to many circles
of society to their great improvement. For instance, the inhabitants
of Cranford kept early hours, and clattered home in their pattens
under the guidance of a lantern-bearer about nine o'clock at night;
and the whole town was abed and asleep by half-past ten. Moreover, it
was considered "vulgar" (a tremendous word in Cranford) to give
anything expensive in the way of eatable or drinkable, at the evening
entertainments. Wafer bread and butter and sponge-biscuits were all
that the Honorable Mrs. Jamieson gave; and she was sister-in-law to
the late Earl of Glenmire, although she did practice such "elegant
economy."

"Elegant economy!" How naturally one falls back into the phraseology
of Cranford! There, economy was always "elegant," and money-spending
always "vulgar and ostentatious"; a sort of sour-grapeism which made
us very peaceful and satisfied. I never shall forget the dismay felt
when a certain Captain Brown came to live at Cranford, and openly
spoke about his being poor--not in a whisper to an intimate friend,
the doors and windows being previously closed, but in the public
street! in a loud military voice! alleging his poverty as a reason for
not taking a particular house. The ladies of Cranford were already
rather moaning over the invasion of their territories by a man and a
gentleman. He was a half-pay captain, and had obtained some situation
on a neighboring railroad, which had been vehemently petitioned
against by the little town; and if in addition to his masculine gender
and his connection with the obnoxious railroad, he was so brazen as to
talk of being poor--why then indeed he must be sent to Coventry. Death
was as true and as common as poverty; yet people never spoke about
that, loud out in the streets. It was a word not to be mentioned to
ears polite. We had tacitly agreed to ignore that any with whom we
associated on terms of visiting equality could ever be prevented by
poverty from doing anything that they wished. If we walked to or from
a party, it was because the night was _so_ fine, or the air _so_
refreshing; not because sedan-chairs were expensive. If we wore prints
instead of summer silks, it was because we preferred a washing
material; and so on, till we blinded ourselves to the vulgar fact that
we were all of us people of very moderate means. Of course, then, we
did not know what to make of a man who could speak of poverty as if it
was not a disgrace. Yet somehow Captain Brown