The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1857-08-29

Simpkins, sesing dimly through bic eye-gins,
should lift his hat rsverentially, in suPposed
recognition Of the reigning belle Of ths ses-
son. 4
Labor has . right, undoubtedly, II it paya
for them, to drapsits brawny form broad
cloth and silk. Protests are often uttersd
We know, even in this land Of equality,
against sthe uppishness Of the lower classes,
and there are high-bred peacccks in the
drawing-room who would be glad, doubt
less, to pluck out the assumed feathers Of
the inferior davis in the kitchen. The pic
turesque may lose BY this uniformity Of cos
tune: for it must be confessed that the vs.
rieties Of dress which distingush the differ
emit classes in foreign countries present Z
kaleidoscope view Of form and color not
unpleasing to the eye. We would remind
those sentimental young ladies, however,
who fell desperately in lore with the youth
full Spriggins while he showed Of brilliantly
in costume at the last fancy-balf ct Newport,
that all Italian peasants do not wear jenkins
Of Genoa velvet at twenty dollars the yard,
and submit their heads to the daily manipu-
lation Of the comb and curling -tongs Of a
French barber. Spriggins exhaling per-
fume, and clustering his velvet in the ball
room, has very different odor and look
from the ragged and oleaginous Roman
scratching his head and smelling of garlic
under the walls Of the Eternal City. Then
q fig for the picturesque! and and let all our
people, az far as due regard to economy
will allow, dress alike; for this exterior uni
formity is the symbol Of equality Of right.
With acclaim to equal privilege comes the
obligation to equal duty. We demand .
large average standard Of good manners
from nation which presents itself as ma
ton of ssgentleman and ladies'"
With our gregarious habit of Aocking to-
gether on all occasions, eating and drinking
as we do in herds, doing business and taking
our pleasure in crowds; and not unfrequent-
ly, as is said of our fraternizing brethren of
South and West, dividing the pillow in the
close conjunction of .bed-fellows, it espe-
cially behooves our people to look to their
behavior. There is no escape from this
universal companionship. Every man,
whether he will or not, is forced into the
recognition, and must be ready with his
'hail-fellow,' however ill met. The Grabbed
Briton of high pretensions has his impen-
etrable shell Of aristocratic privilege or class
distinction within which to retreat, and at
the first approach of any inferior animal he
can shut himself up close from all possible
contact. Not SO with the well-bred Ameri-
can. He has no retreat; and, being always
exposed, must trust to the forbearance Of
the public for his security. The general
decency of manners is his only hope; and if
that fails him, his smooth feathers become
terribly rufiled in the social encounter.
As we are always putting on our best
dress and going into company, let US try to be
becoming to the one and agreeable to the
other. Fine clothes, though they may set
of blackguardism, on the principle Of con-
trast, to great advantage, do not justify or
excuse it. A white shirt on an unwashed
chimney-sweep does not disguise, but re-
veals his blackness by the incongruity.-
Foul habits show all the dirtier for clean
linen, and rough manners all the rougher
for smooth broadcloth. We recollect Pere-
CRIME Bickle's attempt, by means of satin
feathers, to make a fine lady out of the pref
ty gipsy girl, and may learn moral from
its ludicrous failure.
Whatever may be the general average of
good manners in this country, there is no
doubt there is greater incongruity here than
decency of the one, universal Us it is, is not
by any means proportionately set off by the
becoming in the other. French boots are
all very well, but fine as they may be no one
cares, and if he were not familiarized by the
frequency of the American habit would ex-
pect, to see them thrust into his velveted
chair or upon the top Of his mahogany. A
fve-dollar hat, new and glossy, is proper
and genteel thing though, but is no more
appropriately on the head indoors than an
umbrella would be spread out it. We do
not know why our countrymen should al
ways choose to outrage the ordinary decen-
cies of life. We may be told, perhaps, that
they are only exercising their free-born right
in emancipating themselves from the tyran-
ny OF an arbitrary conventionalism; but the
ordinary laws Of polite society do not en-
anate, though the shifting edicts of capri
cious Fashion may, form an arbitrary con-
ventionalism. They are founded upon q
long experience and q cultivated sense Of
the proper and agreeable. It requires
no argument, we should suppose, to prove
that the right place for the boots is under,
and not upon the top Of the mahogany
Our countrymen will surely not have word
to say in favor of the cleanliness, however,
they may stand up, or rather stretch out, in
yindication Of the right Of the beating with
their hoof tattoo upon the dining table.
There, too, is the by no means obsolete
practice, in spite of this advanced era of
gentility and silver forks, of shoveling the
dinner into the mouth with y cleaning,
sharpedged e-blade, which no one can
possibly defend, whatever his breeding, If
he has spark of humanity in his SOUL
This practice is, of course, forbidden BY
decent society, and for no other-and there
could be no better-reason than because
the practice is dangerous, and decent socie-
ty has natural delicacy about spilling hu-
man blood. There is hardly rule Of
politeness which is not sustained by some
principle founded on good sense. On en-
tering q house, one is expected to remove
his hat from his head, that he may not be
overheated when within, and thus liable to
suffer from cold when he goes out. Moreo-
yer, when person recovered, and, as it
were, in readiness for move, be interferes
with the general sense of repose which is
essential to indoor comfort. Take ever
what appear to be the most arbitrary rules,
and all will be found to be in accordance
with good sense. sNever ask twice for SOUP
is cannon, rs we oil know, of table Ell
qaette, and very sensible one it 10, frivo-
lous as it may at first appear to be; for too
much fluid interferes with digestion, and
besides, second plate, if asked for by some