The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-01-27
THE ENGLISH MAN % ;sn'.as' THE AMERICAN MAN
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so inferior to the American women. He is
ever In pursuit Of the almighty dollar {"
That is a remark which I, as we'll as many
other Americans living in England, have
heard repeated dozens Of times by English
people. The implication would appear to be
that Englishmen do not care so much fer
money as do American men. And what are
the facts? The American does spend much
OF his time In pursuit Of that almighty dol
lar" which the Englishman affects to de-
spise, although l do not know Of any lues-
ton in which he is more seriously interested
at this particular moment than in the ap
preaching election, which is to decide
whether or not the American dollar shall
continue to be almighty" "Al England
will be awake and up on your election night"
heard an Englishman say three weeks ago.
Your decision upon this matter of the dol
lar may shake the foundations Of the civil
lied world" But that's another story.
Granting that the American man is money
greedy" what does he do with the almighty
dollar" when he gets it? Goes and spends
1t right royalty, like king. He Is as gener-
Gus in spending his money as he is clever
In making 1t, and he spends it upon bis
wife and his daughters and his sweetheart
In preference to himself
my dear" says the English married man
to his wife, when he finds his income de-
creasing and sees necessity for curtailing
expenses. My dear, l can't afford to let you
have that Paris dress for ESQ., and. by the
way, don't you think you might sell the
victoria and get along with only a brougham?
l am extremely sorry to deny you the lux
urtes to which you have been accustomed,
but we really must economize."
WELL now, there's no use talking" solilo-
quizes the American man in his downtown
ONCE, when he finds the value of his pet
stock gone down and himself thousands of
dollars out Of pocket, 1--WE got to pull up on
cab after this, and l think had better recall
that order for fur-lined coat. Then I don't
know II so many clubs are necessary, either.
Whatever comes, the little woman must have
the sealskin she wanted this winter and I'd
hate to disappoint the girls, who want to go
over to London: l guess I'll discharge that
write my own letters"
Now, there is the English husband and there
is the American husband, and before the
American girl decides which of them she will
choose it might be we'll for her to make some
investigations concerning the number Of really
happy marriages between Englishmen and
American women. A few statistics in the
matter would not be altogether out Of place.
But far be it from me to join in the Gus
tomary wholesale condemnation of the English
husband.
'Is it really true" wrote an American girl
to me. when I had lived in England long
enough, as she supposed to be an authority
on on all British matters, lis it true that all
the Englishmen beat their wives? | never
read an account of an English divorce court
proceeding without noticing that the wife
always accuses her husband of cruelty How
No! All Englishmen do not beat their
wives! Indeed, believe it is not considered
quite the correct thing for them to take this
summary method of dealing with their re-
fractory spouses. At times it has occurred
to me that the English divorce law which
demands that wife, in order to divorce
her husband, must prove cruelty as well as
unfaithfulness, is hard on the men as on
the women. No really nice Englishman wants
to hit a woman, yet what is he to do If
he wishes her to divorce him? Take. for
example the case of a man married to an
English new woman, who persists in writ
ing articles and novels on the subject of the
immortality Of the married state" If he
has allowed his affections to wander away
10 sWeeter and less advanced" specimen
of femininity one could hardly blame him.
yet his wife cannot divorce him, as he might
wish. There is absolutely nothing left for
MIN to do but shy poker at her, inwardly
hoping, of course, that it won't hit. for be
1t known that in England the term Cruelty"
has very elastic meaning, and an attempted
hit, as well as a real hit, is looked upon
in that light.
But in spite of all this, it is a fact that
many an Englishman, who from the English
point OF view, may be considered an estmable
husband for an English girl, would utterly
fail to come up to the American girls stand
ard; while, on the other hand an American
girl, who in the eyes of the American man.
might make the sweetest of wives would fall
far short Of the Englishman's ideal consort
In short, unless American girls are to lie
brought up like English girls (Which Heaven
forb1dD or Enghshmen are trained after the
manner of American men-which wouldn't
be SO bad!-these international marriages
satisfactory as might be hoped.
Tell me" l said one day to broad mind
ed and sensible Englishman, why do your
poor ar1stocrats and members Of the nobility
marry our American heiresses when they
might just as easily recoup their fortunes by
marrying English heiresses? Look at the
daughters Of rich brewers, the daughters Of
wealthy shopkeepers, in England who would
gladly endow your lords and dukes with their
millions for the sake of getting an established
position in society. Why American heiresses,
instead harnesses
why" he replied, 81 thought it was
thoroughly understood that English noble
man would be making a mesalliance In mar
rying an English brewers or shopkeepers
daughter She is far beneath him in the
social scale. But in your country you have
no aristocracy; everybody is equal to every
body else, and rich American girl, no mat
ter how her father got his money whether
in oil or beer or coal or wheat, is on an equal
social footing with an English aristocrat.
Therefore, our nobleman may marry her
without making a mesalliance!"
Now, this view Of the matter was a new
one to me, and it may be new to others Of
my country people who may be under the
impression that besides having the attraction
of wealth the American heiress has other at
fractions which the Englishman cannot re-
sist.
be made concerning the number Of happy
Anglo-American marriages. I might further
suggest that there are rich Englishmen-and
poor ones; too, for that matter-who have
be admitted that all the bright and beauti-
full American girls not to be found in
the ranks Of heiresses. But how many of
these girls have married Englishmen? Let
the count be made and then, perhaps we
may arrive at some definite decision as to
whether or not the American woman In
herself is the Englishman's ideal wife.
The American man is inferior, intellectu-
ally and socially, to the American woman"
say our English critics. If this is true, then
the very fact is compliment to the Amer
lean man. 1t speaks we'll for him that he
gives his sisters and daughters and wives
the first chance. This Is not the case in Eng
land. There the sons come first and after
ward the daughters, II there Is any money
left to spend upon them The daughters of
the American farmers and business men,
who themselves. perhaps, have not had the
advantage Of more than an ordinary COM
mon school education, are sent to college,
London, where English society receives them
after having first determined the exact num-
Der Of dollars with which their fathers can
endow them. Perhaps the fathers will them
flying trip to London. and when English
people make their acquaintance, they ex-
claim:
"See! The American husband and father
Is not so well educated as his wife and daugh-
ter That is because Of his pursuit Of the
almighty dollar "
In England on the other hand American
visitors observe that English men are super
Tor to English women so far as their intel
lectuality and their ability to 'shine" are
concerned. That Is because the men have the
first chance and the women the second. The
typical English man is better dressed than
the typical English women. What a fine
looking specimen Of manhood he is, to be
surei Well proportioned, dignif1ed but af-
fable-especally to American women-truly,
he cannot but command our admiration. He
has, on this side, the reputation of being
cold and stiff, and wearing a poker down his
back, but it is my opinion that he has been