i8o 



AN OCTOBER ABROAD. 



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 curious 

 to see young men and women from the lowest social 

 strata meet and mingle in a public hall without lewd- 

 ness or badinage, but even with gentleness and consid- 

 eration. 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 gath- 

 erings of the kind referred to, if permitted in our great 

 cities, would be tenfold more scandalous and disgrace- 

 ful than they are in London or Paris. There is some- 

 thing so reckless and desperate in the career of man 

 or woman in this country, when they begin to go down, 

 that the only feeling 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 

 corruption to the last, and you will see good manners 

 everywhere. 



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

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

 toy ; and the latter is the more hopeless condition. 

 But among the better classes in England I am con- 

 vinced that woman is regarded more as a sister and an 



