The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-04-19

y
| of the prevailing faults Of the age. The first
promptings of the human intellect of the pre-
sent day is to dispute step by step, every de-
mand which is made upon it in the name of
authority; and we believe it to be this temper
which tends to the severance of those ties and
the deprecation of those maXims which are the
bond and safeguard of society.
There are certain usages and customs better
known by the somewhat indefinite term of the
conronances of society, which have become to
some extent law, and have pre5criptive right
to our respectful attention and consideration.
! Against these the mind ofthe nineteenth century
rebels. Old customs and traditions are treated
with the utmost contempt and set at naught,
| and in the manners of the rising gene
ration there is expressed the most de-
! cided resistance to that delicacy OF
thought and consideration for others which
| formerly served to make men keep out OF
! sight any infringement against good morals.
1t may be said that the motive was lOw-that
! 1t was a mere feeling of human respect and,
as such, Of but little value yet, even if so, it
| surely had the advantage over that most Cul-
| pable disregard for appearances which leads to
| the public exhibition of vice. In the fact that
men dare not associate publicly with vicious
| companions there lies a protest on the
part of society in general against their
evil doings; but the moment they cease
to restrain their conduct within due
limits, and unblushingly pursue their course,
and society still tOlerates them and winks at
their eirontery, there is no longer any safe
guard against its utter decentralization.
We owe a vast debt to those who have raised
their voices in condemnation of the attitude of
the beau monde towards the dem monde of
Paris. We do not entertain the opinion held
by some that it is better not to speak of these
things, but simply to ignore them as if they
did not exist; for If we have a serious malady,
or wound in any part of our bodies, we do
not gain anything by pretending that we have
it not; and we hold that it is, to say the least,
unwise to shut our eyes to the fact that re-
volution of an important character has taken
place in society.
In public matters there is nothing wrong in
pointing out a scan al where it exists. To
ferret out neighbours faults, and to expose
them to the public gaze, is an Infringement
OF the law of charity. But that which is a
blot in the intercourse of individuals with
each other, chameleOn-lile, changes its hue
altogether when it becomes a question of
nation against nation. National customs
national tastes, national faults, are a safe mark
for other nations to hit at pleasure. In the
first place, what is national is more or less
public property-there is no exposure of
secret taults;' and, in the second
place, the principle of seltprotectOn
iustities it, because we may avert evil from
ourselves by noting its existence and
its ruinOus consequences elsewhere. We
may effect a kind of moral quarantine by
which dangerous and polluting influences
shall be kept at a distance. 1t becomes Il
duty to note and comment upon the signs of
the times, and to take warning from every
false step which others make. We may
thereby arrest the progress of evil at home,
and expose the snares and pitfalls which lie
concealed beneath speciOus exterior; only
let us be sure of one thing-that we are
equally clear-sighted as to our own defects.
30 wad some power the giitie gle us
To see oursels as itherS see us;
IL wau Irae mOny a Dunder free us,
And foolish notion"
There is no fault into which we are more
apt to fall than that of being keen to detect
errors and shortcomings in others, and slow
in discovering our own. AS individuals we
have no right to do so. But the law which is
intended to seal the lips Of those who are ad-
dicted to evil speaking has no such restrictive
power where nations and the public good are
concerned. 1t is said that, as a rule, no class
of persons is so censorious as the highly
moral. There is something, perhaps i'll the
unassailableness of virtue and morality which
tempts the virtuous to throw stones; and we
are disposed to think that it is the tendency of
all nations, but especially of Englishmen, to
hold the customs, TRADITIONS, and manners of
all other countries cheap.
1t is a matter of fact that with all our
national pride, we are, in many instances, the
most servile copyists of the French, and it
will be well for us to inquire whether the
spirit of this century has not led us in the
same direction as that which we so justly
condemn in our neighbOrs. Are there any
indications of a similar movement on this side
OF the Channel Can we detect any signs and
sounds OF its advent among us There is no
wisdom in throwing dust in our own eyes; to
be forewarned is to be forearmed, and we are
inclined to think that there are sufficient
grounds for apprehension.
Not many years ago it would have been
considered to be the very acme of indecency
and impudence for any of the thOughtless
young men who abound more or less in every
capital tOrecognize or to appear even to
notice in public, any of those fair 'unfortu-
mates" who lie in wait ''to hunt souls.
They would have been distressed beyond
measure at the idea that their mothers or sis
ters should suspect much more know, of
their having formed any HGiSoH so dangerous
and disreputable But such tenderness of con
science, such regard for the proprieties of
| life, scarcely remains. 1t is no uncommon
thing for young man to appear in the Park
escorting a Celebrity of this kind, and as he
passes some lady of his acquaintance, to lift
| his hat in courteous recognition of her, as
though there were nothing to be ashamed of
/ in his companion. Nor is it rare for popular
! character to appear at the Opera, eXquisitely
dressed, and with some pretense of modesty i'll
her attire, in one of the most conspicuous
boxes, surrounded by her admirers, whose
relations witness their infatuation from the
names of these women have become so notO-
| riOuS that thew are in the mouths of Ynauv of