos tune.
 But to return to the Englishman'n manners. have heard anecdotes that 1t would seem almost impossible to believe, Illustrative of the rudencss of the English gcntlefolk. have never been able to make up my mind whether thIs rpdeness of speech comes from an intention to be rude or merely from plain speaking heard for cigncr, not an Englishman, say at lady's table that he would take some more of the soup because he knew that it was good, and he did not know whether tho dinner that followed would be; when he had a good thing he wanted to make sure Of 1t. Ills wife expostulated with him in play ful way, but he replied indignantly that he was not a hypocrite, that he was simply honest. 1 sometimes think that this is the motive that impels some English people to say the un- pleasant things that they arc so fond of saying.
 And yet when an EnglIshman says rude thing he does not say 1t with tic brutality of an American. IL Is never accompanied with profanity. Indeed, profanity Is peculiarIty of the American climate. l heard an Englishman say not long ago that the reason he liked to be associated with certan man in business, although that man was not very prompt in paying him his salary, was that he always spoke to him as gentleman and never swore at him. Another man, who offered him better position, he hesi- tased to go with, because he peppercd his conversation with oaths. Not that the EDglishman was sucha tendcrfoot, but he did not like such rough Ian. Ruage. He said that 1t irritatcd him to have man say to him, even though | he meant to Dc perfectly amiabis, Where the h. have you been ali this | timer" It was . form of greeting | which, while intended to Ire cordial, | was unpleasant. He did not deny | that Englishmsn swore, but he said | he never heard oaths among the same | class Of EDglishmen as were used by | Americans of the same class.
 Of course, you do not expect to hear | a woman use profane expressions, but | an English woman will not use any of the violent words that even an Amer