New-York tribune., 1910-04-24
London. April 6.

OF was not considered a social event OF
me nrst Importance I cannot say. I
vas not then in London. But that il be-
came importantsn no long time is clear.
IL was FIRST as Mrs. reune and then as
Lady Jeune that the present Lady St
Heller achieved her great distinction as
A hostess She was not content TO do
what other ladies Of position were in
the habit OF doing She struck out a
me TOT herself. said lately that Lon
oon was world in which everything OF
the first rank in many differing ranks
ana professions met at times beneath
the same roofs. That was not always
true II was very far from being true.
II you 60 back no further than the
eighteenth century you find in England
society consisting of perhaps three
hundred or four hundred persons. II
We may Judge by the memoirs and
memories that have come down TO US
Il was a very brilliant society: perhaps
more brilliant. though less varied. than
the society of to-day. But IL was not
comprehensive. still les was Il cosmo-
politan. II was a caste. The hereditary
principle prevailed. II was a society
into which you had TO take the pre-
caution 20 be born. II you were not
born into IL you never found your way
N. There was no effort 20 keep people
outside Of Il. None was required. The
people who were outside did not dream
OF forcing themselves in. There was no
reason why this little clique should be
on the defensive. The Climbers cid
not then exist, as an aggressive body.
or as a force of any kind. II you read
Boswelrs Life. or walpoles Letters. or
the Life Of Selwy- or any political
memoirs Of the time. il is clear that
the dividing line between those who
were in society and those who were not
Was q broad one. and was all but i'm
passsble.
II has long ceased 20 be. and the
steps by which il was worn away can
be traced. But IL We come at once 10
the SOS of the last century We see
. condition Of things which. a hundred
years before that. would have seemed TO
the social leaders Of that day fantastic.
The revolution had gone far: IL had
already become an evolution-and. OF
course. the end was not Yet. II needed
Mrs JeUne 10 carry II on 10 its full
development And since the individual
is but one expression OF those natural
forces which are. in such cases. the
operative forces. there is no reason why
Nature should not supply the individual
as she does the other energies needed
for the work she has in hand. At any
rate. she supplied Mrs. Jeune. and Lon
don is to-day a different place from the
London We should have known had
there been no Mrs. Jeune.
For Society. in the mixed form now
prevailing. is suffered 70 be not only a
compromise between conflicting forces.
but the result OF much careful diplomacy.
Lady Jersey was a diplomatist. Lady
Palmerston was a diplomatist. The pres
ent King is pre-eminently a diplomatist.
Whether from temperament OF caIcula-
ton I know not. but Mrs. Jeune cast
diplomacy To the winds. The one gift
which stood 20 her in the place Of ali
Others was courage. She brought to-
gether at the same table. or under the
same roof az Arlington Manor. people
the most unlike. Each one Of her guests
had some kind Of distinction, or some
claim 10 social recognition. They might
or might not have anything in common.
Mrs. George CORVALLIS West. whom
We stin think of as Lady Randolph
Churchill. once gave at her house in
Connaught Place. by the Marble Arch.
looking out on Hyde Park. what she
called dinner OF deadly enemies. II
was thought a hazardous experiment. Il
proved a complete success They were
all well bred people. They all recognized
their obligations 70 their hostess as
paramount for the time being. They
were Lady Randolph's guests. That was
enough. AS guests they were neither
friends nor enemies. There were no hos
tilities. The talk flowed on smoothly.
When q mar found himself sent in TO
dinner with q woman 70 whom he did
not speak. his tongue was somehow IN
Ioosed. II was a truce. In some cases
ancient anirosities were softened. In
all they were suspended. The guests
all knew each other. and as they looked
about the table they all saw that Lady
Randolph had attempted the impossible,
and had conquered. A social miracle
had been performed.
What Lady Randolph did for that one
evening Mrs. Jeune did night after night
and year after year. There was not on
her part. I presume, any conscious in
tention of bringing irreconcilables into
contact with each other. What Mrs.
Jeune did was simply TO take no note
Of the fact that they were irreconcil-
ables. Her policy-if policy IL were
had therefore the kind OF validity which
cones 70 a man or 10 a woman from
not appearing 70 be aware Of the OBJ
vious. That is a great resource IN de-
bate, and d great resource in that larger
debate which broadens into human In
tercourse. The average man is rather
apt 10 DO what he sees is expected OF
him. Az a guest he has hardly a
choice. When he enters a front door
he puts himself under the dominion Of
his hostess. II he is a man OF the
world. his philosophy Is 20 take things
as they come. II he is not, he is chiefly
concerned 20 DO as others DO. whom he
supposes TO be more familiar than him
SELF with the manners and customs OF
c,.ot~.,. Verz- "a rely. therefore coes any,