The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-04-27
ENGLISH SOCIETY
CALLED A THING OF DECAY AND
 VICE.
Lord Charles Russell's Son Ferocious- ly Denounces the Men and Wo-
 men of Today.

Special Cable from London to The New York American and Journal George William Erskine Russell, Lord Charles Russelrs clever son. writer. dip- iomat and autocrat. has created sensa.
 ton by the publication of an article en-
 titled 'Is Society on the Down Grader In this he charges London Society with being decadent. addicted to vice, the wor- ship Of money and gambling. Mir. Rus sells position in society is such that he subject. He writes: The decay in man uers Is. perhaps. the most conspicuous change in society, Nowadays, in the presence of ladies. men loli. lounge, squat, cross tncr legs and even put their elbows on the table. Ip addressing women they l substitute vulgar familiarity for gentle manlike ease. All signs of chivalrous deference to women have vanished: Their reticence has gone with their deference
 and there is apparently no topic of which men and women in society do not feel
 themselves at liberty to converse. The epithet 'unmentionable' has ceased
 ous vices are discused with airy famil-
 about anything under the sun.
 Money the Test of All.
 In the days gone by money and health
 were subjects which good society es- chewed; nowadays every one compares
 notes on diseases and doctors and sea- sons his rf1eside with personal talk about
 his friends income and. his neighbor's sx- penditure.
 Money is the all-prevailing topic. The enormous increase of luxury has kindied
 an insane eagerness to be rich. and all
 scruples as to the methods of acquiring
 money are out of date. No one is ashamed of living on other people, and
 men and women are estimated not by what they are or can do. but by what
 they have and what they are ready to give. The rich man who will not con- fn ho nil hry6 frio 1I~ t<
 sidered as unintcresting as a pauper The marrfage-making mother has her private information on the pecuniary prospects of every youth dancing attendance on her daughters.
 The common young man starting in life with, no other equipment than an ability at cards and a. talent for picking up free meals is novel figure in soci-. times is the break up of home. People have more exciting interests than nurs- cries and schools. while tete-a-tete din- ners are considered the acme of boredom.
 Love of Publicity Everywhere.
 Today people dine at clubs and res- soon have taken their baths as their meals in public.
 The love of publicity is the most marked characteristic of tho times. Ev- cry one strives to live in the blaze of the social searchllght. The week. l end visits carry the gambling. gluttony and evil speaking of the town into the l country. Tennis. ping-pong and automo- | bling turn Sunday into day Of crown | ing fatigue. No one goes to church. So profoundly have we been vulgarized | by the pactolus of foreign gold. which for | the past twenty years has submerged us, that people no longer care to entertain 1 friends unless they can do them. In London if one feels inclined to have a dozen people at dinner one easily recoups the cost by getting some rich ", weaklins grade on which have been asked to ex- press judgment is the longer and more dangerous descent than anything I have yet described.
 Worse Than the Romans
 "A friend of mine, who knows society well, describes the present condition thus: We are living in an age of decadence and we pretend not to- know it. Not fes- r ure is wanting. though She worst cannot be mentioned. We are Romans of the worse period. given up to luxury and ef- 'eminacy. not caring for anything but money.
 Courage is so out of fashion that we ,oast of cOwardice. We do not care for beauty in art only for brutal realism. sport has lost it's manliness and Is mat CT of pigeons from trap or moun- ain of crushed pheasants to sell to your , Religion has degenerated tn- O juggling table turning. while philan- ering with cults has brought the rites { f Isis from the east. E As for patriotism, 1t is turned on like ( ger at election times or worked like
 mechanical doll by wire pullers. I
 No True Manliness Left. "There is not an ounce of manliness in he country. and as for the women, If here was a gladiator fight at Albert Hall nd the beaten man was down they would be ready with their delicate { humbs We have tho honor of belong ng to the most corrupt of generations. "As for society. to find its equal we nust go back to the worst times of the Roman Empire and look uncommonly ( lose then"