The Sun.
London, England, 1829-11-20 00:00:00

APPROXIMATION OF THE LOWER

CLASSES TO THE HIGHER.

One of the most material consequences of
the changes now going on in society is their
tendency to approximate the lower clases to the
higher. That there is an approximation he that
bath eyes to see and ears to hear must admit.
The only question is to what extent it has proceed-
ed. It is obvious in dress, manners, and acquire-
ments ; and has been greatly encouraged by the
improvement which has taken place in manu-
factures, and by the substitution of machinery
for manual labour. Most mechanical employ-
ments'are now carried on with so much neat-
ness and dexterity that they scarcely affect the
external garb, person, or appearance ; and all
articles of dress have become so cheap, that the
same sort, if not the same quality, of the mate-
rial of which it is composed, is within the
reach of almost all ranks and conditions. The
fashion of male and female dress has also become
so nearly alike all over Europe, that its air and
appearance alone would be an unsafe test of the
rank or country of those who wear it. Nearly
as great a change has taken place in manners as
in dress. Distinctions between the language and
address of the various classes of society will
always be perceptible to refined judges, but
those wide intervals with which former times
were familiar exist no longer. There are few
persons of good sense_, above the lowest rank,
who do not speak .and act, in these days, with
ease and propriety. The extraordinary inter-
course which has taken place has brought about
a universal polish. Persons placed far apart in
wealth and station often approach each other so
nearly in air and demeanour, and so difficult is
it to excel in refinement, that those who take
the lead in rank and fashion occasionally seek
for distinction in an entirely opposite direction.
The assimilation now mentioned is seen every
where, and is fully remarkable in the other parts
of Europe as in England. The lower classes
have also gained upon the higher with respect
to the conveniences of life. Enter into any
house, of which the occupier is above the condi-
tion of a common labourer, and the profusion of
comforts, beyond what were known twenty or
thirty years ago, almost exceeds belief. Through
every step of the ascending series scarcely any
distinction exists between those who are more or
less wealthy than in the scale of their establish-
ments. The same taste and elegance reign in
their houses, furniture, and grounds, at their
tables, and in every other part of their house-
hold arrangements. There is a wide distinction
as to the size and number of the apartments in
the house, and one still wider with respect to
.the number of servants, carriages, and horses.
But there the distinction ends, and never could
persons of moderate means, by the help of taste
and judgment, place themselves so nearly on a
level with the most exalted. The most essen-
tial point, however, in which the lower classes
have advanced upon the higher, is that of per-
sonal acquirements. It is not in early life that
the education of the lower orders is better than
that of their superiors. There is generally great
anxiety manifested, on the part of the higher
orders, that the attainment of their sons and
daughters should correspond with their station
in society, and the wish of the parent is usually
seconded by the talents and disposition of the
child. It is before and after they have reached
maturity that the youth of the aristocracy begin
to lose ground in the race of emulation. Th e
sons of the nobility and great landed proprietors
are no longer required to discharge various pub-
lic functions which, in ruder periods, they were
wont to do, while such numbers of them are
every where to be seen, and their rank alone
does not place them on that eminence which
it formerly commanded. Their ardour is thus
damped for honourable exertion on the one
hand, while the blandishments of ease and lux-
ury allure them on the other. As they advance
in life, the management of property, the cares
of a family, and the various duties of society,
demand so much of their time, that it requires
extraordinary skill and resolution to reserve any
considerable portion of it at their own disposal.
In the meanwhile art and science are daily dimi-
nishing that proportion of the community which
subsists by mere manual labour ; books, instruc-
tion, and travelling, are more within the reach
of all ; and those who must live by their own
exertions, or whose means debar them from ex-
pensive pleasures, are induced and compelled to
improwe themselves with unremitting assiduity.
The result of this indolence on the one hand,
and diligence on the other, is, that in nine out
of ten occasions, where extraordinary proficiency
or information really is demanded, the higher
classes are surpassed by those who were origi-
nally their inferiors, no only in birth, but in
education, and perhaps also in capacity.s.--
QUarterly Review.