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166 October 1882 what they were in Washington’s time—a man himself whose manners were irreproachable.’ I believe a most serious problem for the American people to consider is the cultivation of better manners among its people. It is the most noticeable, the most painful defect in American civilization. “I shall spend some weeks more in this country,” Mr. Wilde continued. “I shall lecture at Long Branch, Cape May, and several other watering places. I meet at these summer resorts people who are interested with me in these matters. Of course, there are many disadvantages in lecturing in summer hotels. The lectures are apt to be badly managed, the rooms are often difficult to speak in, and there is an inevitable bustle and confusion, which nobody can help, and for which nobody is to blame. From America I shall go to Japan, the most highly civilized country on the globe. Nowhere else do good manners so universally prevail among all classes. The culture and attainments of these people are little understood in this country. “Next to Japan is France, where, in spite of frequent revolutions, good manners have reached a strange degree of perfection. If you visit France do not waste your time in Paris, among the ruined monuments of the empire, but go into the villages and the remote country hamlets, and note the instinctive politeness of the peasant, who will convince you that you have honored him and honored his country by coming into it. “The Englishman abroad is in the main a man of good manners and an agreeable companion. I am a Celt, but I can tell the truth about him. At home the average Englishman is arrogant, ill-tempered, and tied down by prejudices which nothing will induce him to lay aside.” 1. James Steele Mackaye (1842–94), American actor, producer, and theatrical manager . 47. “The Apostle of Beauty in Nova Scotia,” Halifax Morning Herald, 10 October 1882, 2 The afternoon train from St. John on Friday brought beauty’s latest evangel to our province. He came not surrounded by a halo of blue and purple glory, not in a carved car, not in a Greek urn. He rode on the engine. He saw the little hills rejoicing merrily. He saw Moncton, and noticed the irradiant wonder of the Transcript editor. He took in the Pre-Raphaelism of Dorchester. He rejoiced at the preciousness of Westcock, and was enraptured at the gaudy i-xii_1-196_Wild.indd 166 8/4/09 9:12:01 AM October 1882 167 leonine beauty of the Tantramar.1 Oscar praised the railroad and liked the appointment of the cars. He smoked the cigar of peace as he crossed the Missequash , but he took no interest in Fort Cumberland,2 as the battles fought there were not fought for love of beauty but for love of territory. At Amherst he shook hands with the engine driver, gaily wished him a good day, gave him a stray cigar, and leaped lightly to the platform, declining the proffered help of a hand kindly outstretched to assist him. The station platform was crowded with citizens trying to get a glimpse of “wild Oscar,” as they called him, and these were anxiously watching the door of the car where the Evangelist might be supposed to be, while he was quietly getting into a carriage and getting under way for Lamy’s. The first impression on looking at Oscar is that he looks like his pictures. You have seen that picture before and are ready to turn over a leaf. A Herald representative called upon Mr. Wilde in his room at Lamy’s. He was received with a polite friendliness that was winning. The Apostle had no lily nor yet a sunflower. He wore a velvet jacket which seemed to be a good jacket. He had an ordinary necktie and wore a linen collar about number eighteen on a neck half a dozen sizes smaller. His legs were in trousers such as Greenfield might have made,3 and his boots were apparently the product of New York art, judging by their pointed toes. He wore a ring with a seal of great size. A consensus of the opinions of Amherst people decides that Oscar’s hair is not good. It is the color of straw, slightly leonine, and straight as an Indian’s. It is faded and bleached looking, and when not looked after goes climbing all over his features. Mr. Wilde was communicative and...

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