The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1873-12-02
uIgarity.

vulgarity.
Vulgarity means the exhibition Of
those pcculiarties Of speech and manner
which offend refinement. 1t makes a ma
ked display OF coarse and uneducated
human impulses 1t most lies in the
absence Of consideration for the feelings
Of others, in narrow minded self.asser.
ton, and ip a selfish want of control over
anti.social propensities. There is natu.
raj vulgarity, chiefly the result of ignor.
ance. There is the vulgarity of affeca.
tation, which is the most odious form of
the vice. Natural vulgarity is often lit.
tie more than a want of knowledge of
the usages Of society or an inbred indeli-
cacy Of mind. The vulgarity Of affecta.
tion is unfoundcd assumption and ILL
timed display. Of the first description
Dickens has given us type in the
character Of his well known, "Sairey
Camp" who, in his own elegant Ian.
guage, kept bottle en- the chimbley.
piece, and took o sip when she felt so
disposed" And Miss Austin presents us
with an example of the second, in that
cleverly-drawn parsonage, Mrs. Elton,
who, after much ostentatious boastipg
about her grand relations at Maple
Grove, effects extreme surprise on find
ing that lady who had once been q
governess should actually "provc to be a
gentlewoman :"
The first kind of vulgarity is innate,
and often springs from previous low orig.
in, and subsequent contact with coarse
and ignorant minds. 1t is, as Ruskin de.
fines it, "dcadness of the heart and in.
tellect, produced by loug continued de.
generacy." 1t is a natural product of
staying in one place, or in one society.
1t results from an inability to CORE, 1t
personal impressions. Natural vulgarity
is certainly more excusable than the vu.
garity of affectation the one having the
least truth of its basis, the other being
founded on falsehood. Natural vulgarity
is seldom seen to greater perfection than
among the lower class Of English, more
especially towns-people. Vulgarity per.
vades in London crowds in its pushings
and strivings, its language, its attempts
at humor, and its general demeanor. No
nation is more intrinsically vulgar than
the English. A certain amount Of out.
ward polish generally distinguishes the
manners Of other European countries
even among the Lowest and the poorest
but in England refinement is merely an
exotic. The fact is, the English live SC
much in their own antilles, and cultivate
so vigorously individuality Of life, that
they have never rubbed off their angles
one against the other, and the nation is
left to assert itself in all its coarse Saxon
buntness. Few observers can fail to no.
tice the constant tendency to vulgarize
the passing events and pleasures Of the
day, which so distinguishes the English
character. The chefs d. Gurres Of ope
ratio composers degenerate into airs oil
barrel organs Grave and important
public events are made the subjects o.
comic songs. Public characters are
grossly caricaiurcd. Expressions, orig
inally meaningless, are rapidly trans
formed into that popular degradation o
language-"slang." We need only watcl
the humber portion of an English audi
ence at a theatre. to discover their appre
citation of the approaches to vulgarity
and coarseness, in which so many popula
: dramas abound. while they remain insen
. sble to the more delicate touches Of re
6nement in the language and actinI
which are comparatively so few and ia
, between. In the present day even ar
Of the highest kind is apt to trench OIL
vulsarity. The broad, exaggerated out
? lines aud vivid coloring of the pre-
| Raphaite school too often unwillingl
recall the signboard, and create an un
D pleasing Impression, which causes US Il
find in popular paintings a reflection 0
. the vulgar degeneracy Of the age
Nulgarity Of the second kind consist
rather 10 the assumption of create
amount of refinement than that whic
: naturally belongs to us, than in uncon
scious display OF innate coarseness and ig
norance. Vulgarty Of affectation is, i
, fact, an attempt to cure natural vulgarit
by hiding it. There are but too man
Mrs. Eltons to be found in the society c
the middle and upper classes. What ca
be more vulgar than that constant osteu
= tatious quotation Of titled names, whic
4 characterizes the speech Of many would
be followers of fashion? Or than tn
, struggles and strivings for the "frs
place." and the maintenance of that "firs
!. place when attained the curiosity abou
each new piece of gossip or scanda
which Everybody knows" and the eagcl
ness to retail it, which is as fervid i
the drawing room as in the servants hall
Z Thackeray has well compared Englis
society to a ladder, which every on
G tries to mount first, each holding on b
% he heels Of the one who precedes hin
J The struggle for position is principa
r cause Of vulgarity, and gives rise to
l. quantity o. false shame. If persons {
l. this class, as is mostly the case, are {
low extraction, they are ashamed Of the
y ancestors. If they have relations lowe
J. in the social scale than themselves, the
" will. if possible, disown them, and the
J. entertain the most profound contempt f
those whose livelihood depends on pcrsoI
70 al toll, aud whose means have not d.
y scended by inheritance, though the
!. themselves probably owe all their prcsel
y ease to the previous hard work Of the
, ancestors whom they despise.
Tue Boston Post, noticing the fact th
5 10000 cubic yards Of obstruction ba