Gilded Age American Chivalry

 

Their speech becomes decent, their manners kind and their excesses are restrained if a woman approaches them. It is a splendid national peculiarity.

Americans a Chivalrous Race

The American men are a chivalrous race. They respect women; they are the noblest men in the world. There are, to be sure, American savages. One class who use the bowie knife, who drink like the hippopotamus, play cards, fight duels, are wildly furious, passionate, unsafe and desperate, there is another class who pretend to despise fashion and etiquette, who dress like fiends, wearing conglomerates of frock or coat and white tie in the evening; dress coat in the morning. They neither know nor care for etiquette and they think it is noble to be thus ignorant. But even these two classes have a respect for women. Their speech becomes decent, their manners kind and their excesses are restrained if a woman approaches them. It is a splendid national peculiarity. The London rough has no such soft spot. It is to be feared that the London man of fashion is not sufficiently imbued with it. As for the polite Frenchman, his external politeness toward the “beau sexe” is very marked when he wishes to propitiate them, but his contempt for them is equally marked when he does not his cruelty is enormous.—Mrs. John Sherwood, 1888

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia