English Society Morals.

Auckland Star, Volume XXII, Issue 95, 25 April 1891, Page 2 (Supplement)

English Society Morals.

Asr American writer is responsible for the following severe strictures upon the morality of the wealthier classes: —The morals of English society 'are to-day little, if any, better than in the days of the regency of Charles 11. The men are dissipated brutes, and the women what the men make them. I do not wish to be understood as condemning the entire English social structure ; on the contrary, I admire it. I merely use these words as applying to a certain set of people in England who are imitated by a certain set in America. In both countries similar conditions are found, and these conditions are plenty of money and nothing to do but spend it. Men of this class are essentially sportsmen, and not all the most honourable, as the annals of the turf too clearly show. It is the fad to be horsey, so the conversation is confined to stable talk ; the manners of the men are those of the jockey or the bookmaker, modified, it is true, but far from what is expected of a gentleman. The women are likewise vulgar, and essay to become horsey in their talk and appearance. It is, in fact, an age in which the usages of the stable hare been brought into the drawing-room.