Harper's New Monthly Magazine Volume 104 December 1901 to May 1902 . ealth do in othercountries. The leaders in official andsocial life have generally been men ofmoderate means, who could not emulatethe entertainments of the millionaireseven if they had the desire, which wasrarely the case. The members of the dip-lomatic corps, because of their rank,birth, and representative capacity, standat the top of the social ladder, and theynever feel it necessary to resort to ad-ventitious aids to sustain their ambassadors or ministers have beenof great private fortune, but most of themrece
Harper's New Monthly Magazine Volume 104 December 1901 to May 1902 . ealth do in othercountries. The leaders in official andsocial life have generally been men ofmoderate means, who could not emulatethe entertainments of the millionaireseven if they had the desire, which wasrarely the case. The members of the dip-lomatic corps, because of their rank,birth, and representative capacity, standat the top of the social ladder, and theynever feel it necessary to resort to ad-ventitious aids to sustain their ambassadors or ministers have beenof great private fortune, but most of themreceive pay and allowances sufficientlygenerous to enable them to live in a styleand to entertain in a manner befittingtheir rank and dignity. Frequent din-ners to a small but select company,dances and receptions to which only in-timates are invited, are more in keeping with their ideas of social intercourse thanthe great miscellaneous gatherings, theexpense of which represents a years com-fortable support for an average family,which have seemed appropriate to leaders. Not in Society of society in other cities. This examplehas had its effect. It has had a refining,elevating influence; it has taught thelesson that good taste and the perfectionof manners are more important than os-tentation and extravagance. It is this regard for quietness thatmakes Washington society keep to itselfrather than go on parade. In fact, so-ciety is never on exhibition as it is else-where. There is no fashionable restau-rant famous for its dinners or its after-theatre supper parties. When people en-tertain each other they do it in theirown houses and not in public places,where all the world may see them. Thereis no great opera-house whose boxes areengaged for the season, and whose oc-cupants nni!ic< are printed in the pro-
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