The Baltimore County union., 1882-01-07
WHAT Is REspEcrABLE SOCIETY ?


We heard man, otherwise intelligent
enough, lately sneer at another "be-
cause" said he "onc never meets him
in respectable society ?" The speaker
did not mean. however, that the person
he affected to look down upon was i'm
moral. but merely that his circle Of in
timates were not composed Of the fash
ionab.e and rich.
This notion of what constitutes re-
spectacle society, is quite favorite one
with that claas OF individuals whom
Thackeray has so significantly called
"snobs." Empty pretensc always makes
its own characteristics standard by
which il strives 10 measure the respecta-
bility OF persons at large. In a COM
munity Of mere money-getters, wealth
is the test OF respectability. Among the
proud, narrow minded, ehete nobility of
the Fauborg St. Germain respectable
ty depends upon being descendants from
ancestors who have married their cous-
ins for so many centuries that neither
muscles nor brains are left any longer
TO degenerate descendants. With the
dandy officers who constitute 4 consid-
erable portion Of the American navy
responsibility consists in having sponged
og'"Uncle Sam" in wearing gilt but
, - and in jiltine 'a;lors. Every CON
q led fool thinks himself in like way
the only man really weighty, the only
person who is respectable.
But true respectability depends on no
such adyentiiious circumstances. To be
respectable is to be worthy of respect !;
and he deserves respect who has more
virtue The humblest man who bravely
does his duty, ismorc worthy Of respect,
is retTuly respectable, than the covet-
ous millionaire among his money bags,
or he arrogant monarch upon his throne
The fine lady who backbites herneigh-
Dor, is less worthy OF respect than an
honest wash woman. The proiligate
noble though he may wear a dozen or
ders is often not really rs respectable As
the shoe black who cleans his boots
That which is called ",he world" ex-
alts the one and despises the other, but
it does not make them respectable ac-
cording TO the real meaning of that
word. Their reSpcctability is but a hol-
loN- sham, rs they themselves frequently
feel and those who worship them bow
down TO 4 Fetish, thing of feathers
and tinscl. The selfish, idle drone, who
wastes life in his own qualification, and
diSsipa,es the fortune Of his progeny. is
not and cannot be respectable, but the
hard-working, self denying father, who
wears out his life to bring up his chill.
dren is, even though he be but day
laborer. Nothing can make Dives fit
to lie upon Abraham's bosom, while
Lazarus is welcomed there, even with
the sores the dogs have licked.
This false view OF life which would
measure respectability by a convention
al standard, is, totally at variance with
our Republican institutions. II creates
an emporium in imperio," for while
the law declares all citizens equal, it
erects asocial standard which endeavors
tn ignore that great truth. The coarse,
british, knavish, pronigate, criminal
in short, all who fall short OF their duty
to themselves and their fellow-men-are
rhosc 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
respectable class, irrespective Of the fact
whether they eat with silver forks or
steel ones.-PaiIadcithia Lcdser.