San Andreas independent., 1858-02-13
What is Respectable Society 2

uideCu the great pilHCiPie WHICH iCu W
the revolution, and which underlies our
Constitution, and in social life, wealth
and family connections often outweigh in
telligence and real worth. The Philadel-
phia Ledger indulges in some just refec-
tions on this point:
| We heard man, otherwise intelligent
enough, lately sneer another, "bccause,"
said he, Zone never meets him in re-
spectacle society! The speaker did not
mean, however, that the person he af-
fected to look down upon was immoral,
but merely that his circle of intimates
are not composed of the fashionable or
! rich
This notion of what constitutes re-
spectacle society is quite favorite with
that class of individuals whom Thackeray
has so significantly called "snobs. =
Empty pretense always makes its own
characteristics standard by which it tries
to measure others respectability. Among
the proud, narrow-minded, effete nobility
of the Faubourg St. German, respecta-
bility depends upon being descendants
from ancestors who have married their
cousins for 50 many centuries that neither
muscles or brains are left to degenerate the
descendants.
With the dandy officers who constitute
considerable portion Of the American
navy, responsibility consists in having
! sponged on "Uncle Sam," in wearing
gilt buttons, and in jilting tailors. Eve
ry conceited fool thinks himself like-way
} the only man really weighty, the only
person who is respectable. But true re-
spectability depends on no such ADVENT
tious circumstances. To be respectable
is to be worthy of respect; and he de-
; serves respect who has the most virtue
The humblest man who bravely does his
duty, is more worthy of respect, and is
more respectable, than the covetous mill
ionaire among his money bags, or the ar
rogant monarch upon his throne. The
fine lady who backbitcs her neighbor is
less worthy of respect than an honest
washer woman. The prohigate noble,
though he may wear dozen orders at his
buttonhole, is not often as respectable as
the shoe-black who cleans his boots
That which is called "the world" exalts
the one and despises the other, but it
does not make them respectable, accord
ing to the real meaning of the word.
! This false view of life, which would
measure responsibility by conventional
standard, is totally at variance with our
republican institutions. 1t creates an
imperium IN imperio-for while the law
declares all citizens equal, it erects So
cial standard, which cndeavors to ignore
that great truth. The coarse, british,
knavish, profigate criminal-in short, all
who fall short in this duty to themselves
and their fellow-men-are those who are
not respectable; and this, whether
they arc rich or poor. While those who
live honestly, and strive to do what good
they can, constitute in reality the respect
able class, irrespective of the fact whether
they cat with silver forks or steel ones.
The world is full of men who are throw
ing themselves away We do not allude
merely to those whose ruin is brought on
by the common forms of vice, such as
sensuality, but to men who throw them
selves away by less fragrant errors.
| One fancies, for instance, that he ought
to be in public Office; aspircs to be con-
sidered Clay, Webster, or Benton;
and neglecting his business, runs after
the will-o' -wisp of politics, till finally he
ends in bankruptcy and disgrace. An
other. dissatisfied with the slow returns
of legitimate trade, enlbarks in specula-
tions, and not only ruins himself, but
helps to bring on monetary crisis, which
drags down hundreds of innocent per
sons A third, neglectful of the adage
that a srolling stone gathers no moss
shifts his quarters continually, locating
now in the West, now at the South, or is
by turns storekecpcr, farmer, agent and
speculator.
Others throw themselves away by be-
ing ready to attend to everybody's affairs
but their own. They make money at
first, by strict attention to business; be-
gin then to aspire after what they call
position;" get elected bank director,
railroad director, or insurance director;
neglect their store, and find, when cri-
sis like this comes, that the subordinates
to whom they have confded have proved
incompetent, and that their affairs are
hopelessly involved. Others, from the
very beginning, are at the beck and call
of any one who is willing to impose on
their good nature. They never, in con-
sequence, acquire means of their own
Some men ruin themselves by having too
much hope Like Micawber, they are
always " looking for something to turn
up;" they do not, therefore, labor and
save as they should, and they are, as
might have been expected, beggars all
their lives. Another class is too ready to
despair. A breath of wind knocks them
over. and when down, they have not the
pluck to get up and try again but lie in
the highway bemoaning and lamenting,
like children, waiting for somebody to
pick them up.
The methods; in fact, are infinite, by
which men throw themselves away
Hundreds do it by endorsing for friend;
and they endorse, not because they are
ignorant of its folly, but because they
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