Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1872-05-08
EVILS OF A FALSE POSITION.

We are inclined to think that hall
the miseries from which most Of US
suffer are of our own making. five
would be happy, we have only to cut
away from our lives the superf1uities
which overburden them, and which
are a continual source of anxiety to
us all. Why, for example, should we
place ourselves in q false position
merely for the satisfaction of others,
or to meet some absurd requirement
of society, why should any man as
sumo to be what he is not, for th5
purpose of obtaining a hetltlous re-
spect from his fellow citizens? ? And
why, in short, are We not all more
natural and less stilted in our inter-
course with each other? The answer
is not far to seek. The great mass OF
our countrymen have certain leayen
of snobbishness in their dispositions,
which they would, perhaps, be un-
willing to exhibit in its broadly re-
pulsive aspect.
We have all learned the lesson
which Mrs. Grundy has been so as
siduously teaching to many genera
tions of men and women, and we fear
the old Gorgon too much to venture
upon anything like freedom Of action.
Social life is, in short, species OF ire
fined slavery; there is the lash or the
goad of opinion ready for the man who
ventures to be original, and social out
lawry for such vagabonds or nomads
as refuse to submit to the rule and
precedent Mild enthusiasts, whose
simplicity often causes men OF the
world a smile, are continually croak-
ing over the evils of the separation of
class from class, and are ever on the
alert to efface the broad lines of de-
mareation which divide the various
sections of society. One professor OF
the philosophy of Utopia would bring
the lower and upper ranks together,
OH footing of common Brotherhood
another would fuse the whole middle
class into one homogeneous mass
while a third would make intellect or
talent the sole passport to what Is
called good society. We hear muen
ofthe gradual disintegratiOn of certain
class distinctions which once kept
sections of society separate; but, as
far as our experience goes, we do not
find that the property qualification, II
we may so express ourselves, mas less
weightin the world now than in any
period of modern history.
The rich snob is always certain OF
some degree of consideration, from
even people of unexceptionable posi-
ton in the world, while the poor man
of talent, who may be admitted among
people on sufferanee, has constant and
daily humiliations, to put up with in
the false position in which he finds
himself. Let US assume the latter to
be possessed of high, but not rare,
ability; that he has acquired some
share of popularity, and that his wide
reading and accurate thinking make
him a really valuable acquisition to
the people who patl onize him. It is
the fashion 10 say that such a man
finds himself the social equal Of any
one with whom he may come in con-
tact, and this, Of course, may be true
In the case of a genius or high order.
But we are not thinking of the high
est lights of the Intellectual world, OF
the highest section of society, but OF
which there is plentiful crop, and
of those eminently respectable classes
who think more of the length of a
mans purse than they ever do OF the
weight and texture Of his brains.-
Assume that such q man holds q
doubtful position in the world, that
he is poor, and passes each day in the
wretched drudgery of mechanical
work. His talents, however, bring
him into contact with persons far
above him in social position, whose
habits are foreign to his, and we know
little or nothing OF the sphere in
which he spends the greater portion
of his time He cannot wholly avoid
those people, however much his sound
sense may prompt him to do so. he
must either herd with his equals, and
miss all chance of exchanging ideas
with minds of his own scope, or he
must pocket his pride, and consent to
submit to the special trials which sur
round a false pOsition.-ChinlHey Cor
ner,