The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1885-09-17
SOCIETY ANALYZED.
A Georgia Lady Compares Society of the
OIden Time with the Present.

OIden Time with the Present.
My grandmother, who lived in the
golden long ago." still clings with
holy reverence to the customs of her
fathers. and AYERS that society of the
present day is not what it need to be-
that it has sadly degenerated from the
high moral and intellectual standard to
which it attained in her time; that the
old, grand manners, courtly grace, and
brilliant repartee have, in great
measure. passed away. Society. now,
is all sham, q glamour, and vanity of
Vanities-nothing but husks.
Being familiar with the society peo-
pie of the present time, their comings
and goings, their private and public
life, L partake largely of my grand
mothers view and heartily indorse the
verify OF her sayings. In her time they
were too regardful of social convention
TO lend countenance to a person with
out weighing we'll the pros and cons,
and to gain entree into the best society
your moral and intellectual worth and
social position were questioned. Now,
all that is necessary to admit ono into
the so-called "best society" is to dress
in the prevailing mode. dance well, be
fully conversant with the latest gossip,
and speak glibly all the fashionable
slang. Popularity in such society can
not commend itself; it sayors too strong
of the mob.
1t is a sad fact that society dcgener-
atss as the age advances. In the olden
time girls were educated with view
to higher and nobler purposes, and to
fill useful positions, and the boys for
men of Integrity and industry. Now,
the former are educated to make a
show. and the latter to aid the exhibit
ton,
Having all the advantages of learn
ing which our colleges and public
schools can bestow. these are cast
lightly aside or perverted to ignoble
purposes. A girl now enters sooiety,i it
seems, with but one aim or ambition,
and that is to try to manage to extract
the greatest amount of enjoyment from
her life. 1t soon becomes 4 continued
round of excitement; no sooner is one
festivity over than she begins to plan
for another. She finds it dolce far
niente, Her hours of leisure are either
slept or idled away. or spent in plan
ming some fitting dress in which to APP
pear at the evening party. Occasion
ally she acquaints herself with the plot
of the latest romance or the notes of a
fashionable pieco of music. Dwelling
much on the contemplation of such lit
tie things, they soon loso the intellect
ual appetite. As for quiet domestic
felicity, society girls never dream of it
They soon become wholly dependent
upon excitement for happiness, and I'M
less they have something of this kind
continually in view they soon sink into
apathy. and at home are utterly
wretched. The parents of such girls
usually practice strict economy in do
mestic affairs, the mother doing all the
necessary work, and denying herself
many comforts that her daughters may
have succession of silk and satin
dresses to enhance their beauty, and
fly about from one place of pleasure to
another, hoping that they may make 4
wealthy alliance. In nineteen cases
out of twenty they fail to do so. Sell
dom can We find a society girl of our
day who can reason, reflect, feel, Judge,
discern. discriminate, or furnished with
a stock of ideas, principles, and qualifi-
cations ready to be applied, as occasion
may demand, to each of their respec-
tive situations as daughters, wives,
mothers. Dwarfed by society and
fashion, and leading life of idleness,
dims the mental perceptions and ener-
Yates frame naturally vigorous. So
ciety now is heartleSs and shallow, with
its silly amusemcnts and soulless rival
ries. Parties are stale and unprofita-
Bile, with the same bowing, grinning
nonsense, the same bosh talked, the
same tiresome routine from beginning
to end.
Commend US to the society of women
who have higher and noble aims, whose
horizon is not bounded by the coming
man. and who has q purpose in life
whether she meets him or not, to those
who make life worth living.
The society men of our day must not
pass unnoticed. Few men live through
the first period of manhood without
strong temptations to be considered So
ciety men. 1t becomes their ambition.
The idea looms grandly among those
vanities that hedge a mans approach
to maturity. He soon becomes an
adept in society tactics, which match
him with others of the same stamp.
He conquers all such annoyances rs
truth or sincerity, which may some
times sting his conscience He studies
moral sparring, makes it his art to be
admired, but seldom to be trusted. To
keep up with the fashion of the times,
to be ignorant of plain things and plain,
honest people, 'swho do not go with
their set, and whom he stigmatizes as
the dangerous second GLASS;" to be
knowing in all gossip. familiar with all
the figures in the german, dance well,
and wear ballroom honors with indif-
ference, to hold a fair place in the silly
nothings usually discussed, to affect an
earnestness of look and action which
! seems full of pleading and yet ask
| nothing; to make a show for the ad-
| miration of those who have more fancy
than brains and more vanity than COM
| mon sense,-this is the distinction to
which he aspires.
The majority of these society men
are those whose means are limited, or
| clerks who receive salary of $50 OF
| $75 a month and live at the rate OF
5000 or $500, that they may be consid-
cred popular and keep their position in
this so-called 'best society" They
dress in the latest fashion, can be seen
in all the sheen of finest cloth, spend
their leisure hours in the bathrooms, at
| theaters, operas, at the billiard-table
and game of chance, indulge in cigars
and alcoholic poisons, and then appear
in the society of ladies covered with
what smacks of r0ue. 1t is subject OF
chronic marvel how they manage to
keep soul and body together. But So
ciety teaches them 10 let the wolf gnaw
their vitals without say or sign. 1t is
poor distinction they enjoy, and not
enduring. They run the round of all
possible excitement, and leave them
selves little but the dregs of the cup,
and they are tasteless if not bitter.
Commend US to those who cultivate
their heads and hearts rather than then
toilet graces-those with rural honesty
aud old-fashioned manners. with thai
which shows the stuff that heroes and
practical men are made of.
! o tenp0ra! o DtOreS! Oh, for the
reputation of this system of things,
and for the restoration of the tastes and
habits of my grandmother's day.
Judith iH Attaatd Telegraph.