Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1855-05-05
WHAT RESI- PECTADLE so.
GIETY.

We heard a man; otherwise intelligent
enough, lately sneet at another, because, - said
he, zone never meets him in respectable socie-
ty." The speaker did not mean, however, that
the person be affected to look down upon was
immoral, but merely that his circle of niimates
was not composed Of the fashionable or the
rich
This nolionaf what constitutes respectable
society, Is quite favoriie one with that class
Of individuals, whom Thackeray has so signif-
cantly called ''suobs." Empty pretence is al
ways making its own characteristics a standard,
by which !, strives to measure the respectable
ty Of persons at large. In community Of
mere money-getters, wealth is the test Of re-
pectabili,y. Among the proud, narrow-minded;
eifete nobility Of the Fsubourg St. German,
responsibility depends on being descended from
ancestors, who have married their cousins for
so many centuries, that neither muscle nor
brains are left any longer TO the degenerate de-
scendants. With the dandy officers, who con-
sii,u,e a considerable portion Of the American
Navy, respectability consists 10 having sponged
on ''Uncle SAM" in wearing gilt buttons and
in bilkng tailors. Every conceited fool thinks
himself, in like way, the only mau really weigh
ty, the only person who is respectable
Z But true respeciability depends on nd such
adyentitous circumstances. To be respectable
is to be worthy OF respect and he most de-
serves respect who has most virtue. The hum
blest man, who brayely does his duty, is more
worthy Of respect, is more truly respectable,
than the coveious millionaire among his money
bags, or the arrogant monarch on his throne;=-
The fine lady, who back-bites her neighbor, is
less worthy of respect than an honest washer
woman. The prohlgaie noble though he may
wear dozen orders in his buiton-hole, is ofen
not really as respectable as the shoe-black that
cleans his boots. That which is called ''the
world" exalts the one and despises the other,
but il does not make them respectable, accord
ing 10 the real meaning Of the word. Their
respeetability is all hollow sham, as they
themselves frequently feel and those who wor-
ship them bow down 10 Fetish, thing Of
feathers and tinsel The selfish, idle drone,
who wastes lite IN his own gratihcaiioa, and
dissipaies the fortune of his progeny, is not,
and cannot be, respectable; but the hard-work-
ing, selfdenying father, who wears out his life
10 bring up his children, is, even though he be
but day-laborer. Nothing can make Dives fit
to lie on Abraham's bosom, while Lazarus is
welcome there, even with the sores the dogs
have licked.
This false view Of life, which would meas
ure responsibility by conventional standard, is
totally at variance with our republican inslitu-
tons. Il creates an 'imperimn in imPerio;;"
for while the law declares all citizens equal, it
erects a social standard which cndeavors to ig-
more that great truth. The coarse, brutal,
knavish, pfoaigaio, ctimin6l--in short all who
fall shor, of their duty to themselves and their
fellow-men--are those who are mot respecta-
ble;" and this, whether they are rich or poor.
While those who live honestly, and strive 10
do what good they can, constitute what is real
y the respectable class, irrespective Of the fact
whether they eat with silver forks or steel ones
Dollar Newspaper.