AN OCTOBER ABROAD 181 



the sexes, a mingling without jar or noise or rude- 

 ness 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 con- 

 siderate the interest, 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 curious to see young 

 men and women from the lowest social strata meet 

 and mingle in a public hall without lewdness or 

 badinage, but even with gentleness and considera- 

 tion. 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 characters seem to keep a sweet side from cor- 

 ruption to the last, and you will see good manners 

 everywhere. 



We boast of our deference to woman, but, if the 

 Old World made her a tool, we are fast making her 



