Bah! after all, every country has her snobs. Why should America be an exception to the rule? When I think of the numberless charming people I have met in this country, I may as well leave it to the Europeans who have come in contact with American snobs to speak about them, inasmuch as the subject is not particularly entertaining.
What amuses me much more here is the effect of democracy on what we Europeans would call the lower classes.
A few days ago, in a hotel, I asked a porter if my trunk had arrived from the station and had been taken to my room.
“I don’t know,” he said majestically; “you ask that gentleman.”
The gentleman pointed out to me was the negro who looks after the luggage in the establishment.
In the papers you may read in the advertisement columns: “Washing wanted by a lady at such and such address.”
| THE NEW YORK CABMAN. |
The cabman will ask, “If you are the man as wants a gentleman to drive him to the deepo.”
During an inquiry concerning the work-house at Cambridge, Mass., a witness spoke of the “ladies’ cells,” as being all that should be desired.
Democracy, such is thy handiwork!