Transcribed from the 1899 Charles Scribner's Sons edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org Worldly Ways & Byways BY Eliot Gregory ("_An Idler_") NEW YORK _Charles Scribner's Sons_ MDCCCXCIX _Copyright_, 1898, _by_ _Charles Scribner's Sons_ To _E. L. Godkin, Esqre_. SIR: I wish your name to appear on the first page of a volume, the composition of which was suggested by you. Gratitude is said to be "the hope of favors to come;" these lines are written to prove that it may be the appreciation of kindnesses received. _Heartily yours_ _Eliot Gregory_ A Table of Contents _To the R E A D E R_ 1. Charm 2. The Moth and the Star 3. Contrasted Travelling 4. The Outer and the Inner Woman 5. On Some Gilded Misalliances 6. The Complacency of Mediocrity 7. The Discontent of Talent 8. Slouch 9. Social Suggestion 10. Bohemia 11. Social Exiles 12. "Seven Ages" of Furniture 13. Our Elite and Public Life 14. The Small Summer Hotel 15. A False Start 16. A Holy Land 17. Royalty at Play 18. A Rock Ahead 19. The Grand Prix 20. "The Treadmill" 21. "Like Master Like Man" 22. An English Invasion of the Riviera 23. A Common Weakness 24. Changing Paris 25. Contentment 26. The Climber 27. The Last of the Dandies 28. A Nation on the Wing 29. Husks 30. The Faubourg St. Germain 31. Men's Manners 32. An Ideal Hostess 33. The Introducer 34. A Question and an Answer 35. Living on Your Friends 36. American Society in Italy 37. The Newport of the Past 38. A Conquest of Europe 39. A Race of Slaves 40. Introspection To the Reader There existed formerly, in diplomatic circles, a curious custom, since fallen into disuse, entitled the Pele Mele, contrived doubtless by some distracted Master of Ceremonies to quell the endless jealousies and quarrels for precedence between courtiers and diplomatists of contending pretensions. Under this rule no rank was recognized, each person being allowed at banquet, fete, or other public ceremony only such place as he had been ingenious or fortunate enough to obtain. Any one wishing to form an idea of the confusion that ensued, of the intrigues and expedients resorted to, not only in procuring prominent places, but also in ensuring the integrity of the Pele Mele, should glance over the amusing memoirs of M. de Segur. The aspiring nobles and ambassadors, harassed by this constant preoccupation, had little time or inclination left for any serious pursuit, since, to take a moment's repose or an hour's breathing space was to risk falling behind in the endless and aimless race. Strange as it may appear, the knowledge that they owed place and preferment more to chance or intrigue than to any personal merit or inherited right, instead of lessening the value of the prizes for which all were striving, seemed only to enhance them in the eyes of the competitors.