, found it
impossible to rest contented on his successes, but was impelled onward by
a force stronger than his volition. In some such spirit the ambitious
souls here referred to, after "the Conquest of America" and the discovery
that the fruit of their struggles was not worth very much, victory having
brought the inevitable satiety in its wake, sail away in search of new
fields of adventure. They have long ago left behind the friends and
acquaintances of their childhood. Relations they apparently have none,
which accounts for the curious phenomenon that a parvenu is never in
mourning. As no friendships bind them to their new circle, the ties are
easily loosened. Why should they care for one city more than for
another, unless it offer more of the sport they love? This continent has
become tame, since there is no longer any struggle, while over the sea
vast hunting grounds and game worthy of their powder, form an
irresistible temptation--old and exclusive societies to be besieged, and
contests to be waged compared to which their American experiences are but
light skirmishes. As the polo pony is supposed to pant for the fray, so
the hearts of social conquerors warm within them at the prospect of more
brilliant victories.

The pleasure of following them on their hunting parties abroad will have
to be deferred, so vast is the subject, so full of thrilling adventure
and, alas! also of humiliating defeat.

No. 27--The Last of the Dandies

So completely has the dandy disappeared from among us, that even the word
has an old-time look (as if it had strayed out of some half-forgotten
novel or "keepsake"), raising in our minds the picture of a slender,
clean-shaven youth, in very tight unmentionables strapped under his feet,
a dark green frock-coat with a collar up to the ears and a stock whose
folds cover his chest, butter-colored gloves, and a hat--oh! a hat that
would collect a crowd in two minutes in any neighborhood! A gold-headed
stick, and a quizzing glass, with a black ribbon an inch wide, complete
the toilet. In such a rig did the swells of the last generation stroll
down Pall Mall or drive their tilburys in the Bois.

The recent illness of the Prince de Sagan has made a strange and sad
impression in many circles in Paris, for he has always been a favorite,
and is the last surviving type of a now extinct species. He is the last
Dandy! No understudy will be found to fill his role--the dude and the
swe