The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-08-04
AMERICAN ARIsTOCRACY.
Victor MaureI Talks of It's Origin,
Growth and Characteristics.

From the New York Sun.
After telling us very pleasant things
about our girls-things which, of course,
We're published in the Sun the other day
the famous baritone. Victor Maurel, pro-
ceeded to describe what he calls THE
American Aristocracy."
New York." he said, has grown less
rapidly but more surely than the other
cities, and its progress gives a more ex-
act idea of the real development Of the
United States. If Tocqueville could see
New York to-day. how great his admira-
ton would be- 1t has a population Of
nearly 100000. The people are no longer
occupying themselves with building up
the prestige of the state and ignoring
their personal interests. An aristocracy
has been formed. One may ask: How
can an aristocracy exist among a people
so young 1t requires a long time TO
build up regulations and to give a chance
to the legends to grow around names and
Localities. " hat do our five generations
amount to? No doubt it is a very short
interval of time, but so many great things
occurred during the war Of independence
and since the battle of Saratoga that GER
tain patriots gained the respect and ad-
mlration of their contemporaries: and the
recollection Of their great achievements
is attached to their names. Consequent
~. it is easy for their descendants to BEN
cit from the eclat which is thrown around
the old families.
Moreover, the peculiar formation of
the country furnishes another cause for
the existence of an aristocracy. Before
becoming an Independent republic, Amer
lea, as every body knows, was only an
English colony; but what a great many
people do not know is the peculiar char
acter of the people who settled in that
portion of America which IS called New
England, formed by the states of Yer
mont, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecti-
cut Rhode Island and New Hampshire
According to certain historians the foun-
ders of those colonies. the Puritans, had
considerable influence upon the de-
velopmeut not only of their own terri
tory. but also of the entire country. They
were not, as one might imagine worthless
adventures, who went to seek a fortune
on virgin soil-men without standing in
society, without money and without
scruples, people of bad reputation, oblig-
ed to quit their country, and greedy spec
ulators.
They were men who had in their own
country what the ordinary colonist hopes
10 acquire in a new country; that is to
say, wealth, comfort and an enViable So
called themselves-the pilgrims of thought
They belonged to that Puritan sect so
much prosecuted at that time in England,
that came to seek beyond the seas the
liberty which they could no longer find in
their native land. They expatiated them
selves not merely to gain material advan-
tages. Their aim was still higher. They
dreamed of the triumph of their own doc
trines and of their own ideas. They were,
as has been aptly said, the seed of a great
people that God had placed with His own
hand upon a predestined land Any one
might be proud of such ancestors; conse-
quently, we see few Americans in a GER
tain position of fortune who do not claim
to be the descendants of the Pilgrims
These descendants, real or unreal and the
descendants of men who occupied high
positions in politics or at the bar have
formed the nucleus of a chosen society,"
which in a short time became, especially in
Boston, in Philadelphia, and in Baltimore,
a verltable artistocracy of birth.
1.-THE riches of the country augmented
with the growth of commerce and indus
try and great fortunes were built UP. A
group of families of merchants and manu-
facturers, whose prosperity and expensive
living surround them with a certain pres
tige formed by the side of the
Gristocracy of birth and arstocracy
of money These two societies advanced
in line, and from their union there results
a superior caste, having its own laws, its
etiquette, its prestige, and its connections
with the old noble families of Europe
with which it willingly becomes allied.
This aristocracy, however, is far from the
possession of that haughtiness which be-
longs to the European aristocracy It is
forced to respect the sentiment of equality
which is so manifest in the United States
This prevents it from wounding the pride
of those who occupy an inferior position,
and that pride is so great that the Ameri-
can, man or woman, can never resign him
self to service. The servants are all for
eigners. Their wages are very nigh, but
the veritable American prefers to gain
less rather than condescend to perform
servile work.