The true northerner., 1882-10-06
VIRGINIA SOCIETY.
An AmusIngly Snobbish Picture Of De-
cayed Provincial Arlstocracy.
From the WashinQton Post

An AmuSlmKIy SmODOisn htCturO u - Nv
cayed Provincial Arlstocracy.
From the Washington Post.l
The term "good society" means much
more in Virginia than elsewhere. 1t
means scheme the mott powerful that
could be organized, containing in itself
all the elements Of success. There is
not, nor never has been, plutocracy
in Virginia. Money has it's influence,
but it is neither strong nor immediate
The people who rule society live in
shabby houses and ride in antiquated
carriages, but their word is law. The
moneyed class look to them for recog-
milton; they offer no competition to
wealth and style, and consequently
there is little to be gained by wealth and
style. But while it is in some respects
the most aristocratic form of society, it
is in others the most democratic. The
aristocracy of talent, not having the
aristocracy of money to fight in its up
ward course, finds the admission into
the freemasonry of well-bred people
comparatively easy. A certain con-
tempt is expressed for the vulgar, in
the very act of admitting some man of
Dtt uhSollhlOh
into the charmed circle. A promising
young lawyer or doctor may be forgiv-
en- for having a mechanic for father
and a workingwoman for a mother, and
he made welcome by his social betters !;
but he may by no means bring his
brothers and sisters into his new asso-
Citations, and even the anomaly of ad-
mitting man and excluding his wife is
occasionally seen. But the great body
of aspiring men, without conspicuous
abilities, find the door resolutely and
arrogantly shut in their faces.
General Malone himself was the
most striking example of what good So
ciety would and would not do for a
man. His social ambition is as great as
any other ambition. ccd by his exploits
during the war he found himself, a man
sprung from nothing admitted into the
association of the great and ruling fam
lies of the State. But he was not a
man to be satisfied without being a
power wherever he was placed, and that
he could not be. He was with them,
but not of them. His influence could
not at any time have brought any man
into good society. He was himself
there on sufferance. He spent money
lavishly, and afterward complained bit
terly of the men who came to his din
ners and drank his wines and then
shut their doors in his face; but
he forgets that he paid court to
those men to come, and considered it a
triumph when, by long endeavor, he
got upon friendly footing with them.
In the upheaval that followed upon re-
adiusterism he was sharp enough to
turn the social machine to account. A
few-a very few-men of good family
joined his party; these he used as a
powerful lever. He picked up men
from the country crossroads and vii
lage-tavern, burning with ambition,
who had judgeships and seats in the
Legislature and offices at once present
ed to their view, which they had seen
engrossed by their betters. The few
men of good standing amongst General
Mahone's followers took them up, and
it was a great day for Jones of Jones
store, and Smith of Smiths crossroads,
when John S. Wise and Lewis +. Har-
vie and Colonel William Lamb were
willing to sit at the same mahogany
with them