ENGLISH CHARACTERISTICS. 201 



form or other, but it is not patent, or even apprecia- 

 ble, to the sense of such an observer as I am. 



I was not less pleased by the simple good-will and 

 bonhomie that pervaded the crowd. There is in all 

 these gatherings an indiscriminate mingling of the 

 sexes, a mingling without jar or noise or rudeness of 

 any kind, and marked by a mutual respect on all sides 

 that is novel and refreshing. Indeed, so uniform is 

 the courtesy, and so human and considerate the inter- 

 est, that I was often at a loss to discriminate the wife 

 or the sister from the mistress or the acquaintance of 

 the hour, and had many times to check my American 

 curiosity, and cold, criticising stare. For it was curi- 

 ous to see young men and women from the lowest 

 social strata meet and mingle in a public hall with- 

 out lewdness or badinage, but even with gentleness 

 and consideration. The truth is, however, that the 

 class of women known as victims of the social evil 

 do not sink within many degrees as low in Europe 

 as they do in this country, either in their own opinion 

 or in that of the public ; and there can be but little 

 doubt that gatherings of the kind referred to, if per- 

 mitted in our great cities, would be tenfold more 

 scandalous and disgraceful than they are in London 

 or Paris. There is something so reckless and des- 

 perate in the career of man or woman in this coun- 

 try, when they begin to go down, that the only feel- 

 ing they too often excite is one of loathsomeness and 

 disgust. The lowest depth must be reached, and it 

 is reached quickly. But, in London, the same char- 



