The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-06-03
THE GRAND MANNER.
II Has Passed Away. but with II Has Gone
Much That Was Admirable.
From the Spectator

Il Has Passed Away. but with Il Has Gone
Much That Was Admirable.
From the Spectator.
The grand manner has gone from the world.
and the world seems little put out at Its depart
ure. Time was when 1t was the token at once
Of breeding and education. Scholarship I'M
adorned with It was held up to scorn as naked
pedantry; manners with no touch OF the grand
air could not pass muster In polite circles; lit
erature saw in it the sum and substance Of is
being. II did duty for a whole lexicon OF quail
ties, but It's outward aspect was unmistakable.
depending upon a very simple theory OF so
ciety and human life. There are two classes OF
men, IL held-those who attain and those who
fail. II Is for the latter to struggle and COM
plain and show marks OF the conflict, but for
the former Il i "a. ii i duty 10 preserve an I'M
troubled nien. an elegant composure. an aristo-
cratic nonchalanca. 4 man is more than his
work, especially II that man be- a gentleman.
Therefore, let him describe himself by no mar
row profession, but shine in twenty spheres
with a fine neglect OF each. II Is for the great
lawyer to he a wit, the wit 10 be a statesman.
the scholar a man OF fashion. To specialize Is
to confess oneself incompetent. Let the rank
and file make a fuss about their work, but for
the master spirits the grand manner Is the
counsel OF perfection and with II came the
chance for a real art Of society. II men are to
wear honors and successes lightly the back
ground OF ease will come into prominence and
they will study 70 amuSe. And so came that
social inesse which our great-grandmothers
adored, those bowings and smirkings which
their grandchildren scoffed at and the whole
pleasing science OF the beau monde. The
doctrine was both a theory OF human conduct
and q social law, preaching at once the arts OF
success and amusement; and the grand man
ner- became the fine flower OF accomplished
g~en,Iity.
The tear OF sensiblity may be dropped over
its tomb, but there can DO no question OF is re-
vival. 1t belonged to an age when wealth.
leisure, culture and all the good things Of life
we're confined to q class. and II dropped and
vithered at the advent OF democracy. Our
modern seriousness and our modern business.
like air killed II. and they chose the cruelest OF
siuon, it could not endure being made to look
ridiculous. Then people asked awkward Ques-
tons. We're not these often elderly. and gem
orally erudite. butterflies an ahschrShisin,
| ply OF life? Even its practical side was denied
II, Specialists came to look askance AZ the
scholar who professed TO be a I man 81 Ihe w T1,'I 4
tasts FOR letters, and attorneys jibed at the
lawyer who had the dangerous TICK q style.
The ,populacs lost Its admiration for me me
copy his ways, corrupted the model Lace and
brocade we're lmetaphoricallyl exchanged foI
brCadeloth and mackintoshesi and tns worla
plimented itself on its good sense,
But with the rubbish went much that was
admirable A. its best st,. 5his srs ssdu, msn nsst
for life. Its exponents might TAIL, but they
failed CALAMITY. 1t all worked out to, a kind OF
intense self-respect. which might Dc lldicroqs,
spends his life on a text book may be a finer
scholar, but We question II he Is SO fine a man as
his predecessor. who had a dozen other accom-
| tician should study the housing OF the poor or
the drink question than annotate Horace or
write a treatise on taste; but the result Is too
with details. but thin in blood and weak in en-
ergy. 1t is all. perhaps. a gain Tor W BUY are
the men themselves the equal OF their fore
extreme. was accounted q sin against good
taste; now Il Is the only sure way OF salvation.
| or course the old school was wrong; We 1--we IN
BETTER fi!ttsr'nf SuE Pssss sa isa az e ls snd s scm se S%Si(o, t92y
10 Justify their foolishness, and the loss ls ap-
parent, II not on the market highways, at least
The history Of English society. which some
study Of the decline and fall Of the grand man;
nsF, q tySIasd IN 81 Sidney Ell1a and Rale RrSSaqitt' came anne
10 maturity In the seventeenth century. The
| Sucking and the ~Iovelace school, who were at
once cavaliers and poetSs and a LORD pro-, he ebrsi.
cist. soldier and bravo In one. are shining In
stances OF It's best. But the eighteenth century
was Its heyday: In that mSdi.s S so5 i6 Q, E Esnse
Tree. we have a thousand instances Of its per-
lection. Let It be clearly understood what We
mean. II was versatility followed 2s a iash,
Indifference, a manner, and not necessarily q
| character. Most great men have, been many
sided, but with the gentlemen OF the grand ar
II was q social duty. and al traces Of the process
must be hidden from sight. A whole hierarchy
OF statesmen-Carteret, Bolin0broke, Charlie.
| Townshend--were also, wits and scholars a
rakes. When the city apprentice went down
| st. James street OF a morning and saw In the
clear sunshine through the open window Fox
al cards in his shirtsleeves and reflected that
this man the afternoon before bad made an
had during the hight, in ali likelihood, lost a
f Ss trast. BE sho osSoss Es head a. At f L. iolV manner ana.
"A better instance is Lord Mansfield. One Of
the greatest Of English. judges he was per-
He was q great lawyer and. what Is rarer, a
scholar in law, a man OF the widest learning. a
wit. a lover q poetry. q man Of fashion and one
e tho frs first To5la mel tar q as ststssmS on f but d tSe
matter is doubtful. He wal the only man
whom Boswell thought worthy OF admission
into the company OF general officers who had
seen service. DR.. johnson. who did not ,favof
the Lord Chief ~Justice's countrymen, shared
the prevalent admiration a. witness this rag
ment Of dialogue. Boswell: Lord Mansfield Is
was in Lord Mansfeld's company, But Lord
Mansfield was distinguished at the University.
lord Mansfield. when. he first came to town,
drank champagne with the wits. He was the
friend Of Pope"
IL is the word mere" in Boswell's question
which Il the ground Of the whole difference;
/ To Raleigh or Lord Herbert Wordsworth would
haye beena mere" poet, Mr. Spencer a mere.
| philosopher. Gibbon. when ho declared that
| Disraeli, when, before his great Oxford speech
in 1864, he sauntered into the theatre in a shoot
ing coat and a wideawake, each in his own alb
tons. Nowadays we would have a parson be
| a parson and a statesman be a statesman, when
| the grand manner iOurished a gentleman was
insulted by being labelled with a single name.
| disastrous and fools. who might haye
| done decently had their aspirations been small,
made bids FOR greatness and had .lamentable
falls. But the art never professed IN be Tor
the rank and file. but for the master spirits,
and much Of the criticism proceeded from the
! ~incompetents.
Bnt whatever the cause he. the grand man.
ner Is dlsoredited. Disraeli was almost the
last OF its disciples, and the abuse OF him which
| com to regard the afectatlon. For an affecta-
ton II was, though q charming and sometimes
a noble one. Versatility can never DO abol-
ished, but a p~retenoe Of ease and, lnsoucianoe
| and a parade Of divers accomplishments may
easily be discredited. The splendid impassive-