, 1889-02-13

Yes. certainly.
assure you that there exists In America
social sa~nctuaries into which it Is more dimi
cult to penetrate than into tho most exclusive
mansions Of the Faubourg Saint German or
Of Mayfair and Belgravih
There nre in Philadelphia In Beacon street,
Boston, in Washington square north side,
New York, in Virginia; in Canal street fright
side, New Orleans, Americans who look upon
common mortals with much moro pity and
contempt than the Montmorencys Of France
or the Howar Of England
Tho Americans, not having any king to
give them titles Of nobility. hnve created IN
aristocracy for themselves. This aristocracy
boasts rs yet no dukes, marquiscs, earls, or
barons, but the blue blood is there, It appears
Dutch blood rs n rule-6nd TINT Is sufficient.
When a European nobleman arrives In tho
States, the American aristocracy leave cards
upon him at the hotel where he has alighted
He may perhaps be personally known to none,
but all nobilitics are kindred everywhere, It
Is an act Of international courtesy, as IL were
The European n~oblemnn, who often goes to
America for n lowered wife, Is much obliged
TO them, and returns all tho visits paid him
a New York Indy, who is quito an author,
hl AlRAA HhNA AiAANSiht b9il III OUo llN llhl
society in New York was composed of only
four hundred persons Outside this company
OF clcct, all Philistincs.
Money or celebrity may allow you to enter
into this charmed circle, but you will never
belong to it. You will DO In It, but not of it
The lady in question entered also into very
minute details on tho subject OF what she
called tho difference between society people
and people in society !" but, in spite OF all
her explanations, | confess l did not seize the
delicate nuances she tried to convey. All !
clearly understood WINS that tho aristocracy
Of birth exists In America, not only in tho
brains OF those who form part Of It, but also
IN the eyes Of their compatriots.
The desire TO establish an aristocracy Of
some sort WINS bound to haunt the breast of
the Americans; it was tho only thing that
their dollars seemed unable to procure them.
The second aristocrncy is the nristocracy of
money, plutocracy. To belong to this 1t is
not sufficient to DO a millionalre-you must, |
am told, belong 10 n third generation Of mill
ionaircs. OF such arc the Astors, tho Van
dcrbilts and company. Three quarters of
mobility" arc the necessary key of this little
world The first generation makes the mill
Ions. the second generation Is parvenuo, the
third is arrived. In tho eyes of these people
to have from thirty,or forty to fifty thousand
dollars a year is to be in decent poverty. To
have two or three hundred thousand dollars
a year is 10 DO in easy circumstances
The third nristocracy Is tho aristocracy Of
talent, literary and artistic society. This
third aristocracy Is incontestably tho first. II
yav will excuse the Hibernianism.
Il 49,. ~.
whcrr, or even imagine, n society more re-
fined, moro afTable, moro hospItable, more
witty or moro brilliant. l should like just
here to indulge in a string OF adjectives after
tho fashion Of Nine. dc Sevigne.
One of the consequences of tho position
which woman takes in tho United States
is that in good American drawing. rooms con.
versation is never duh.
"lf | were quecn,r exclaimed Mime. Re-
camier one day, "a would coinmnnd Mime
de Stael to talk to me all day long" One
would like to DO ablo to give tho same order
10 plenty Of American women. In their com
pany conversation never flags and always re
mains within the domnin of causeric; they
glide lightly from ono subject to another, ex-
trnctinG something fresh from each, pass
from the serious to tho gay, oven to the frivo-
lous without becoming commonplace, soar
again TO lofty heights, but do not disdain to
come down to gossip for a minute or two; all
this without n grain of a~fTectation, but with
a charm OF naturalness that Is delightfully."-
winning.
French women arc tho only ones | know
who can compare with tho American lady in
charm of conversation, and even then / am
Obliged to admit two things: that tho Amcri
can women Of intellectual society are often
moro natural than their French rivals, and
that they make less effort to charm. In a
word, with them you arc amiable without
having TO DO gallant, and none Of those
stereotyped compliments, which SO often spoil
the charm Of a conversation between a man
and n woman, are expected Of you.
The Americans, and that in every station
Of life, have almost always three names. one
Christian name and two family ones, George
Washington Smith, Benjamin Franklin
Jones, William Tell Brown. | should moi
have been astonished to make tho acauaint-
ance Of a Mr.. Napoleon Bonaparte Robinson
The celebrities do not escape 1t any more
than the rest: Henry wadsworth Longfellow,
John Greenleaf Whittier, Oliver Wendell
Holmes Thomas Bailey Aldrich, Richard
Watson Glider, James Russell Lowell, Ralph
Waldo Emerson, Henry Ward Beecher, etc,
etc. Can one not see in these double names a
title which the father thinks he confers on
his child at the baptisnal fontf
All new societies nave the same weak
nesses On the morrow of the Revolution,
did we not call our children Epaminoudas,
Leonidas, Darius, Napoleon, etc.f
Every American with the least self respect
is colonel or judge.
Few escape IT, rs Mark Twain once re-
marked of the decorations Of tho Legion Of
Honor. We are quits, Mark America has
a hundred times as many colonies as We have
knights of the Legion Of Honor.
When you are presented to a gentleman, In
an American drawing room, and you have
unfortunately not caught bis name, there is
no need TO try and repair the evil; call him
.Colonel.n nine times out Of ten it Is safe; II
How can parents allow their children &c
cough and strain snd cough and calmly