Jonathan and His Continent Part 30

The a.s.sociation proceeds in a manner as simple as it is practical.

Is it decided to pa.s.s an evening in discussing Socialism, for instance?

The President invites a well-known Socialist to come and explain his views before the members of the club; he invites also an anti-Socialist of talent to answer him.

The XIXth Century Club opens its doors, as the _North American Review_ does its columns, to all new ideas anxious to pierce through to the light.

One evening, last winter, was devoted to the discussion of Sectarianism.

The President of the Club invited a Catholic priest, an Episcopalian and a Presbyterian minister, a Unitarian and, unless my memory misleads me, an agnostic. All were listened to attentively, and each had his harvest of applause.

Another night, the subject chosen was, "The Triumph of Democracy." The first orator, Mr. Andrew Carnegie, set forth that everything is for the best in that best of Democracies, the American one. The second, on the contrary, brought forward much eloquence and many figures to prove that the governmental system of America was worthless and rotten.

Mr. Carnegie, having gone from Scotland to America with the traditional half-crown in his pocket, and, by his talents and industry, become one of the richest men in the United States, it was quite natural to see him standing up for the American inst.i.tutions, and waxing eloquent over the superiority of America to the rest of the world.

Thanks to their vivacity of mind, the Americans have a special talent for making the most arid subjects interesting. All these debates are enlivened with humorous remarks, anecdotes, flashes of wit, and clever repartees. Needless to say that they are conducted with the utmost courtesy. The most trenchant weapons employed at these tournaments are sarcasm and banter, and the Americans are adept in the use of both.

In America, such is the respect for the opinions of others, that the wildest, most incongruous, ideas did not raise a murmur: the audience would smile and seem to say, "What a droll idea!" and if the droll idea was expressed wittily, the orator was applauded.

In the course of a debate upon "International Copyright," I remember hearing one American calmly express the opinion that authors have no right to their own ideas, and that therefore they have no right to any remuneration for their work. He developed this strange statement with a great deal of cleverness, and at the end of his discourse was greeted with a round of applause as hearty as it was ironical.

All this is highly amusing; but, at the same time, how edifying and interesting!

As soon as the debates are over, the audience repair to an adjoining room for refreshments, and to criticise the opinions advanced during the evening. The meeting turns into a conversazione, or a reception, at which the President's wife does the honours.

I saw nothing more striking during my stay in America--nothing which appeared to me more hopeful for the future of the country--than the sight of these crowds of four or five hundred people--old men and young, young girls and matrons, all in fashionable evening dress--met together to learn something, and to keep themselves posted up in all the new ideas of the day.

I have heard young ladies read papers of their own composition at these meetings, and their discourses were as clever as those of their gentlemen antagonists.

In New York alone, there exist many other societies of the same kind.

Among others, I might name the "Twilight Club." The members meet twice a month for dinner. At dessert, instead of smoking-room or boudoir stories, some subject of general interest, decided upon by the President of the Club at the preceding meeting, is talked over, each member giving separately his own ideas on the subject under discussion. For the evening on which I had the pleasure of dining with the club, the chosen subject was, "Which are the books that have influenced you?" The evening at an end, it was decided that the topic for the next meeting should be, "Which are the ideas that have helped you?"

I might name several other clubs, such as the "Drawing-room Club," the "Thursday Club."

In short, what strikes one is the all-pervading activity, the intellectual life led by women of good society as well as men.

Impossible that Truth should hide her face in a country where there is such a flood of light.

CHAPTER x.x.xIII.

_Climate Incites Jonathan to Activity.--Healthy Cold.--Why Drunkenness is Rare in America.--Do not Lose Sight of your Nose.--Advice to the Foreigner intending to Visit Jonathan in the Winter.--Visit to the Falls of Niagara.--Turkish Baths offered Gratis by Nature._

It is to the bright, bracing climate of North America that the activity, and consequent prosperity, of Jonathan is mainly to be attributed.

The dry, invigorating air induces activity, and you can do things in America which it would never enter your mind to attempt in Europe.

The cold in winter is excessive, but you do not suffer from it; for my part, I scarcely noticed it. It is a kind of cold which does not penetrate, and against which it is easy to protect oneself. It is dry, healthful, bracing, excites the circulation of the blood, and makes one feel full of life.

The air is charged with ozone and electricity. Several times, in touching the heating-pipes and gaseliers, I had tiny electric sparks flash from my finger-ends. In brushing your hair, you will often hear the crackling of the electric sparks produced by the friction of the brush.

The American sky is bright. It is never clouded for more than two or three days together. You live in a clear, smiling atmosphere, which sheds joy in the heart. It is not wonderful that the Americans are so bright and lively. Man, everywhere, is influenced by the climate in which he lives.

Stimulants are not needed, water suffices; and few Americans drink anything but water at meal-time on ordinary occasions. Alcoholic drinks are almost forbidden by the climate. A bottle of wine goes to the head sooner in America than half a dozen would in England or France.

When I was in America, though it was winter-time (this includes the spring, which only exists in American almanacks), I was always thirsty; the dryness of the atmosphere made my tongue constantly feel like a grater. I quenched my thirst with water or an ice.

Drunkenness is not at all a national vice in America. On the contrary, it is rare even among the lower cla.s.ses, and does not exist in the higher.

When a drunkard is picked up from the gutter, the pa.s.ser-by says, "It is a European just come over."

I have often admired the sobriety of the Americans at great dinners, which are sometimes prolonged to the midnight hour. After dessert, no more wine. Bottles of mineral-waters are brought in, and the guests moisten their lips with Apollinaris, Vichy, or whichever sparkling water they prefer, while smoking and talking.

The air is so dry in the north of the States that, when heated at theatres, concerts, and b.a.l.l.s, one breathes with difficulty, and it often causes the breath to be disagreeable.

I repeat it, the cold is healthy; and the foreigner who visits America during the winter, only suffers from the suffocating heat of the rooms.

With fur wraps, and the ears well covered, he has nothing to fear in the air, unless it be for his nose, which I would advise him to keep an eye upon.

If you go to America for the winter, take only autumn and summer costumes. It is not only the houses that are heated night and day to a temperature of nearly 80 degrees, but it is the trains as well. All carriages, cabs, and sleighs are provided with rugs and furs, and you have no use for winter clothes. In the private houses, hotels, and railways you will only be able to bear light clothing. All the winter comforts you will need are furs for out of doors.

The Americans, who cook themselves within doors, fear the cold so little when they are in motion that, in the States of Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, and others in the north, when the thermometer is down to 30 degrees below zero, they give the preference to open carriages. In Chicago, Buffalo, and Milwaukee one has almost a difficulty to find a covered sleigh or cab to go out in at night. It is the same in Canada.

In Toronto, Ottowa, Montreal, and Quebec, nothing but open sleighs. The driver buries you in furs. Your feet and body are warm, and the cold that cuts your face seems to help to make your blood circulate, and is quite enjoyable.

I went to see Niagara Falls (the grandest spectacle it was ever given to man to behold) in the early part of February. Without suffering from the cold, I was able to drive for three hours in an open sleigh through thickly snow-laden air. To have the snow beating in one's face so long, was not agreeable; but the storm added, if possible, to the grandeur of the scenery. On alighting at Prospect House, to take a cup of tea before beginning the train journey to Buffalo, I took off my wraps, and never have I felt such a glowing sense of warmth and life.

The frequent and very sudden changes of temperature in winter,[15] and the great difference between the temperature of the houses and that of the outer air,[16] is very trying to the foreigner.

[15] One day in November, 1887, the thermometer stood at 78 in Washington. Next day all the puddles in the gutters were frozen, and the mercury marked only 17 above zero, making a fall of 61 degrees in a night!

[16] Whilst the heat kept up within doors varies from 75 to 80 degrees, the temperature outside may be 10, 20, or 30 degrees below zero. What a Turkish bath, indeed!

An American to whom I was complaining of this one day, and who would not stand anything like criticism of his country, said:

"My dear sir, those changes are very healthful. They stir the blood, quicken circulation, and are as good as a Turkish bath."

CHAPTER x.x.xIV.

_Jonathan's Eccentricities.--The Arc de Triomphe not being Hirable, an American proposes to Buy it.--The Town Council of Paris do not Close with Him.--Cathedrals on Hire.--Companies Insuring against Matrimonial Infidelity.--Harmony a.s.sociation.--Burial of a Leg.--Last Will and Testament of an American who Means to be Absent on the Day of Judgment._