The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1879-03-19

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habit of mind or tendency Of life
Soma people tske it for granted that
our manners are 4 be made, and to
De put on and OF like ine clothes ;
and others are of the opinion that
manners grow out OF the character
and conduct, and that they are valu-
able mainly as expressions Of the
man. Perhaps the frst view has
prevailed among American families,
and most of us were brought up to
think that children must be fitted ont
with q certain set of rules aud usapes
of what is called good breeding, just
as they are tilted on. with jacket and
trousers or fro.ks, and tLat in set
form aud 10 due cas- they are to
make their manners, as the phrase is,
just IS they are to make q summer
sault on land or TO make Q dive into
the water. Better experience and
more culture are curing us of this
mistake, aud we d. not often see
DOW the sorry spectacle Of reluctant
urchin compelled by his parents TO
make his manners to an exacting
company of old school gentlemen and
ladies', with q bow as forced and pain
ful as a young OK to the yoke. Our
boys breathe generally a certain Al.
mospbere of good manners now 10
the school room, and they have q
certain grace aud courtesy of their
own which is telling upon society
and teaching bow it is that manners
grow within instead of being made
to order and put on and of At will
A deeper reading Of history, more
over, 8 showing that the manners Of
nafions are as much rooted 10 life
and Time as are their languages, and
that the prince and the peasant learn
their expression from the vitals
sources 10 which the tongue fnds It's
copious speech. Ii the manners of
well-bred persons 10 various nations
aud 10 various classes Of society
could be pbilosophicalIy interpreted,
We should have most significant illus
trations of the whole current Of pr.
vate aud public life for ages and ev-
cry aeeompli-he gentleman, and ev-
cry we'll trained rustic. would repre-
sent the powers that have come to a
head in them, and bseD footed up and
handed down from the old tine to
our cay. Pairiarchs, kings, philoso'
piers. poets, artists, soldiers, sristo'
Gratis, and democrats have gone into
our blood and breeding I; and as our
republican u ripen and sweet
en-, we find them far more compre
hensise, gentle, and lovely than cap
tious visitors have seen or barrow
co%unurymen have been willing TO al
low.
Perhaps in a general estimate We
may say that there are three styles o.
manners. The first may be called
the ~pstrisrchsl style. and it comes IL
US from the East and speaks in tht
old Bible and 10 the historical Church
calling all people TO look up to th,
Supreme Father iD heaven aud to al
who represent the fatherly authority
on earth in law and religion. Then
in the second place, we have the roy
al style, which is emphatically Eu
ropesn, having eniminated 10 Home
aud speaking always with persona
power, claiming indeed tie grace o
God, yet backed up by force, ans
never oondesoending 10 reason viii
its subjects, as if reason were th,
seat of its authority The third styl,
Of manners NAV be called the popu
lar or ~demooratie, which regards al
men as equals and accepts their com
bined voices as the only suficien.
authority, or perhaps as the only sd
equate Interpretation of The supreil,
Justice.
1t may seem wholly absurd for u
to speak of any other style than th,
asst OF these three, the popular o,
democratic and we may be easily
laughed at for ven limiting that tb,
p%atrisrcbal and royal styles bav,
anything to do at all with US goot
republicans. Yet we Americans ar,
children of time, and We cannot ge
rid of u parentage. Old Fathe
Abraham and his patriarchal progeny
are in our blood and culture ; and 8,
are King Alfred and his royal line
The pairisrchal element is very
strong in u American life, surely
and the old Puritans we're as full O
it as our new Roman Catholics
Jonathan Edwards had in his dogma,
and his discipline as stiff a pastora
staff as Cardinal McCloskey has il
his golden crosler and perhaps ever
the Puritan stole, the Pontitf Of New
England Transcendentslism. Ralph
Waldo Emerson, in his mild but uu
linching eye, carried as much the
spirit of fatherly empire as either o
them. 1t seems odd, bat 1t is non;
the less true, that The eytreme cham.
pion OF democratic principles among
us must favor u CERTAIN pstriarcha
authority. While our radical fret
religionists must abound 10 man.
worship, and build their trust upon 9
few leading minds. our most rabid
democrats are special friends of the
Pspacy, and they have done theiI
best or their worst to raise the Pc
ler's Pence needful to bolster up the
Pope's shaky temporal throne. But
apart from any sach ettreMes, tRera
is q yearni0g among cur American
people fer a larger element of patri.
arohal authority. for better family
discipline, and uore reverend and
effective pastoral administration. An
impressive worship is liked 10 our
churches by thoughtful men, and es.
picially by devout and susceptible
wowsn. al the dominant churches
are showing this tendency. aud the
idea Of mere preaching, and. Of course,
wherever there IL reverent worship
the church is a school of manners,
and every marriage as well As every
burial lifts ihe family aud the assem-.
bly, above private Joy or grief TO the
supreme authority and is psstoraI
representatives. SO, too, We are hav.
ing our share of the kingly element
Our George Washington aud bis sci
Of statesmen ralea by The grace Of
God and the authority VI law. just q