IMPRESSIONS OF LONDON SOCIAL LIFE.* Tuts book is intended rather
for American than English readers ; indeed, its contents originally appeared in some periodical in the United States. Mr. Nadal had better opportunities than many strangers for obtaining a correct view of social life in England. During his stay here, for eighteen months he was one of the American Secretaries of Legation in London. But any one who now writes a book such as this has a somewhat difficult task before him, if he wishes to be considered a successful writer,—the field is already occupied, and to follow in the footsteps of M. Taine and Nathaniel Hawthorne is to invite a comparison with persons of uncommon abilities. It is quite true that every year witnesses some change in the social and political features of a country which an observant and thoughtful foreigner will notice, but at the same time, his remarks may, after all, contain only simple observations of facts of which most Englishmen are aware, or conclusions neither deep nor suggestive. Mr. Nadal has rather fallen into this error ; he writes very pleasantly and with good-feeling and taste, but his observations are not pro- found, and we do not finish the perusal of his book with any feeling that,we:know ourselves much better than we did before we began to read. He has a chapter, for instance, upon Americans abroad, which contains many well-known truisms, such as "any foreigner is seen to disadvantage in a country not his own." But It may be doubted whether the American is, after all, more ob- jectionable than the English "snob." The gentlemanly American is lost sight of by the side of the blustering Yankee, and we quite forget for the time that he is in existence, just as in a Swiss railway- carriage some:objectionable Englishman seems to be the imperso- nation of his nation, rather than the inoffensive beings by his side. The fact is, that with the great wealth of modern times and the facilities for travelling, we meet people in foreign hotels whose existence we wholly ignore in England, and none of whom we encounter at home, except in some business relations, when there is no opportunity for the display of conspicuous vulgarity.
In the chapter upon English and American newspapers, our author falls into some great errors upon the relationship between journalists and the public. He gives, without any hesitation, the superiority to the English over the American Press ; he praises the prosperity and scholar-like manner of the English Press ; he criticises the affectation and insincerity so "common in American editorial writing." But he appears to think that newspaper writers are a class altogether apart and different from the ordinary mass of well-educated and intelligent persons ; he seems to be possessed with a most false idea that newspaper writers are a species ocmachine, who write to order, and have no connection at all with the public. "The decorum," says Mr. Nadal (p. 197), which is characteristic of English papers of the best class, resides not so much in the men who conduct them as in the audience to which they are addressed. Were not such decorum required from the outside, persons without education and breeding would be sure sooner or later to begin to write in papers ; indeed, educated and well-bred men would soon cease to write with: decorum. It must be a man of uncommon virtue and strength of judgment who will write in accordance with the principles of good sense and good taste, unless those principles are pretty well defined by society." Mr. Nadal will, we hope, forgive us for saying that this is nonsense, and is not true of English writing. As long as what Mr. Nadal terms " decorum " is the rule of society, newspaper writers will of course not break through it, not because it is desired from outside, but because they them- selves form part of the society which is influenced by the prevalent opinions. When newspapers and newspaper writers are so numer-
• hapressiou f Undo* Social Life. CO. 187b. By E. S. Nadal. London : Macmillan and
ous as they now-a-days are in England, the style of the journals, even of those which set themselves on a critical height, must reflect the common principles of society, simply because the mass of the writers all move in this society. It is easier and more natural, again, for a man to write with good sense, if he has sense enough to write at all, than to write nonsense. There are, no- doubt, numbers of men who would write the most undesirable stuff, if they could be sure of a remunerative number of readers ;: but it is because, as we have already said, newspaper writers. belong to the general mass of society and are influenced by the current opinions, that they write with proper taste. We think, too, that Mr. Nadal is quite wrong in supposing that merchants- and mechanics have nothing to do with a supply of sensible papers. Far from following the lead of the barristers and clergy- men who give, according to Mr. Nadal, the tone to the English Press, it is in a great measure the merchants and mechanics who are pleased with what our author terms " decorum " in newspapers.. The newspapers, through their writers, show the tone of the- educated classes, and by the absence of bad taste they equally show that the middle-classes—speaking generally—do not like- bad taste, in whatever form it may be served up to them. Some space is given by our author to "the Evening Call," and this subject affords an opportunity for a discussion and com- parison of the manner in which evenings are spent in Eng- land and America. But we are - inclined to think that Mr.. Nadal narrows the question too much. It is something' more than a mere question of "is it good for the young men, and is it bad for the families into which they are admitted ?" It is rather whether or not the evenings shall be private, unless the visited person expressly desires to have friends by his own invita- tion. It may be that, being English, we are prejudiced in favour' of the British custom, but after all, the evenings are for many persons the only time of day which they can call their own.. Mr. Nadal is very sentimental about the delight of "evening calls :"—" Take the parlour of some household where good- ness and refinement are the family dower, and the voices. of shame and strife come from the outside, muffled through its windows and walls. The mother is there, and she may- remain if she chooses. If she has kindness, or authority, or benignity, or any other beauty, we consider her an acquisition. A father or brother is not in the way. Then the daughters and sisters, or the cousins who are visiting, sing, or crochet, or talk, or sit silent ; it makes little difference which. There is the deep. and tranquil scene before us, we see written there stories of truth and purity that happily we may so often read in the broad pages of the book of human life." This is, of course, very pretty on paper, but we fancy that if the father and mother, after the separation of the day, are quietly discussing some plan of their daily life, if the brothers and sisters are talking over common friends, the great charm of such an easy and cheerful party' would be thoroughly broken up by the appearance of even the most agreeable acquaintance. The day is quite long enough for uninvited visitors, and those who are wanted will generally find that they are asked to come when any one wishes to see them. Mr. Nadal's best chapter is that on "English Tradition and the English Future ;" he seems to us to be thoroughly clear-sighted when he says that "a nation which has the virtues and advantages: of peace cannot have also the virtues of war, except in a dormant and potential way." National spirit is as strong in a dormant way now as it was at the beginning of the century, and it is very often forgotten that if people, therefore, are not always bragging of victories, they are not on that account any the less capable of gaining them when occasion arises. Again, Mr. Nadal's sketch of the American editor in London who begins to write home about. "the palpable decadence of the English power" is really very amusing, as well as marked by good sense. On the whole, if this is not a profound book, it is very often interesting, is written with good taste, and marked by broad and liberal feelings.
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