The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-04-05

dressed without regard to cost. fathers first and husbands later, deprive them selves of much. Yet, in return for this worship and sacrifice, the girl seeks her husband among the titled.
 The American woman has unquestiona- bly been a success in Europe She is gen. eraly pretty. She Is clever She takes pains to please those she considers worth pleasing, she has that instinct for the class above which only those have who belong to the class sion employed by Taine, she always stands with shouldered arms, and feels herself on parade" Her conversation is intelligent, and unconventional her affec- tations, and the sins which she commits against the commandments of European good manners are overlooked because Of her American origin. Moreover, because of the favor accorded to them by royal personages and also because of the exalt- ed positions which many American women have acquired by marriage, they are the fashion, and it is almost impossi- ble to escape the influence of the fashions of our own times With these advantages is it to be wondered at that American women have ucceeded-socially-in Eu- rope?
 But are they also a success as wives? comparatively can women have trailed their characters through the divorce court in England. Social success Is that which they aim at, and the exposure entailed by divorce court proceedings might endanger this success. the more so because their social position Is not by connections as are the women of this country. They are toler- ant and expect their husbands to be toll erant. Indeed, they train them to be so. Il t,, I. has the money. and, therefore. the pow | CT: "Go your way discreetly," she vir- tually says In time, you will continue | to enjoy all the financial advantages of | being my husband and l will go my way | discreetly, too. My wealth and my social l success will forward your interests, for | of course it is to my advantage that you should be promoted, and that your posi- | ton should be raised" And the more restrained women of the country observe | all this. and adopt those eounsels for their own guidance, and not to the behe- fit of morality"
 Society is the end-all of the life of such American woman, and since she has obtained a foothold in England, "so- | ciety' has degenerated from a ponle pleasure into a profession There is little | privacy in English society" now din- ners and dances are fully described in the
 
 ported the slightest occurrence Is allud- ed to in print. The paragraph writer calls | in the early morning, and again late in | the afternoon, and is inspired, so that the most trifng, and apparently uninterest- | ing personal detail, may be published in | the newspapers. The meeting together of men and women of more or less the same | circumstances for the purpose of looking we'll talking well, eating and drinking | of hoa aly ing the history of tomorrow, is not "so- ciety" as the ordinary American woman l in Europe understands that indescribable i combination; to her "society" Is being prominent, amongst prominent people in prominent conditions.
 Is the American woman in Europe a l success as a mother? It Is too early to answer that question. It vii be surpris- | ing if it is later found that the kind of woman that has been described has been successful trainer of her children; and | if she proves successful in that direction it will be a proof of the good qualities of | the American character, the results of
 free and independent institutions Has
 the American woman come to stay? That, | too, remains to be seen. If the women 6f | the country can maintain the higher and ! more womanly ideals which have been | handed down to them from past genera l tions, and profit by the education and ex- | perience of modern surroundings, they may await the reaction with confidence,
 assured that their beauty their home making qualities, and their disincination | to thrust themselves under the lime-light will be appreciated when the men of the l old world cease to go to the new to pro-
 cure money, and when the American woman and her ways are no longer popu- lar novelties in Europe.