登陆注册
4712000000026

第26章

Every Englishman is an embryonic chancellor: His instinct is to search for a precedent. The favorite phrase of their law, is, "a custom whereof the memory of man runneth not back to the contrary."The barons say, "_Nolumus mutari_;" and the cockneys stifle the curiosity of the foreigner on the reason of any practice, with "Lord, sir, it was always so." They hate innovation. Bacon told them, Time was the right reformer; Chatham, that "confidence was a plant of slow growth;" Canning, to "advance with the times;" and Wellington, that "habit was ten times nature." All their statesmen learn the irresistibility of the tide of custom, and have invented many fine phrases to cover this slowness of perception, and prehensility of tail.

A seashell should be the crest of England, not only because it represents a power built on the waves, but also the hard finish of the men. The Englishman is finished like a cowry or a murex. After the spire and the spines are formed, or, with the formation, a juice exudes, and a hard enamel varnishes every part. The keeping of the proprieties is as indispensable as clean linen. No merit quite countervails the want of this, whilst this sometimes stands in lieu of all. "'Tis in bad taste," is the most formidable word an Englishman can pronounce. But this japan costs them dear. There is a prose in certain Englishmen, which exceeds in wooden deadness all rivalry with other countrymen. There is a knell in the conceit and externality of their voice, which seems to say, _Leave all hope behind_. In this Gibraltar of propriety, mediocrity gets intrenched, and consolidated, and founded in adamant. An Englishman of fashion is like one of those souvenirs, bound in gold vellum, enriched with delicate engravings, on thick hot-pressed paper, fit for the hands of ladies and princes, but with nothing in it worth reading or remembering.

A severe decorum rules the court and the cottage. When Thalberg, the pianist, was one evening performing before the Queen, at Windsor, in a private party, the Queen accompanied him with her voice. The circumstance took air, and all England shuddered from sea to sea. The indecorum was never repeated. Cold, repressive manners prevail. No enthusiasm is permitted except at the opera. They avoid every thing marked. They require a tone of voice that excites no attention in the room. Sir Philip Sydney is one of the patron saints of England, of whom Wotton said, "His wit was the measure of congruity."Pretension and vaporing are once for all distasteful. They keep to the other extreme of low tone in dress and manners. They avoid pretension and go right to the heart of the thing. They hate nonsense, sentimentalism, and highflown expression; they use a studied plainness. Even Brummel their fop was marked by the severest simplicity in dress. They value themselves on the absence of every thing theatrical in the public business, and on conciseness and going to the point, in private affairs.

In an aristocratical country, like England, not the Trial by Jury, but the dinner is the capital institution. It is the mode of doing honor to a stranger, to invite him to eat, -- and has been for many hundred years. "And they think," says the Venetian traveller of 1500, "no greater honor can be conferred or received, than to invite others to eat with them, or to be invited themselves, and they would sooner give five or six ducats to provide an entertainment for a person, than a groat to assist him in any distress." (*) It is reserved to the end of the day, the family-hour being generally six, in London, and, if any company is expected, one or two hours later.

Every one dresses for dinner, in his own house, or in another man's.

The guests are expected to arrive within half an hour of the time fixed by card of invitation, and nothing but death or mutilation is permitted to detain them. The English dinner is precisely the model on which our own are constructed in the Atlantic cities. The company sit one or two hours, before the ladies leave the table. The gentlemen remain over their wine an hour longer, and rejoin the ladies in the drawing-room, and take coffee. The dress-dinner generates a talent of table-talk, which reaches great perfection: the stories are so good, that one is sure they must have been often told before, to have got such happy turns. Hither come all manner of clever projects, bits of popular science, of practical invention, of miscellaneous humor; political, literary, and personal news;railroads, horses, diamonds, agriculture, horticulture, pisciculture, and wine.

(*) "Relation of England."

English stories, bon-mots, and the recorded table-talk of their wits, are as good as the best of the French. In America, we are apt scholars, but have not yet attained the same perfection: for the range of nations from which London draws, and the steep contrasts of condition create the picturesque in society, as broken country makes picturesque landscape, whilst our prevailing equality makes a prairie tameness: and secondly, because the usage of a dress-dinner every day at dark, has a tendency to hive and produce to advantage every thing good. Much attrition has worn every sentence into a bullet. Also one meets now and then with polished men, who know every thing, have tried every thing, can do every thing, and are quite superior to letters and science. What could they not, if only they would?

同类推荐
  • 林公案

    林公案

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 蕙风词话

    蕙风词话

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 斯未信斋文编

    斯未信斋文编

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 金匮玉函要略述义

    金匮玉函要略述义

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 灵宝净明院教师周真公起请画

    灵宝净明院教师周真公起请画

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 重生青春时代

    重生青春时代

    卓紫萱,水瓶女,信奉自由,性格多变。当年18岁,她的世界淡如水;再遇18岁,她的世界花如海。她,时而温柔如水;她,时而冷若冰霜;她,时而多愁善感;她,时而嫉恶如仇;她,时而冷酷无情……为何她如此多变,问她,她说:“千金难买我愿意。”
  • 风雨江湖路遥遥

    风雨江湖路遥遥

    永清年间,一桩悬案让本来互不干涉的庙堂与江湖都渗入其中!而十多年后的天禧元年,一青衫少年出走青州城,故事又从此开始改写!且看失意失利的凌罡如何一步一步,拿回本该属于他的一切!流星白羽腰间插,剑花秋莲光出匣,苍茫大地,执三尺利剑,路还有多远?
  • 相公太坏

    相公太坏

    原名【相公九个不嫌多】现改名【相公太坏】,亲们别走错了!!!***大龄色女因贪看帅哥美貌而不慎撞上电线杆,随即穿越到古代。原本是个二十八岁都嫁不出去的大龄剩女,一朝穿越却变成美男帅哥狂爱的抢手女。色心大发,扑美男,摸帅哥,看着身后的一堆狂蜂浪蝶,色女奸笑,老娘的春天终于来了!此文太雷,请自带避雷针。女主名言,“美男不在多,能用就好。来一个我收一只,来一对我收一双。不要白不要。”本文NP,小色,不喜勿入。【推荐文】:【狂女十夫】鈅玄她是21世纪黑社会最强女老大,为人冷静,出手很辣,却被自己亲信背叛而身亡。再睁眼,她是王府里不受待见,却关系复杂的隋王妃。且看现代狂老大如何在古代扭转乾坤,艳倾天下。【片段一】:“寒儿,你还不懂朕的心吗?它里面满满的都是你。”腹黑狂妄的皇帝捧着她的脸满面深情。“好,我要做皇后。”女子冷笑,面上全是嘲讽。皇帝低头,声音徒然变冷,“你果真只是为了后位吗?”“后位?别说你的后位,就是你的天下,我也不稀罕。”女子清冷的身影闪出门外,留下一长串嘲讽的笑声。【片段二】:“寒儿,你放心吧,我绝对不会侵犯你的。”身中媚药的富商美男面色通红的看着她,极力的压制着自己的欲望。她咬牙,身子的需要已经超过了理智,素手一挥,扯去自己那裹身的白纱,欺上男子健硕的胸膛。“男人憋多了可是会不举的,一起快活一下吧。”她面色通红,樱红的唇在这个暧昧的夜晚极致诱人。“寒儿。”低吼一声,再也无法忍受。他翻身压上她娇软的身体,凑唇吻了上去。【片段三】:“寒儿,我错了,你回来吧!”他一脸的后悔,看着翘着二郎腿品茶的她,伸手想去抚她的脸。凭空蹦出数只手,七八个姿色各异的男人突然跳了出来,一脚踹开快要碰到她身体的手。“哪来的丑八怪,也想动我们的寒儿!”女主楚寒:我从未要求过你们爱我,所以你们爱我不关我的事(亲亲妖娆月魔领养)皇帝:寒儿,到现在我才了解自己的心,我真的爱你。八王爷:寒儿,你还不明白吗?我所做的一切都是为了我们的未来。前夫:寒儿,我错了,我真的错了,你回来吧!富商:寒儿,只要你愿意,这天下间只要你想要的,我都可以为你买下来。杀手:我爱你宫主:女人,你是我的剑客:我只是想尝尝这么多男人追逐的女人究竟是什么味道红倌:寒儿,你夺了人家的身子,还想安然无恙的离开么侍卫:主人,你一辈子都是我的主人
  • 情定外星总裁

    情定外星总裁

    【来自☆☆的你】唐小爱无意间捡到哑巴乞丐一枚,外形与她心目中的男神西蒙相差无几。没有福利院接收他,她只好暂时照顾他,并称呼他为西蒙。一月后,西蒙开口说话,竟然是纯正的普通话!日子久了渐渐发现,西蒙不但聪明能干又听话,IQ高达280,又懂花语,懂兽语,温柔体贴,堪称完美男神。唐小爱明白,男神这种东西,只可崇敬,却不能拿来当男友。但是男神却宣称,她是他的命定之人,注定要相守一世。无奈,她只得加入相亲大军。“小爱,那男人花心,pass了!”“小爱,这个长得对不起观众,有碍瞻观!”一次又一次,西蒙搅黄她的相亲宴,惹得唐小爱怒发冲冠。“小爱,男人没一个好东西,不如嫁我得了。”西蒙深情款款,融化了她的一颗芳心。
  • 濒危修仙门派考察报告

    濒危修仙门派考察报告

    此去泉台招旧部,敢叫日月换新天注1:本来不濒危,猪脚去了以后,就濒危了……注2:这是一个专门把人切片研究的坏蛋穿越以后好好学习,天天向上拯救世界,破除封建迷信门户之见,弘扬爱和正义的超级正能量的故事(穿越以后的内容纯属虚构,信者后果自负)
  • 末世空间门之韩涵

    末世空间门之韩涵

    舔着脸脱一波新书新文发在云起了,在QQ阅读上也可以看《谢朝云你给我站住》欢迎大家试读。 韩涵只是一个深受重男轻女严重影响的可怜的女孩子。在她因为和发生父母又一次的发生冲突后,离家出走成功。她却因为意外有了可以在未世和现代生活中来回穿越的能力。但不要以为她有多么的幸运。那个空间门可不是那么白得的。因为空间门的关系,她只能在现在的社会,每个月呆上两天。但她却必须生存在末世的世界里的,但如果她每个月在现代社会。超过两天以上的话就会消耗她自己的生命力,直至死亡。呜呜呜呜……末世好可怕!
  • 墨庄漫录

    墨庄漫录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 案例:用户至上(第23辑)

    案例:用户至上(第23辑)

    用户至上的年代,传统的企业管理思想受到了巨大的冲击。“用户至上”不再作为一个空洞的口号,而是企业生存发展的方法论。用户、市场、企业之间的关系也重新进行了排列组合。对企业来说,真正了解用户需求,保证用户价值实现,成了共同追求的目标。谁能适应这种变化,谁就能走在时代的前端。
  • 万妖至皇

    万妖至皇

    弱肉强食,宁有种乎?妖族,天生卑微?妖族,只配奴役?妖族,永远只能藏匿于白山黑水之间?不!十万大山之中,少年仰天咆哮,崛起于宗门小派,征战于九州大陆。他誓要为妖族正名,上古血脉,万妖臣服!
  • 神兵入凡

    神兵入凡

    据说,有人在某天晚上看见天上下了一场刀子雨。这个传言不知道真假,但大陆上突然出现了许多神兵利器,让这个本来就纷扰的大陆愈发混乱