Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1881-12-31
What Is Respectable SOci-
ETY.:

Wy
Philadelphia Ledger.
We heard a man, otherwise in
telligent enough, lately snenr at
another, "because," said he, lone
never meets him 10 respectable So.
ciety.u The speaker did not mean,
however, that the person he affect
ed TO look down upon was immOr.
al, but merely that his circle of in
Inmates was not composed Of the
fashionable and rich.
This notion of what constitutes
respectable society is quite d fa-
vorite one with that class of ipdi-
viduals whom Thackeray has so
significantly called .'snobs,' Emp
~ pretense always makes its own
characteristics q standard by
which Ii strives to measure the
respectability Of persons at large.
In a community of mere money
getters wealth ia the test of res
pectability. Among the proud,
narrow-minded, effete nobility of
the Fauherg st. GERMAN respect
ability depends upon being de-
scendants from ancestors who have
married their cousins for 20 many
centuries that neither Muscles or
brains are left any longe. 10 de-
generate descendants. With the
dandy officers who constitute a
considerable portion Of the Amer
lean navy responsibility consists
In having sponged on uncle
SAM In wearing gilt buttons,
and jilting tailors. Every con-
ceited fool thinks himself In like
way the only man really weighty,
the only person who Is respectable.
But true responsibility depends
on no such adventurous circum-
stances. To be respectable Is to be
worthy of respect and he deserves
respect who has most virtue. The
humblest man who bravely does
his duty, is more worthy of res
poet. is more truly respectable,
than the covetous millionaire
among his money bags, or the ar
rogant monarch upon his throne.
The fine lady who backbites her
neighbor Is less worthy of respect
than an honest washwoman. The
profligate noble. though he may
Fea1ry as respectable as the shoe
black who cleans boots. That
which "exalts the world" exalts
the one and despises the other, but
1t does not make them respectable
according to the real meaning of
that word. Their responsibility Is
but a hollow sham, AZ they them
selves frequently feel. and those
who worship them bow down to q
Fetish, a thing offeathers and tim
sci. The selfish, idle drone, who
wastes HE life In his own gratih.
cation, and dissipates the fortune
of his progeny, Is not aud cannot
be respectable, but the hard-wOrk-
ing, seIf-denying father, who wears
out his life TO bring up his child.
rem, is, even though he be but a
day -laborer. Nothing car make
Dives fit to live upon Abraham's
bosom, while Lazarus Is welcom-
ed there, even with the sores the
dogs have licked.
lhlb IhiSc NlOW Va illC, WhAIA
would measure responsibility by
a conventional standard, Is totally
at variance with our Republican
institutions. IL creates an sim
perium in imperio." for while the
law declares all citizens equal it
erects q social standard which en-
deavors to ignore the great truth.
The coarse. british, knavish prof
ligate, criminal In short, all who
fall short of their duty to them
selves and their fellow men-are
those who are not respectable; and
this whether they are rich or poor.
While those who live honestly,
and strive to do what they can,
constitute in reality the reepecta-
BILE class, irrespective of the fact
whether they eat with silver forks
or steel ones.