reformatories, and other directions? Take, for example, that marvellous prison managed entirely by women, in which the superintendent, chaplain, physician alike are women, whose wonderful efforts in reclaiming the erring ones under their care have been crowned with such signal success.

But wise convictions, like light, dawn gradually, and the mists of prejudice which still enshroud some minds will not be dispersed till people cease to dogmatise on the deepest and most delicate chords of human nature.

CHAPTER IX.

English and American receptions contrasted.-St. Louis.—Absence of gentlemen at afternoon receptions-Innovation at St. Louis-Mrs. Bigelow's "At home "-Dr. Sarah Hackett Stevenson of ChicagoIllinois women--Judge Bradwell and his lawyer wife-Dr. and Mrs. Hoggan of London-Incident during a railway journey-Charlotte Cushman on and off the stage-Compared as a reader with Fanny Kemble-Mr. Sothern and Miss Cushman at a steamer banquet-The ruse to avoid speech-making-The model town of Pullman-Caboose travelling in Wisconsin and Minnesota-Cincinnati during the flood of 1883-Governor Noyes-Murat Halstead and Mr. Probasco.

THERE is an institution in America very familiar to the distinguished traveller, entailing so much physical discomfort and mental disappointment to all concerned, that I venture to hope for its speedy overthrow, as one of those shams of society far more "honoured in the breach than the observance." I trust my good friends across the Atlantic will not accuse me of being ungrateful or ungracious if I express in these pages sentiments, many of them acknowledged to me in private, though they have as yet not seen their way to fly in the face. of an established custom.

Receptions arranged for the introduction of a stranger into the society of a city in which he finds himself for the first time when crowded and protracted, are perhaps equally wearisome in all parts of the world. Our arrangements in London for this inevitable ceremony are bad enough, but at

least the recipient of the honour is seated in some comfortable, though conspicuous, place, and allowed a brief respite for something approaching the interchange of ideas with the most notable people in the assembly, who are alone presented, on the ground that, as the time allotted is not indefinite, the number of introductions must of necessity be limited also, and in keeping with its stern demands. The rest of the company are quite content to be present on the occasion, and to extract their enjoyment from social intercourse with one another. They recognise the fact that any other course involves the hopeless confusion of the stranger they seek to honour. In America, however, a different fashion prevails. Each person expects a formal introduction, and would be much outraged if this barren honour were neglected. Consequently, the guest in question has to stand with the host or hostess at the door to be presented to and shake hands with every one who enters the house, and the same ceremony has to be gone through when they quit it. The bare interchange of names, mutual bows, with murmurs about " the pleasure such an introduction affords," as the crowd sweeps by, is the beginning and end of such ceremonials. Social intercourse is an impossibility, and recognition in the street the following day, on the part of the stranger, is a hopeless task. A perfect sea of kind faces have succeeded each other in such bewildering rapidity that no permanent impression could possibly be retained.

There is another objectionable feature in an afternoon reception organised for the benefit of a lady, which we also escape in England. Except at Washington and Boston, gentlemen are not even invited. They are supposed to be too busy at their various occupations to countenance such entertainments. Unlike the Old World, which prides itself on its “leisure

CHAP. IX.

AFTERNOON RECEPTIONS.

III

class," America refuses to acknowledge the existence of men who can afford to give to society the hours claimed by work. I fancy, however, that if a glimpse could be obtained into the city offices and city club-houses, some strange discrepancy would be sometimes discovered between what is and what is supposed to be. Be this as it may, gentlemen are rarely seen at these afternoon receptions. I shall have the courage of my opinions, and boldly declare that while such a form of "receiving" exists, this is a fact much to be lamented in the interests of all who take part in them. I have thoroughly enjoyed many a luncheon, and even a dinner of "ladies only," but I certainly think the success of a large reception depends very greatly upon the due balance of the sexes being as far as possible preserved.

"An afternoon" was kindly arranged for me by one of the most brilliant ladies in St. Louis, during my stay in that city. I was previously entertained at luncheon by my host and hostess, but when the hour arrived for the appearance of the general company, to my great surprise my host prepared to depart, intending to leave his wife to receive without his assistance the 150 ladies who had been invited to meet me. Our united entreaties, and my suggestion that he should start the innovation there, on the excuse that it was out of deference to an English guest, prevailed, and he consented to remain. Afterwards he frankly confessed that he had greatly enjoyed himself, though he pretended to be much afraid of the indignation of the husbands, who as usual had not even been asked to accompany their wives. The American gentleman as a rule makes a ceremonial call in the evening, during the hours the Englishman regards his castle as sacred, and expects no one without a definite invitation to cross its

threshold. In circles where the English fashionable dinnerhour of from seven to eight has been adopted, this practice is naturally dying out, and gentlemen pay their respects to the lady of the house on the day she announces herself as "at home." In these houses I have often met as many gentlemen as lady callers between three and five o'clock. I remember once at Mrs. Bigelow's in New York mistaking the English stranger who was talking to me for an American, owing to his familiarity with the country, and the manners and customs throughout the State. At last he explained his nationality, adding he had "been on this side of the water more or less for six years." "On business?" I ventured to ask. "Not at all," was his reply. "You are irresistibly drawn to this country," I suggested. "I am irretrievably overdrawn in the old," was his ready and amusing rejoinder.

Among the pleasantest welcomes I received during my second visit to Chicago, was a notable reception given by Dr. Sarah Hackett Stevenson in her house in Michigan Avenue, in conjunction with the famous Fortnightly Club of that city. It was very crowded, and difficult to obtain much conversation with any one present; but nevertheless it was impossible not to appreciate what was so kindly intentioned, and so ably carried out, that it was justly described by the papers next day "as a public demonstration of Chicago's best citizens." A few years before I had seen a great deal of Dr. Stevenson in London: she studied in our medical schools there, and was one of Professor Huxley's brightest pupils. To-day she is a leading physician in Chicago, with a large and increasing practice, often called upon to drive out into the country in the middle of the night through the frost and snow, to some