New-York tribune., 1904-08-07

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THERE is an old song, very old song. the refrain
of which thus: Twas merry in the hall
when the boards wagged all shall
see the like again, again We shall never see the
like againi Whether there anything particu
larly hilarious in the wagging Of boards, may
feel able to determine; but there unqueStonablv a
vague of something festive and social conveyed
in the quaint lines We feel, without knowing why
that il was, II must have been, merry in the hall
the distant period alluded to-wmle a the present
that whether il be IN hall drawing-room extensive
reception gallery" the merriment formerly well
sung and spoken exists no longer.
The Harp That Once Thro Tara's Halls mo-
! mean the boards that wagged in the hall. wag
Honest laughter has given place to the
nanny-goat, staggering beat common to polite
Society and understood be the elegantly trained
and cultured" expression OF mrth The
hand-shake has, great measure, degeneraed into
the tImorous offer OF two three Clammy fingers
extended obviously as with a fear OF microbes. And
Hospitality, large-hearted, smiling, gracious Hos
Iitalty is dead and wrapped its grave-olothes.
waiting in stiff, oorpselke state for It's final burial
Public dinners Tu5lc functions OF all kinds-in
England any rate-are merely 50 many funeral
feasts IN memory OF the great defunct virtue Its
spirit has fed, and there calling II back again.
The Of entertaining Is lost. together with the
art Of yersation. And when so-caled friends
are al home often anxious to fInd
reasons for declining rather than for accepting their
Invitations. simply because know that there Is
no real al home in IT, but merely 'out-of-hone
arrangement IN which mixed crowd Of people
asked TO stand and swelter in uneasy crush
staircase and IN draving-room, pretending TO listen
10 music which they scarcely hear, and scram-
bling for which generally Is too badly made to
drink
Indeed may be doubted whether of all the various
ludicrous social observances which progressive
dav takes part there anything sublinely idiotc
as a smart At Home in London in the height OF
ahe season. Nothing certainly presents men and
women IN such a singularly unintellgent aspect.
Their faces all wear less the expression
OF forced arnabty the civil grin distorts their
poor mouths: the wondering and weary stare
aiilicts their tired sraning eyeballs and the
automatic announcement and hand d-jerk works every
unit as each approaches the hostess IN the conven
tional manner enjOined by the usages of that cul-
tured hypocrisy which covers multitude OF hes.
Sheep herding in a field and cropping the herbage
in the comfortable unCOnscIOusness that they are
eating merely be eaten often stated to be the
silest Of animals. but whether they sier than
the human beings who consent 10 he squashed to-
gesher in stuffy where they scarcely can move,
under the sham impression that they are at home
Nith friend, Is a subject open TO question Of
course to some minds IL may be- and no doubt IS.
extremely edifyng to learn by the society papers
that Mrs. So-andSO, or Lore and Lady IhlngeTnny
will entertain a great deal this season.
People who have idea what this kind OF en-
tertaning means may have gitterng visions thereon
They may picture themselves of br1llancy
,cbcr. "a thousand hearts beat happily and when,