It may be objected, indeed, that there are no gentry; and it is very true that I have not yet encountered a character of the type of Lord Bottomley,--a type which I am free to confess I should be sorry to see disappear from our English system, if system it may be called, where so much is the growth of blind and incoherent forces.It is nevertheless obvious that an idle and luxurious class exists in this country, and that it is less exempt than in our own from the reproach of preferring inglorious ease to the furtherance of liberal ideas.It is rapidly increasing, and I am not sure that the indefinite growth of the dilettante spirit, in connection with large and lavishly-expended wealth, is an unmixed good, even in a society in which freedom of development has obtained so many interesting triumphs.The fact that this body is not represented in the governing class, is perhaps as much the result of the jealousy with which it is viewed by the more earnest workers as of its own--I dare not, perhaps, apply a harsher term than--levity.Such, at least, is the impression I have gathered in the Middle States and in New England; in the South-west, the North-west, and the far West, it will doubtless be liable to correction.These divisions are probably new to you; but they are the general denomination of large and flourishing communities, with which I hope to make myself at least superficially acquainted.The fatigue of traversing, as Ihabitually do, three or four hundred miles at a bound, is, of course, considerable; but there is usually much to inquire into by the way.The conductors of the trains, with whom I freely converse, are often men of vigorous and original minds, and even of some social eminence.One of them, a few days ago, gave me a letter of introduction to his brother-in-law, who is president of a Western University.Don't have any fear, therefore, that I am not in the best society! The arrangements for travelling are, as a general thing, extremely ingenious, as you will probably have inferred from what I told you above; but it must at the same time be conceded that some of them are more ingenious than happy.Some of the facilities, with regard to luggage, the transmission of parcels, etc., are doubtless very useful when explained, but I have not yet succeeded in mastering the intricacies.There are, on the other hand, no cabs and no porters, and I have calculated that I have myself carried my impedimenta--which, you know, are somewhat numerous, and from which I cannot bear to be separated--some seventy, or eighty miles.Ihave sometimes thought it was a great mistake not to bring Plummeridge; he would have been useful on such occasions.On the other hand, the startling question would have presented itself--Who would have carried Plummeridge's portmanteau? He would have been useful, indeed, for brushing and packing my clothes, and getting me my tub; I travel with a large tin one--there are none to be obtained at the inns--and the transport of this receptacle often presents the most insoluble difficulties.It is often, too, an object of considerable embarrassment in arriving at private houses, where the servants have less reserve of manner than in England; and to tell you the truth, I am by no means certain at the present moment that the tub has been placed in the train with me."On board" the train is the consecrated phrase here; it is an allusion to the tossing and pitching of the concatenation of cars, so similar to that of a vessel in a storm.As I was about to inquire, however, Who would get Plummeridge HIS tub, and attend to his little comforts? We could not very well make our appearance, on coming to stay with people, with TWO of the utensils I have named; though, as regards a single one, I have had the courage, as I may say, of a life-long habit.It would hardly be expected that we should both use the same; though there have been occasions in my travels, as to which Isee no way of blinking the fact, that Plummeridge would have had to sit down to dinner with me.Such a contingency would completely have unnerved him; and, on the whole, it was doubtless the wiser part to leave him respectfully touching his hat on the tender in the Mersey.No one touches his hat over here, and though it is doubtless the sign of a more advanced social order, I confess that when I see poor Plummeridge again, this familiar little gesture--familiar, I mean, only in the sense of being often seen--will give me a measurable satisfaction.You will see from what I tell you that democracy is not a mere word in this country, and I could give you many more instances of its universal reign.This, however, is what we come here to look at, and, in so far as there seems to be proper occasion, to admire; though I am by no means sure that we can hope to establish within an appreciable time a corresponding change in the somewhat rigid fabric of English manners.I am not even prepared to affirm that such a change is desirable; you know this is one of the points on which I do not as yet see my way to going as far as Lord B--.I have always held that there is a certain social ideal of inequality as well as of equality, and if I have found the people of this country, as a general thing, quite equal to each other, I am not sure that I am prepared to go so far as to say that, as a whole, they are equal to--excuse that dreadful blot! The movement of the train and the precarious nature of the light--it is close to my nose, and most offensive--would, I flatter myself, long since have got the better of a less resolute diarist! What I was not prepared for was the very considerable body of aristocratic feeling that lurks beneath this republican simplicity.I have on several occasions been made the confidant of these romantic but delusive vagaries, of which the stronghold appears to be the Empire City,--a slang name for New York.I was assured in many quarters that that locality, at least, is ripe for a monarchy, and if one of the Queen's sons would come and talk it over, he would meet with the highest encouragement.This information was given me in strict confidence, with closed doors, as it were; it reminded me a good deal of the dreams of the old Jacobites, when they whispered their messages to the king across the water.I doubt, however, whether these less excusable visionaries will be able to secure the services of a Pretender, for I fear that in such a case he would encounter a still more fatal Culloden.I have given a good deal of time, as Itold you, to the educational system, and have visited no fewer than one hundred and forty--three schools and colleges.It is extraordinary, the number of persons who are being educated in this country; and yet, at the same time, the tone of the people is less scholarly than one might expect.A lady, a few days since, described to me her daughter as being always "on the go," which Itake to be a jocular way of saying that the young lady was very fond of paying visits.Another person, the wife of a United States senator, informed me that if I should go to Washington in January, Ishould be quite "in the swim." I inquired the meaning of the phrase, but her explanation made it rather more than less ambiguous.
同类推荐
热门推荐
闪婚厚爱:墨少宠妻成瘾
一场阴谋,父母去世,哥哥昏迷,男友劈腿……为了公司,她嫁给了他,世人眼里杀伐狠决,不能人道的男人。婚后,她才知道,她嫁的男人是多么睿智果断,宠妻有道。“然然,遇见你,是我这辈子最大的幸运。”他满足地在她耳边低语。为了她,他一生两次自毁名声,倾尽所有。男人说他疯狂,女人都羡慕温然,可谁也不知道,他们是拼了命爱着对方……慕少掠爱:他与她的love
他是全球赫赫有名的排名第一的豪门大少,翻手为云覆手为雨掌控人生死,掌握这世界经济命脉的少爷,而她是紧随全球第二的林氏小姐,整个人看起来可爱又清纯,。在外人眼里是神秘的冷面校草大人,而在她面前是爱耍无赖又霸道,就是一只腹黑狼嘛。嗯哼!误惹冥帝之萝莉请自重
她本是一株修为不过五百年的桃花,在这寸草不生的半山腰渐渐地有了自己的灵识。当初是他亲自助她修成人形,挡下天罚,封印了那一双眼瞳。也是他毫无留恋地离她而去,仍由她误闯了地狱。可最后毁了她一生的人还是他!遇上有洁癖的那人简直就是她的劫难,封印了她的法力害她只能以小孩子的身体继续活下去不说还处处刁难她,于是她一炸毛就将十八层地狱搅得不得安宁。当失去她的时候才幡然醒悟,原来此时已经情根深种,生命中再也无法接受没有她的事实。为了她,他可以冲上九天,将天界搅得鸡飞狗跳;为了她,他可以放弃放弃自身千年修为。她的生活总是充满惊吓,少年模样的魔尊老是吓唬她,聆听她的唠叨的却也是他。冲破封印获得真正重生的那一刻,他何其邪佞,长发飞舞,气势庞大。“要想保住地狱安宁,简单,把她给我即可。”这是他说的话,望着她的双眼中是属于她的温柔,只是那时她双眼已瞎,此后再见不到他的本分柔情。······当一切归于平静,兜兜转转后,似乎又回到了这个原点,可是她愿意。——精分时间——什么?高冷的冥帝居然为了个小娃娃和天界闹翻啦?她自问没被丢进油锅地狱已是谢天谢地了。——什么?魔尊大人指名要带走她去称霸天下?对此,某女不禁翻了个白眼。——天了噜!这白花花的是什么东东?——答曰:那是本帝的胸膛。嗯,某女的视角就是这样,其实只是想当只快乐的米虫。