MERCENARY LORDS.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2497, 22 March 1881, Page 4

MERCENARY LORDS.

Some recent marriages of members of the English aristocracy to American heiresses seem to have roused the ire of the “New York Herald,” which in an article headed “ Americans for Americans, coments thus : —“ There are few spectacles abroad more mortifying to the better sort of Americans than to be compelled to witness a daughter of the common wealth angling for a foreign nobleman, or indeed, for a foreigner of any kind. If they travel much or sojorn long in Europe, they can scarcely miss such spectacles altogether, and their consoltation must be that the anglers are not representatives of the nation. They are types of a class ; but the class is not a typo of the country. Many nobles,” says our contemporary “ are as much in nature as in name; are as far above the common level by character as by social position. But the specimens of nobility who consent to be the husband of American girls are not as a rule, those that confer credit on their rank. They are very apt to be men of bad habits, broken fortunes, selfish instincts, willing to accept the fair Republicans in consideration of their handsome dowry. They feel that what their brides want is title ; having given them that, they frequently give them nothing else. Love, esteem, loyalty, chivalry, courtesy, are not included ; these do not form part of the agreement. The number of our women who have been married to Continental titles and repented it bitterly, is larger than has been suspected. American women are proud as well as faithful, and having made a mistake are prone to abide by their act uncomplainingly, in spite of anguish and heartache. Whatever their faults and weaknesses, Americans are in the main the kindest, most considerate, most indulgent, most lore-like husbands in civilisation, and American women |who seek alliances abroad are in danger of having all their romantic dreams rudely dispelled.”