The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1876-06-11
The Social Decline.

observer there 10 no sign Of decay, no fading
of lustre in the foliage, no shortening of the
huge limbs that stretch forth over the earth,
no weakening Of the strength which sup
ports the vast fabric in the face Of every
storm. But the real strength of the tree lie
in its heart the real strength Of the nation
is in its domestic life. An empire may
send it's navies through every sea, may
camp its armies on every shore, may sell
it's wares in every market of the world,
may dictate the policy of many nations,
bat, if at home the wife 10 not faithful and
the son not obedient, there is dry rot at its
heart, it's glory is all outside show, ell sap
and foliage.
The surest way of judging the interior
strength of people is by the manners of
it's women. Where the domestic relations
are kept in accord with those natural laws
which God has imprinted on the human
heart, the woman will be modest and the
man respectful. But where the domestic
boundary is enlarged so as to take the pub
lie into its sanctuary, where the wife ID as
confidential with her male visitors as with
her husband, and the sister as familiar with
every young man as with her brother,
there is violence done to the laws of nature
and an attempt made to improve on them
through perverted estimate of good
breeding. In that case society is no longer
a natural thing, but an artificial one; no
longer Gods work, but mans.
A recent article in the London Saturday
Revieto gives picture of English society
which is not inapplicable as an illustration
in this connection. It says:
For some time past there has been visible in
English society O tendency to increasing free
dom of manners and o relaxation of those pru-
dent restraints on giddiness or torWardness
which used to be supposed to be An indispenss-
BILE protection to all modest women.
1t would appear, however, that the departure
from old fashioned traditions OF propriety Is
growing still more marked, and that system
of social intercourseis 10 being gradually eStab-
liahed under which all the once recognized
rules of decent behavior are completely set st
difficult in some fashionable circles to form
any estimate of the personal respectability OF
well dressed woman from her bearing ana CON
duct. In divorce suit which mas
been tried this week, and into the nature OF
which it is unnecessary to enter in detail, Sir
j. Hannen, in summing up the case to the Jury
made the following remarks {: "Generally
anpointment with a young man, only one infe-
renee coussd be drawn from it but 1t snouid oe
remambered that the respondent had been
leading life of frivolous gayety. passing her
time in frivolous amusenents, flirting with a
| variety of men, and conducting herself in such
q way as to lead to her husband's remopstranoe.
1t was also fair to remind them tn at there had
! CO late years been very marked change in the
habits and manners of society, ana thaS lot
merly women would have shrunk from being
| seen with persons and at places in clrcum-
stances which were now thought nothing or:
| He spoke of the change with loathlng, Dat II
hoH hnap q
| as that to which he referred in fashion ana IL
| the habits Of young persons. Therefore in tn ess
| DAYS the same conclusion ought not TO be draWr
from conduct which woulo nave peen otS"
from it in former times"
This is an unfortunate condition o
things for nation on the verge OF con
test 30 desperate as that which appear
lust now to impending over Great Britain
Unless the signs of the times are very de
ceptive, one of the mightiest struggles o
history is about to be inaugurRted In Ea
rope. European Turkey will not be dis
membered without war which will tas
, to the utmost every energy and all the re
| sources which can be found among the poE
Q ulations of the whole Continent and its dc
/ d sndencies. British mastery over lndI
: is imperilled, and can hardly be saved eve
t by efforts as heroic aud stubborn as ao
that ever signalized the haughtiest day
of British prowess. 1t is, therefore,
J. evil omen that when the nation, like
stripped gladiator, must soon maintain i
- existence upon an arena where heroic WRIT
- alone can survive, it is passing its hours {
10 ureparation in frivolity which apes
" least the manners of vice and is coming
Is the field of blood bedizened with tt
,e trumpery gear of courtesan.
ID England is not alone, however, in tn
ne decline of the social morals and manner
y Even in America, the land of the free, il
u stances have been observed where the spir
10 of freedom scared beyo the strict sphe
~ of politics. In fact, freedom of manners
IL between the sexes has here many advocate
w That modesty and reserve which former
H. marked the intercourse of the young is nc
in many quarters voted old-fashioned a