New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-04-25
ARE AMERICANS SNOBS?
THE GRoUNDLEssNESs OF RECENT
BRITISH ACCUSATION.

AMERICAN GIRLS ARE NOT TrrI.E-HUNrERs. But
soUozy FOR BY ARIsTocRArIc sr1roRs
THE CULTURE OF AMERICAN
MEN AND WOMEN.
r. ynobb,shness an American Vice, Indigenous
,r the soil Of the United States and peculiar to
rs people? Until now everybody who has had
,hs advantage Of reading the works OF Thackeray
has iabored under the impression that 1t had
botn its origin and It's home in Great Britain.
R,t II one is to believe an article printed In the
current number Of "Casseli's Magazine on THE
American Girl IN London" this is not the casa
II has been imported into England from across
the Atlantic. Just IN the same manner as the
po.sto ana the tobacco pipe. "Snobbishness"
asc,srcs the article in question. first sprans to
r.e IN a republican country. Where princey
raseantry and ducal estate matter Of
course they can never make anything like the
same impression as where they are seen and
their influences felt for the first time" 1t is the
existence Of this snob5ishness in tho United
States 90 the writer goes on to intimate. that
causes the daughters OF Uncle Sam to crave for
"ssrns other prehx 10 :heir names than that OF @
.rsrs Mrs. even though II be followed by
well known a patronymc as that OF Vanderbilt
or Aston" ana which impels them to flock 10
Europe IN soarch OF :itled husbands. English
nobernen being preferred. The article in oues-
ton has been so extensively quoted and COPIED
bv the daily and weekly press OF Great Britain
that It should not be permitted to pass unnoticed
AID possibly the following remarks may derive
additional weight from the fact that they are
written by an Ensliehman who. as a boy, used
% 81. on the knee o: Thackeray. the unrivalled
deliaeator Of the snob and Of the snobbishness
Of his countryInen-
TO begin with. there has been a far greater
engerness manifested by tho Ola World ar.stoc-
r.cy .or alliances with American heresses than
s.y anxiety on the part Of the latter TO secure
titled husbands. With few isolated exceptions
the matrimonial stalking" has been dore. not
By the daughter OF Uncle Sam, but by the Euro
pean nobieman and the latter, in the case OF
nost Of the so-called international marriages.
has been compelled to come over TO this country
IN order 20 carry his suit, instea1 OF being
hunted down n his lair on yonder side OF the
ocean by the American Diana as the author OF
the article IN "Casselrs Magazine" would have
the reader believe. The two Dukes Of Marlbor-
ough. the late Duke Of Manchester. the Comte
do Castelanc. ard many others too numerous to
mention here. were ell obliged to traverse the
ocean in order TO WOO their American brides, and
far from their being run after. alleged. their
offers OF marriage accepted only after some
hesitation alliances OF this kind being subjected
- much criticism. not only by the brides rela-
,!ves and friends. but likewise by the American
people at large and by the press.
THE FAILURE OF ENGLISH HE1REssEs
With regard TO the alleged snobbishness Of the
American girl. It Is just because she is not
snob that she is much sought after by the
impoverished nobleman. Tha daughters CT Uncle
Sam are by no means the only heresses in the
matrimonial market. There plenty Of mer-
chant princes In London, Liverpool Manchester,
Leeds. etc. who can give their daughters quite
as handsome a dover as any American father.
and who would be glad TO pay heavily in order
70 secure the admission Of their children into
Irustrious ramilies Blu. the trouble is that
these English girls do not fit into illustrious
families They cannot adapt themselves readily
10 their surroundings. and the snobbery which is
innate IN the upper and lower middle classes OF
England exudes, so 10 speak. from their every
-ore Earring terribly upon the nerves and re-
foenent Of their blue-booded husbands. their
relatives and acquaintance. Their heads are
turned by their social elevation, and their one
aim is to conceal the fact that they are not to
the manner born. Their behavior is invar,aoiy
affected unnatural and extreme IAey are
tther abnorinally stiff, and even arrogant, or
else subservient ard familiar Above ALL they
ara lamentably lacking in that self-respect
which inparts dignity even TO the scotch ana
Spanish peasant, and, in one word. roper py
their innate ana ineradcable vulgarity.
That Is why an English nobeman. who by
-eaeo, or the charges upon his heavily incum-
bcred ancestral estates. cannot afford to marry
an, but a very rich woman. such as Is not 10 De
found among the members Of his owe caste III
Greet Britain prefers TO come TO this country
Or = bride The American girl. no matter 10
what class Of the social system IN the unlte0
States her parents may have belonged, someho"
or other adapts herself at once ana without aug
eYort 70 whatever Circle she may be introduced
by her husband. Thoroughly imDuea WIN
e,nveroa resnect of self she does not err on the
side either of undue assertion or o, TOO grea'
,pbearviencv Her innate refinement somehow
or other inspire. her with the Knowledge OF just
what 10 do and what 10 say ano' s"eePi"e
though the statement may appear. nave heFe,
in all nv acquaintance with the American III !
IN London" in Paris and in other grea. cities OF
Europe. known her to be guilty or any soiecis'h
OF speech or behavior that could DC oescriDeu 90
either vulgar snohSish.
WHERE THE AMERICAN IS SUPERIOR.
Take q girl from the English middle classes
maiden from among tho French bourgeoisie' OF
a young Fraulein from the Buigerschait Oh
GERMANY. and transfer them suddenly TO sorne
more exalted s3here OF society-brng them FOR
,ns,nnce into social contact with royalty-!n
nins cases cut OF ten they will render themselves
eupremely ridiculous and will talk ard BEHAVE
in a manner calculated to embarrass not ohN
themselves. but also those around thefn' iu'
with the American girl it is quite direrehl' "ne
has the faculty o: at once assimia'ihs Herself
70 her surroundings. no matter no" lie"
grange. 10 such an extent that no one "ou't
dream that she had not been born ana oieu
thereto, were It not for the fact that she rare'y
makes any secret about her percentage or seehs