Year: 1867




dicted to evil speaking has no such
restrictive power where nations and the
public good are concerned. 1t is said
that, as rule, no class Of persons is sc
censorious as the highly moral. There
is something perhaps, In the unassail-
ableness of virtue and morality which
tempts the virtUous to throw stones
and we are disposed to think that il is
the tendency ofaIl nations, but especial
ly of Englishmen, to hold the customs,
traditions, and manners of all other
countries cheap.


1t is matter OF fact that with all our
national PRIDE we are, in many in
French, and IL will be well for us to
inquire whether the spirit of this CEN
tury has not led us in the same direc-
ton as that which we so Justly con-
denim in our neighbors. Are there any
indications of similar movement on
this side of the Ohannel3 Can we de.
tect any signs and sounds of its advent
among usR There is no wisdom in
throwing dust in ourown eyes; to be
forewarned is to be forearmed, and we
are inclined to think that there are suf-
hcient grounds for apprehension.


Not many years ago it would have
been considered to be the very acme of
indecency and impudence for any ofthe
thoughtless young men who abound
more or less, in every capital, to recog-
nize, or to appear even to notice in pub
lie, any of those fair "unfortunates''
who lie in wait ''to hunt souls" Thew
would have been distressed beyond
measure at the idea that their mothers
or sisters should suspect, much less
know of their having formed any
Gdison so dangerous and disreputable
But such tenderness of conscience,
such regard for the propristies of life
scarcely remains. 1t is no uncom-
mon thing for a young man to appear
in the park escorting a ''celebrity1' of
this kind, and as he passes some
lady of his acquaintance, to lift his hat
in courteous recognition of her, as
though there were nothing to be
alhamed of in his companion. Nor is il
rare for popular character to appear
at the Opera, exquisitely dressed, and
with some pretence of modesty in her
attire, in one of the most conspicuous
boxes, surrounded by her admirers,
whose relatives witness their infatua-
tion from the opposite tier. Nor is this
all. The very names of these women
have become so notorious that they are
in the mouths of many of the fast
young ladies of our beau monde. How
they have come to such "a knowledge let
others tell; but they speak of them, of
their turn out,h and their horseman-
ship, and note their dress and style.
and can tell the "Skittles" ponies at a
distance, and the precise hour at which
she drives into the park; how she wears
her hat; the color of her horse and hab-
it, and even so far as TO dress after her,
taking their cue from her, as If they en-
WED her her power of attraction. II is
notorious that many of the changes
which we have witnessed of late years
in hats and petticoats have originated
from celebrities of this kind, and we fear
II IS an indication of disposition on
the part Of our beau monde to take
leaf out OF the book of the beau monde
of Paris. There was also asymptom of
like tendency in the strange freak
which SO engrossed all our fine ladies
a few years ago, when nothing would
satisfy them but ''a night at Gre
morne." They were possessed by a
strange and most ill-advised curiosity
to know something of its attractions,
and to aequaint themselves with one of
the popular haunts of the CteHEi monde.
1t is true that our noble countrywomen
shut out for the time it's usual pa
troneSseS, and monopolized it to them
selves, mad that in this respect they did
not go SO deep into the mire as our for
elgn neighbors would have preferred It
un- -homiordized;b but in other respects it
exhibits the same tendency to oVerstep
the barrier between them and their frail
sisterhood, which. we would earnestly
lmplore them never to lower for any
consideration. We think that, taking
all things into account, the disposition
which exists to trample out of sight all
the inner lines which until lately regu-
lated the social intercourse of the upper
classes, and the very great license
which is given to the tongue, by which
the hne edge of modesty is blunted, we
shall do we'll to look at home before we
are SO loud in our condemnation of
others. Burns's lines to the "uuco'
guild" are never out of season:i 4- ~


"a ye wha are sac guild yourseI, -


Sac pious and sac holy:


we've nocht 70 do but mark and tell


Yer neebours' faults and folly"


If we have as yet escaped the contain
nation which must, we fear, precede
such an act as that by which the beau
monde OF Paris degraded itself, it is still
an undoubted fact that we are not
standing on such a pinnacle of superior
sancttty and morality that we can reas-
onably congratulate ourselves that we
are mot as other men,"