The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1851-05-08


In country like ours, where every man has
the glorious privilege Of considering himself az
good as his neighbor, there seems to be no ne
cessity for arbitrary rules to measure gentle.
man by. But since one of the London clubs
has refused to admit the officers of the frigate
St. Lawrence to the privileges extended te
foreign officers because they came to England
in the capacity Of carriers Of merchandise, and
not on 4 warlike errand, the writing editor o.
the Home Journal has proposed that we, too
should establish rule to decide whether mar
be entitled to the consideration Of gentleman OF
not. The proposition of Mr.. WILLIS is, that
no man should be considered gentleman who
is not engaged in some useful occupation; and
we must confess that we like his idea greatly
The Times, in abiding to the exclusion of our
gallant officers from the United Service Club,
expressed the strongest feelings of contempt for
the martinets who had put. such an insult
upon the officers of the St. Lawrence, and
we were most happy to learn from the tone Of
other English papers that the act was almost uni
versally condemned by all right-thinking peo-
pie of all classes. The insult was, in fact,
more pointed towards Prince ALBERT, who was
the originator Of the great Exhibition, than to
our naval officers, who, as servants of our Gov
eminent, were but acting in conjunction with
'the highest parsonage in the realm" They
were not less officers Of the navy because of the
use to which their noble frigate had been ap.
propriated, but were something in addition, and
had, in reality, higher claim to q courteous
reception than if their business had boen in the
ordinary routine Of duty.
Sir RoBERT PEEL sent challenge to O'CoN-
NELL for abiding to him as "the cotton spinner s
son"-not because he resented an allusion to the
occupation of his father, but because it was spo-
ken Of with disrespect; and it is in similar
spirit that we should resent the insult Of the Lon
don clubbists. They tabooed Captain SANDS and
his officers because they visited England on the
invitation of Prince ALBERT, and not as antago-
nists. In short, they were refused the courtesies
extended to all other naval officers because they
had degraded themselves by doing something
useful, by engaging in an act Of peace instead
of an act Of war. Such nice distinction as
this seems impossible on this side of the Allan
tic, and even on the other side appears to haye
excited no little astonishment. But in Eng
land the traditions Of feudalism are having hard
struggle with the peaceful and utilitarian spirit
of the age; and day by day the sticklers for the
old order Of things soc their strongholds crum-
bling away like the old castles which their an
cestors once inhabited. The great Industrial
Exhibition is the first indication that the new
spirit has finally triumphsd over the old it is
q worlds tournament, in which mechanics are
the knights, and the genius Of art instead of the
spirit Of war presides over tho scene. It being
tournament got up by the husband of the
QUEEN expressly to glorify industry, it is very
odd that those who contribute to it should be
regarded as degraded in consequence by those
who look up to the QUEEN as the fountain Of
honor.
Mr.. WILLIS has been sometimes accused of
aristocratic longings, and an occasional foppery
of opinion has given color of truth TO the ac-
cusation; but he has given us a good many
plain republican hints in respect to our social
manners; and, in his proposition for the estab-
lishment of q new rule by which to distinguish
gentleman from snob, he has furnished 4
hint which we hope to see improved to the es-
adjustment Of \ new order of gentility.