Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-11-28
WHY Is TT?
That Distinguished Englishmen Marry
American Girls.

From the London Standard
The frequency with which Englishmen of
distinction select their domestic partners from
the United States may well set people asking
what it is that causes the occurrence. The
fact that Lord Randolph Churchill, Sir William
Harcourt, NJ. Clemenceau, the duke of MARI
borough and the successor of Count Moltke in
the important military post with which his
great name is associated have married Ameri-
| can ladies may tempt philosophic inquirers TO
60 in search of true and efficient cause Of the
occurrence, now brought still more into promi-
nence by the engagement Of Mr.. Chamberlain.
If we are to initiate Them we might find a GER
tain number of plausible explanations; but, at
the end OF the exercise OF our best ingenuity,
we should have to confess ourselves puzzled.
That there are a number of American young
ladies who are most attractive and charming
will readily be admitted; but, without postur-
ing as outrageous patriots in this respect, we
are disposed to think that English girls can
hold their own against even their fair Ameri-
can cousins in the matter of good looks. and
decidedly outstrip them in the qualities which
most Englishmen regard as engaging and ire
sistible. The ideal of the states is notoriously,
not quite the same as that which for the most
part prevails in this country, and We suspect
it would be found, on searching and impartial
investigation, that the American standard is
less of what is usually meant by an ideal than
the English standard. In other words. it is,
like the Americans themselves, more practical.
just as, for the most part, they educate their
children not so much with the object of making
them fine scholars and cultured gentlemen. as
of making them capable and successful citi-
zens, so, probably, they aim, even uncon-
sciously, at preparing girls not so mnch for a
brief passage of romance - for the long and
unromantlc business of life. At the back of
the head. as the phrase is of most English
girls is the idea that Lancelot or Prince Charm
ing, or some equivalent of those agreeable and
seductive personages, Is living somwhere in
the world; that it would be delightful to meet
him. and that, conceivably, that happy fate is
reserved for them in particular. In a word.
English girls are what is called romantic, and
American girls, if romantic, are so in less
degree. Like the rest Of their race, they are
educated to understand and be in harmony with
the hard and somewhat cynical conditions of
their life. They have less nonsense" about
them than English girls. They are sensible
women of the world, knowing all about it,
not easily deluded, and quite equal to the task
OF confronting existence in all its various
phases
Hence they enjoy considerable success in So
ciety, even on this side of the ocean. Society
does not ask for romantic disposition, for re-
finement or delicacy of temperament, but on
the contrary, for practical good sense, for
certain business-lke quality, and for those gifts
which enable people to succeed in dealing with
their fellow-creatures. 1t is often remarked
that American women push their way where
English women. possessed of no greater per-
sonal advantages, would fail. The reason is
that the former understand the conditions of
success better, and accommodate themselves to
them. They are not the women that stir the
passions or inspire the song of poets; nor will
they go down to posterity as heroines or charm
ers. But they have their day. They succeed
In London drawing-rooms as their brothers
succeed in dry goods stores" in New York,
and for much the same reason. We have no
doubt they make excellent wives to men who
live in the full glare of society, and prefer
clever, capable associate to tender domestic
companion.