The Virginia enterprise., 1898-11-11

StyllSN, or Dflght, Or CNeerfNI, or Il thou.
sand other things. We do not stop to
heard, we do think her pretty; ana, again,
If not very clever, surely interesting, and
all the Others IN like measure. 1t Is mere
~ a habit with many people, not skin
deep, but just the cruel and unfortunate
habit of depreciating speech. A woman
with sharp tongue, but with the ten
derest Of hearts, the most generous Of
natures, but with keenly;,critical mind
and a rare intuition as to character, was
brought up ''all Standing as she ex-
pressed it, after she had been talking one
day with friend about several peonle.
and before a young girl who was visiting
In sudden lull In the talk the girl
said, as, if by uncomfortable impulse:
VIZ uont yo%, nks 1M, ANYBODY? What do
sesmed ssa ena s" Ets ore pore0n ~as e x iSt
was passed off and passed by, as in the
polite world things that are unpleasant
are passed over; but into the neart of
that woman the criticism sank deeplv.
and from that hour she watched and
guarded her tongue. Now she does not
depreciate in speech, and, if she cannot
appreciate, is silent. 1t is well to remen-
the negative propositions. Don't waste
yourself in rejection nor bark against
the bad, but chant, the beauty Of the
good" What changed and better
world we should all live in if we only
followed that advice.
The Four Hundred.
Much has been heard of the fashion
able "Four Hundred" but the most sur
prising statement of all is that made by
three of the most prominent ladies who
figure in it-Mrs. O. H. p. Belmont, Mrs.
Stuyvesant Fish and Mrs. Herman Oel-
richs-that it is "dull" Reading in the
daily and Sunday papers of the endless
/ round of dinners and balls and Mncheons
and drives and the multitude of ''func-
tons of various sorts, one could not re-
fleet upon this mad whirl of gayety and
wonder how the society people stood it.
But now we are told by those fashion
able ladies--the very highest authorities
that all these are "stupid events, cal.
culateu I'd bore people to DEATH
The source of complaint seems to be
that the circle Of the -Four Hundred''
is too limited. The charm, as all along
supposed, lay in the fact that our best
society was so exclusive; it was next to
impossible for an outsider to get in.
Brains did not matter much; but you
must have wealth and family, the wealth
| especially, and with them would 60 gen
SAoAS AAduACAS, lAc dII Ol wearing SOOu
| clothes, various small accomplishments,
and, in some instances, an accent. The
-Four Hundred" is the very cream of
| our social possessions, and many an en-
vlous glance has been cast by the wealthy
| and ambitious who were not of that cir
| Gle but who longed to be in it. There
are rich women who would have given
| half their earthly possessions to be in
the same set with Mrs. Belmont, Mrs,
| Fish and Mrs. Oelrichs. And now we
learn from those ladies themselves that
the privilege is by no means so desirable
as commonly y supposed The very ex-
ciuslyeness is the drawback 1t is like
| the famous Beefsteak club to which DR.,
johnson, Goldsmith aud few other
great men belonged; it was pleasant, but
as Beauclerk said, they had all Travelled
over one another's minds and were fa-
mlllar with the opinions Of one another
on almost every subject. Each would
ten what the other would be likely to
thlnk on any possible topic that might
come up. DIR. johnson resented the idea
that so vast n mind as his could be tray.
eie1 over; but the criticism was an ant
and just one nevertheless.
Not only is the circle of the "Four
dundred' so circumscribed and uninter.
estlng, but there is the further report
that half the people within those charmed
bounds are on bad terms with the Other
halt. There are deadly feuds, and with
them go malice. SANDER and sometimes
open quarrel. The attraction is Creates1
from distance.