The Caucasian., 1894-01-11


ards Of England
The Americans. not having anv King
10 give them tstleS u nobility. have Gro
/ aied an artsiocracy for themselves Th..
( arisIncracy tsaSts as yet no dukes. mar,
/ qaiss-s. earls or harons. but the hlue
blood Is there, II apf~.srs- Dutch blr.sl
as rllc--aud that Is sufficient.
When European nohlrtnan arrives IN
/ the States the American aristU.-rary
/ leave cards upon him at the hotel Nhrya
he has aiiEhtei lie NAV pgrhafss A.,
/ personally known 10 none, bui all no.
hilities are kindred cyery,shcre. The
I European nobieruan. who often rocs "a
America Tor a dowerci wife, is much
! Obliged 10 them and returns all the visits
paid him.
\ New York lady told me one day tha,
Society "a Ncw York Was composed ul
only tntT hundred persons.
Money or celebrity may allow YOU "a
enter this charmed circle, but YOU will
never belong 10 it. You viii bs in IL.
bat not Of it,
The desire TO establish an aristocrarv
OF some sort was bound 10 haunt the
breast of the Americans, it was the only
thing that their dollars seemed unable 10
procure them.
The second aristocracy Is the aris;oc-
racy Of money. plutocracy. To belong
to this, 1t is not sufficient 10 be a million
aire-you must belong TO third genera
ton Of mllllOnaires. or such are the
Astors, the Nanderbilts. and company.
In the eyes OF these people. to have from
thirty or forty 10 fifty thousand dollars
year Is 20 be in decent poverty. To
have two or three hundred thousand dol
lars yeIr is 70 b. in easy circumstances.
The third aristocracy is the aristocracy
OF talent, literary and artistic society.
This third arlstocracy is incontcstablv
the first, if you will excuse the Hibern-
ianism.
l do not think that one could find anv-
where, or even imagine, u society more
refined, more atfable, more hospitable,
more witty, or more brilliant.
One of the consequences of the position
which woman takes in the United States,
is that in good American drawing rooms
conversation Is never duh.
French women are the only ones
know who can compare with the Ameri-
can lady in charm Of conversation, and
even then the American women of intel
lectual society are often more natural
than their French rivals. and make less
effort TO charm. In word, with them
you are amiable without having to be
gallant, and none of those stereotyped
compliments, which SO often spoil the
charm of a conversation between man
and woman, are expected of you.
In this society, the reunions are not
only veritable feasts for the mind, the
heart also plays its part. Ycu are well
coined with such cordiality that you feel
at once among friends.
The large towns of America. even New
York, are provincial i'll this sense: every
one is interested in what the others do.
JJIheits JIh2eRiltlss il II pttPai faigahle. eAa5,
and commented on right and left inn
mediately. You need only live a couple
of months in one of the large American
cities, in orller to know every one, and
all their doings.
The mind Of the Americans Is always
on the alert. They enter into every
thing, everything interests them, and
there is always some fresh subject for
conversation. Ii it is not "a social event,
literary or political one, it is a little
scandal, a new religious sect. new spir-
itualistic imposture. faith healing, mind
cure; conversation never dies for want
of subjects Exclaim that it is eccen-
;f "A 10, ~ = 70
and you will be right
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. The celebrities do not escape it
any more than the rest. Can one not see
in these double names title which the
father thinks he confers Oh his child at
the baptismal font?
All new societies have the same weak
nesses. On the morrow of the revolu-
ton did we not call our children Epami-
nondas. Napoleon, etc.E
Every American with the least self
respect is colonel or judge.
re-" tStsi ~ - ~ .'ieli ~ 6Alii 'liet iN-
marked of tn, decorations of the Legion
of Honor We are quits, Mark. Amer
| ica has a hundred times as many
| coloneIs as we have knights of the Le-
| gion of Honor
When you are presented to gentle
man in an American drawing room. and
| YOU have unfortunately not caught his
name, call him colonel, nine times out
| Of ten il is safe; if luck should be against
you. call him Judge If, however
pursued by the fates, sou should di5cov'
/ er that your interlocutor is neither
! colonel nor Judge, call him professor
| An American always PROCESSES some
! thing, an art. a religion. and you are
risking nothing.
met a few American colonels who
had recently been promoted ''misters.
! They were SO proud of their new title
that they insisted Oh being addressed
| thus
American hospitality is princely. Yot
are not often invited, even in house:
where the daily menu is of the most ap
petizing to go and share the family din
ner: fete is got up for you If TIN
cannot be arranged, you may not be in
vited at all.
In good American houses the cooking
is excellent; you will not find better IL
London and Paris.
The most recherche Of American dishe
is terrapin stew; when in season it fig
ures at every feast. The flavor is 50 pro
nounced that one is bound to think /
either delicious or detestabie.
Am obliged to tell you which thinl
it?
An American once asked me whethe
ikeL terrapin-
1T is nothing but polite" replied
''to bow to the customs Of country on
visits. Terrapin is eaten in the Unite
States-and eat il.
} Canvas back duck is great delicacy
It is hung in front of a fire for fez
Z tlsa