Brownlow's Knoxville Whig. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1866-1869, 1868-10-07
THE KNOXVILLE WHIG
------
Knoxville, Tenn, October 7, 1868.
70, Of the Knoxville whis
Boston APist0cFacIeS,

DObt0u AFIstOCfdCicSs
ME BDToR:-W When you lest hoard from me,
pas in Portland, Maine. i have returned again 4
.bo Hub The distance sIis miles Boston Is
.f sure. When one gets a little way from IT, h
wants % 60 back again, feels kind Of drawing il
tfal direction, and when he returns here he Offer
IlsIt ss though be ives revolving. One may sec
great many people in the streets hero fairly dizzy
s0 that they cannot walk straight and sometime
even fall down. Whethor that is cacsed by tb
npd rotary motion SO near The axle, or by th,
whisky which they sen and drink here, tho write
cannot stop 10 inquire Your readers must judg
gr themselves.
My theme nov is the aristocraeies of Boston.
no use 10 talk about having no aristocracy in thi
,1aulry. We are full Of IL. No country on cart
has mefe. Every city, every large town, every liz
lo village, hes IFS aristocratic circle and class O
classes, generally more than one clsss, often half
dozen. Tennessee has plenty of that trashy stuf
a0 her own soil. Then why should not Boston, olt
Boston, Puritanic, purso-proud, selfimportant Bos
tan egl ' oals little and have is peculiar aris
torscics II hes them-has had them for two cen
l1ric-will have them for ali The centuries 70 come
and as I contend has an nalienabo right 70 havr
tbom. As neither the writer nor your readers viii
caro- 10 quarrel with them for this, il they will jus
mind their own bust ness in other matters, / vii
mention a few Of their Arstocratc classes-I hav,
not time 70 speak of all.
will set down es ilrst, and give the preference
90 The old, hereditary clsss. This class hes boil
blood and breeding not unfrequently brains. They
are genuine scions from the old stock--the near o
remote descendants Of aristocrasic families origin
ally from England. Some Of their ancestors cam,
over in the Mayaower, others came Afterwards
They are punciillious and precise in all points o
etiquette, digni6ed in bearing sclf-possessed an,
somowhat formal aud stiff in manners. They fec
burdeno1 with the solemn responsibility Of keeping
up the honor and rospeotability Of tho family
Their sons and daughters are carefully instructed
not 70 fall in love with any except Of equal rank
rley keep TO this rule pretty wsli but cupid play
The mischief with them sometime, ana occasional
ly lc' slip from his careless fingers an unsancted
arrow, whi,h drops plumb down into some one oI
their precious hearts. Presently little fPss fol
lows, and the dear papss and good old mamss, ant
some Of the ancient maiden aunts come 10 q tempo
rary grief
On tho whole, this is very good class Of people
They carefully observe the thirteenth command
ment which ordaineth that "eVery one shall min
Us o,oa business Don't we Southerners wish thai
al Boston people belonged 70 this class ?
Tho next class is the intellectual aristocrats.-
These have as distinguishing characteristics brain
and culture They are book-worms, and walking
encyclopedias. They ofsen have more book knowl
edge than practical sense. They speculate and
thoorize thrs giving an enormous development Il
the faculty for distractions, while the faculties fol
concrete and practical realities are like the feet o.
Chinese women, belittled 10 almost nothing They
are Of some 70 tho body polite for they often
write amusing articles for the atlantic and other
periodicals.. As philosophers, some Of them are
quite as wise as Don Quixote, though not always
equal 70 Sancho PANE, that celebrated Knights
esquire.
The next is tho a, isfocrey Of soealtt. This is
quitea large class made up mo-tly Of persons once
poor but now rich. Some have become gradually
wealthy by industry, and the honest and frequent
turning Of a penny. They make no prstension 20
superior excellence Of blood nor Of refined cul
tuTe, though some Of them might boast Of good
blood. They are mostly self-made men fortune by
sudden freak, however produced few of them
They were formerly rather coarse in manners, and
ann sorry 10 say that somo Of them have moi
changed in This respect for the better. They mar
red wives Of the same states in society as them.
selves They, too, in reality remain very much
like their former solves. Their house, are large
and extrayagantly furnished. Some Of them live
on Beacon street They often array ungainly
bodie in rich aud costly apparel. Their manners
are sometimes in striking contrast with their pre-
tensions aud their material belongings.
This class are apt 10 estimate mans opinions
according 70 The length Of his purse the size o.
his ledger. II You are worth bat fifty thousand
dollars, your opinion will weigh jrst half rs mucl
as The mans whose bank account foo'i up one hun
dIcd thousand dolla And so on through th,
chapter al opisioris being weighed in the balance
with money and rated according TO the shekels o
the commercial sanctuary. There is probably no
a more honest and fair. losling class Of mon 70 b
found in the world than most Of those belonging {,
this category Of the Boston aristocTacy. Some 0
them are Justly called Sboddy, while Others hav
about them strong odor of ccdhsh. perhaps frou
The fact that hey made their earthly for:anes in tn
fish trade. 10
The last class which have time 10 mention
the uiHcOulpo0p difstoerocg. THIS is oomposed OF
motley cless Of persons who pretend 70 be some
thing hen they are nothing. Socially they al
tempt TO carry on a largo business without any cap
itsl. Their brains are in thesr bellies. They an
ohams. They remind one Of the Srs IN the isbh
which put on lions skin, and at irst sight Sa
thought 60 be a lion when presently tho dlscicsur
iy accident Of big pair of ears revealed his tru
character. ieoi saat possibly an apology Is dnt
to The fss Tor making tina compaTison--at any rat
viii ask his forgiveness before 60 any further.
charitable view Of this mAster would assume
mat all thee classes have their uses. Zach is prob.
auy good for something, though strangers may no
NOV t what an1 ss ] am about 20 leave Boston for
'-e o9aih, wish az the people well, hoping herc
''-' l'' a better acquaintance. VIAroR
boston. sept. 26, 1858.