The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-07-21

Revelation. Degeneration. ana Continental
Reputation Its Pate.
From Vanftv Fnfr.

Repudiation Hs rate.
From Vanify Fuir.
There are those who would have us believe
that London ~society-that thing at once so deli.
cate and refined, so exclusive and select Is
still In existence. They have an idea that with.
in the mansions of tho "haute noblcssc" none
but those who can boast of pride of birth. or
even of pride Of deed, can gain admittanco.
They even cherish the thought that those
writer's who have pointed out that these are tho
days OF the snob and the plutocrat are wholly
mistaken; and that, save in a few instances,
our aristocratic families still keep more or less
to themselves; that there Is still a society in the
true sense of the term. BLOOD will still toll"
they cry, and they cry the truth. But its tale is
a curious one indecd-tho story Of its own
weakness, Of how it has been almost washed
away by the wave of vulgarity that has flooded
our English capital these last few years.
We do not hesitate to say that London so
ciety exists no longer. 1t simply is not; and
the thing that does duty for 1.-THE large coarse
substitute for what was 30 delicate and 30 70.
fned-is merely a hidcous caricature. For
proof Of this assertion 1t Is unnecessary to 20
far. It confronts us at every step, in overy one
of our principal streets even at our royal
parties. Vulgarity. in all its hideous glory,
holds the high place; and ancient birth. hon.
Is no fairy story, no result OF a perfervid imagi.
nation, but q solid, unwholeaOlnc. indigestiblo
fact. '"The old order changeth, g indeed. Where
once men and women. were proud OF their blood
and of their family they would now lay claim
to no higher honor than that Of being SMART;
where once they 'rejoiced In wholesome exclu.
threatens to become disastrous. They are
bourgeois genttlhommes, indeed.
In Rome, in Vienna, even in republican Paris,
London society Is becoming g laughing.stock-
%ceptacle for Continental refuse, the rubbish
heap on which many a dusty character can DO
knows that men md woman. Of vast wealth
and no antecedents, have been ousted from Con.
tinental society, only to be received here with
made much Of. Blood. pride Of raceN,w6at arc
these nowadaysi Money, above all The willing.
to be stormed By birth and birth alone; Even
be rood. the room handsome, and the orchids
beautiful, what matter antecedentsf
very shady wt pre5 pasns, ape t heY s Tlin nSIniP No 9q Il
they entertain, not IL their table be eyer-Ieady
isid &;e H. E shas e rlG sSs sa aGw5nSE. A %b ban idSss, VII vii
can gaze upon entertainments which should DO
to him as halowed mysteries, can put his vul-
gar feet on carpets that should fade under his
tread: Even y ROYAL Eardsephs z, have becoms the
wine Is taken into stomachs meant for plebeIan
beer. and pate dc foie gras is munched by
mouths created for Dutch cheese and good red
We write this with no feeling of spite; we
must people delud ie' them 8 'est With IT the eOH ides
that London society still exists, because it is
obvious on the face of 1t that It is ~dead-dead
as a doornall. The hordes of ineligibles who
have been allowed within its one-time sacred
precincts have doomed 1t forever. There can
be mo- resuscitationi indeed, we look to see It
gradually decline and decline still further.
Tho people that were not admitted last year,
this year are to be found in every house. The
man who ten years ago was looked upon as q
vulgar impossible is now claimed as the very
prince Of good fellows. who was he, or shei'
70 not the question that, is asked nowadays,
but, rather, as he smartf' whatever that may
imply. And the explanation Of the term il
usually to be found writ large IN the bankbooE.
True 1t 10 that there are still a few-a very
few..who cherish the old ideas; who VIII not
edmit, Mr., So-and.So on the strength Of hit
deep levels, and to whom the champagne Of
Mrs. Van Pork is as rank poison in their
mouths. But those arc SO small in number
that they scarcely count; and they are com:
PEELED to suffer for their, good taste by dull
seasons, few parties, and the jeers of even their
equals. Soon they, too, pay be swallowed up
fied. and even SONS have TO be considered, and
In their own diminished set, there is little left
to be gained. They, too. will become smart"
and with their fall tho last foundation OF so.
ciety will crumble away. Then the triumph Of
King Bourgeois will be complete.