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summer hotel； by steep or by strand； it leaves little to be complained of
except the prices。 I take it for granted； therefore； that the out…of…
town summer has come to stay； for all who can afford it； and that the
chief sorrow attending it is that curse of choice； which I have already
spoken of。
I have rather favored chance than choice； because； whatever choice you
make； you are pretty sure to regret it； with a bitter sense of
responsibility added； which you cannot feel if chance has chosen for you。
I observe that people who own summer cottages are often apt to wish they
did not； and were foot…loose to roam where they listed； and I have been
told that even a yacht is not a source of unmixed content； though so
eminently detachable。 To great numbers Europe looks from this shore like
a safe refuge from the American summer problem； and yet I am not sure
that it is altogether so； for it is not enough merely to go to Europe；
one has to choose where to go when one has got there。 A European city is
certainly always more tolerable than an American city； but one cannot
very well pass the summer in Paris； or even in London。 The heart there；
as here； will yearn for some blessed seat
Where falls not hail； or rain； or any snow；
Nor ever wind blows loudly； but it lies
Deep…meadow'd； happy； fair with orchard lawns
And bowery hollows crown'd with summer sea；〃
and still； after your keel touches the strand of that alluring old world；
you must buy your ticket and register your trunk for somewhere in
particular。
III。
It is truly a terrible stress； this summer problem； and； as I say； my
heart aches much more for those who have to solve it and suffer the
consequences of their choice than for those who have no choice； but must
stay the summer through where their work is； and be humbly glad that they
have any work to keep them there。 I am not meaning now； of course；
business men obliged to remain in the city to earn the breador； more
correctly； the cakeof their families in the country； or even their
clerks and bookkeepers； and porters and messengers； but such people as I
sometimes catch sight of from the elevated trains （in my reluctant
midsummer flights through the city）； sweltering in upper rooms over
sewing…machines or lap…boards； or stewing in the breathless tenement
streets； or driving clangorous trucks； or monotonous cars； or bending
over wash…tubs at open windows for breaths of the no…air without。
These all get on somehow； and at the end of the summer they have not to
accuse themselves of folly in going to one place rather than another。
Their fate is decided for them； and they submit to it； whereas those who
decide their fate are always rebelling against it。 They it is whom I am
truly sorry for； and whom I write of with tears in my ink。 Their case is
hard； and it will seem all the harder if we consider how foolish they
will look and how flat they will feel at the judgment…day； when they are
asked about their summer outings。 I do not really suppose we shall be
held to a very strict account for our pleasures because everybody else
has not enjoyed them； too； that would be a pity of our lives； and yet
there is an old…fashioned compunction which will sometimes visit the
heart if we take our pleasures ungraciously； when so many have no
pleasures to take。 I would suggest； then； to those on whom the curse of
choice between pleasures rests； that they should keep in mind those who
have chiefly pains to their portion in life。
I am not； I hope； urging my readers to any active benevolence； or
counselling them to share their pleasures with others； it has been
accurately ascertained that there are not pleasures enough to go round；
as things now are； but I would seriously entreat them to consider whether
they could not somewhat alleviate the hardships of their own lot at the
sea…side or among the mountains； by contrasting it with the lot of others
in the sweat…shops and the boiler…factories of life。 I know very well
that it is no longer considered very good sense or very good morality to
take comfort in one's advantages from the disadvantages of others； and
this is not quite what I mean to teach。 Perhaps I mean nothing more than
an overhauling of the whole subject of advantages and disadvantages；
which would be a light and agreeable occupation for the leisure of the
summer outer。 It might be very interesting； and possibly it might be
amusing； for one stretched upon the beach or swaying in the hammock to
inquire into the reasons for his or her being so favored； and it is not
beyond the bounds of expectation that a consensus of summer opinion on
this subject would go far to enlighten the world upon a question that has
vexed the world ever since mankind was divided into those who work too
much and those who rest too much。
AESTHETIC NEW YORK FIFTY…ODD YEARS AGO
A study of New York civilization in 1849 has lately come into my hands；
with a mortifying effect； which I should like to share with the reader；
to my pride of modernity。 I had somehow believed that after half a
century of material prosperity； such as the world has never seen before；
New York in 1902 must be very different from New York in 1849； but if I
am to trust either the impressions of the earlier student or my own； New
York is essentially the same now that it was then。 The spirit of the
place has not changed； it is as it was； splendidly and sordidly
commercial。 Even the body of it has undergone little or no alteration；
it was as shapeless； as incongruous； as ugly when the author of 'New York
in Slices' wrote as it is at this writing； it has simply grown； or
overgrown； on the moral and material lines which seem to have been
structural in it from the beginning。 He felt in his time the same
vulgarity； the same violence； in its architectural anarchy that I have
felt in my time； and he noted how all dignity and beauty perished； amid
the warring forms； with a prescience of my own affliction； which deprives
me of the satisfaction of a discoverer and leaves me merely the sense of
being rather old…fashioned in my painful emotions。
I。
I wish I could pretend that my author philosophized the facts of his New
York with something less than the raw haste of the young journalist； but
I am afraid I must own that 'New York in Slices' affects one as having
first been printed in an evening paper； and that the writer brings to the
study of the metropolis something like the eager horror of a country
visitor。 This probably enabled him to heighten the effect he wished to
make with readers of a kindred tradition； and for me it adds a certain
innocent charm to his work。 I may make myself better understood if I say
that his attitude towards the depravities of a smaller New York is much
the same as that of Mr。 Stead towards the wickedness of a much larger
Chicago。 He seizes with some such avidity upon the darker facts of the
prisons； the slums； the gambling…houses； the mock auctions； the toughs
（who then called themselves b'hoys and g'hals）； the quacks； the theatres；
and even the intelligence offices； and expl