The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1864-07-28
ARIsTOCRATIc nEMocnArs.

ARIsTOCRATIO DEMOCRATs.
Although the North processes to bo essen
TALLY democratic, there Is nothing which has
so much contributed to aid the Rebellion as
aristocratic feeling. The opinions Of thou
sands Of people have been swayed by the
notion, that in taking part with the South
they were proving their refinement. Putting
far out Of view the question Of right and
wrong, they have thus lent whatever weight
they possessed TO the side Of injustice
The Southerner's easy existence gave him
ample leisure TO cultivate certain pleasing
amenities of life. These, although possessed
by many Of his fellow-countrymen OF the
North, were, in their case, merged in the
hustle of an active civilization. The Northern
gentleman's position did not elicit the roman
tic interest which attached TO the Isolated and
arrogant grandee-the lord of thousands of
acres and slaves. Hence a feeling pervaded
even the North, that the real and only types
| Of refinement 70 be found In our country were
the Southern gentleman and lady.
Singular as 1t may appear, the Idea of re-
fnement connected with the position Of slave
holder was 80 prevalent, that Immediately
upon the breaking out of the Rebel a0, people
who had never held a slave, ano VINO Days
| expected to hold one. We U.. in l,posi
ton to the Governpsnt. us..g g. o. clss9ol
themselver tt a-t ch..t to cal the
aristoc r'.e .erHJ -.ssouri this
stsf gi ta ro7 parent The Ger
man, d nlI, Wsre opposed &c, slavery,
auo -.ay.- ,itb Ghelr obscure/ origin by
( p0.,. q, o.de's, who called them "the low
pu.l In Maryland the same state of feel
ing Exists; and any one who knows people Ia
Baltimore can testify that many live there
whose sole reason for adherence to the South
ern side Is because they are imbued with the
idea that 1t Is the side of ofeducation and refine
ment, es opposed to the mob. If this absurd
feeling did not encroach beyond the border,
we would have no reason to deplore II; but 1t
pervades The North, and even the ranks Of the
really vulgar.
Knowing, as we do, what we have already
acknowledged, that Southern immunity
from labor has enabled limited class to
acquire polish denied to most persons en-
gagged in the active pursuits Of life, we can
understand how the privileged class in the
South might, in the course OF time come to
the point of folly which II attained by
commencing the Rebellion. We can under
stand how the people of the border States
might have become imbued with feelings in
unison with aristocratic pretension. We can
go even step farther, and understand how
a very small number of people in the North
might be so infatuated as to imagine them
selves called upon to sympathize with
the South. But what we cannot realize
is, that men whose pastwas successful through
democracy, and whose future for themselves
and for their children is bound up in its sue
cess, should sympathize with a rebellion which
aristocratic feeling has engendered, and which,
if successful, will prove fatal to the spread of
that liberty which every enlightened we'll
wisher of mankind hopes that this continent
will one day witness Yet there are in the
North-aye in this city-.nen whose fathers
were artisans, tradesmen, tinkers, and what not,
who prate Of aristocracy, and who imagine
that they are aristocratic because they sympa-
thize with class of men in the South who
would not take them by the hand for the
reason that they have no pedigree beyond
honest workmen whose names they disgrace.
Observing this, may not a man for an instant
question whether democratic feeling really
exists in the masses, and even for au instant
doubt It? Yet, looking more closely, and ac-
knowledging the general loyalty of our people,
can we not more satisfactorily account for the
absence of democratic feeling in these pre-
tenders, by recollecting that a certain degree
of elevation must be requisite to make a man
a true democrat; and that the man who can
strive to prove his aristocracy By oblivlous-
ness of humble parentage, and by clinging to
the skirts Of men who despse him, cannot be
possessed OF the noble qualities which adOrn
the republican.