MR. RYDER was going to give a ball. There were several reasons why
this was an opportune time for such an event. Mr. Ryder might aptly
be called the dean of the Blue Veins. The original Blue Veins were
a little society of colored persons organized in a certain Northern
city shortly after the war. Its purpose was to establish and
maintain correct social standards among a people whose social
condition presented almost unlimited room for improvement. By
accident, combined perhaps with some natural affinity, the society
consisted of individuals who were, generally speaking, more white
than black. Some envious outsider made the suggestion that no one
was eligible for membership who was not white enough to show blue
veins. The suggestion was readily adopted by those who were not of
the favored few, and since that time the society, though possessing
a longer and more pretentious name, had been known far and wide as
the "Blue Vein Society" and its members as the "Blue Veins." The
Blue Veins did not allow that any such requirement existed for
admission to their circle, but, on the contrary, declared that
character and culture were the only things considered; and that if
most of their members were light-colored, it was because such
persons, as a rule, had had better opportunities to qualify
themselves for membership. Opinions differed, too, as to the
usefulness of the society. There were those who had been known to
assail it violently as a glaring example of the very prejudice from
which the colored race had suffered most; and later, when such
critics had succeeded in getting on the inside, they had been heard
to maintain with zeal and earnestness that the society was a
lifeboat, an anchor, a bulwark and a shield, - a pillar of cloud by
day and of fire by night, to guide their people through the social
wilderness. Another alleged prerequisite for Blue Vein membership
was that of free birth; and while there was really no such
requirement, it is doubtless true that very few of the members
would have been unable to meet it if there had been. If there were
one or two of the older members who had come up from the South and
from slavery, their history presented enough romantic circumstances
to rob their servile origin of its grosser aspects. While there
were no such tests of eligibility, it is true that the Blue Veins
had their notions on these subjects, and that not all of them were
equally liberal in regard to the things they collectively
disclaimed. Mr. Ryder was one of the most conservative. Though he
had not been among the founders of the society, but had come in
some years later, his genius for social leadership was such that he
had speedily become its recognized adviser and head, the custodian
of its standards, and the preserver of its traditions. He shaped
its social policy, was active in providing for its entertainment,
and when the interest fell off, as it sometimes did, he fanned the
embers until they burst again into a cheerful flame.
General
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