The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1882-03-11
What is Respectable Society.

We heard n man, otherwise intelligent
enough, lately sheer at another ''be.
cause sail he, ''one never meets linn in
respectable societyr' Tho speaker did
not mean however, that the person ht
Affected to look down upon was immor.
al, but m rely that his circle of init,
mates were not composed OF tho fash
ionabla and rich.
This notion of what constitutes re-
, spectacle society, is quito q ~favoritd
n will that class of individuals whom
~Thackcray has so significantly called
o Empty pr~etenso AWAY
makes lis wi characteristics a stand.
ard by which it strives to measure tho
responsibility of persons at large. Ii ,
community of mere m~oney-pette=i
wealth is the test Of responsibility.
Among tho proud, narrow-minded, e..
fette nobility of the Fauburg ST. Ger.
main responsibility depends upon be.
ing descendants from ancestors who
have married their cousins for SO many
centuries that neither muscles no.
brains are left any longer to degenerate
descendants. With tho dandy Officer
who constitute a considerable portion
OF tho American navy responsibility
consists in having spongcd on ..Uncl,
Sam, in wearing gilt buttons, and ir
Jllting iailors. Every conceited foo!
thinks himself in like way the only man
really weighiy, the only person who is
respectable.
But true responsibility depends on no
such ss"advenlitiou5 circumstances. Tc
be respectable is L be worthy of re.
spec; and lie deserves respect who has
most yir ne. The humblest man who
oravcly does lis duty, is more worthy
OF respect, is more truly respectable,
than the covetous millionaire among
his money bags, or the arrogant mon.
arch upon his throne.
The fine lady who backbites her
neighbor is less worthy of respect than
an honest wash-woman. The proHigate
noble, though he may wear a dozen or
ders, is often not respectable as the
shoe-black who cleans boots. That
which exalts 1.-THE world'' exalts the one
and despises the other, but it does not
make them respectable according to the
real meaning of that world. Their re-
s~pectability is but a hollow sham, as
they themselves frequently feel, and
those who worship them bow down to a
Fetish, a thing ..of feathers and tinsel.
The selfish, idle drone, who wastes life.
N his own qualification, and dissipates
the fortune of bis progeny, is not and
cannot be respectable, but the hard
working, self-denying father, who wears
out his life to bring up his children, is,
even though he be but a day-laborer.
Nothing can make Dives fit to lie upon
Abraham's bosom, while Lazarus is well
coined there, even with the sores the
dogs have licked.
This false view of life, which would
measure responsibility by a convention
al standard. is totally at variance with
our republican institutions. 1t creates
an emporium in imperio." for while
the law declares all citizens equal, it
erects a social standard which endeav-
ors to ignore that great truth. The
coarse, british, knavish, profigate,
criminal-in short, all who fall short of
their duty to themselves and their fell
low-men-are those who are not re-
spectacle; and this whether they are
rich or poor. While those who live
honestly, and strive t o do what they
can, constitute in reality the respect
class. irrespective of the fact
they eat with silver forks or
ones.-Philadetphia Ledger.