Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1885-08-15

Pioo'o. o~-. w looSneu, before any exact state
| ment of that problem can be made. the confu.
sion OF political with social and nersonal eonaI.
ity must be removed. A republic can never be
comprehended either by its own citixens or by
foreigners 50 long as 1t Is supposed to be an inven
ton LOT reH Hn or raising all men to level
hitting all men TO find their own level.
The late ~ de Bacourt, minister of France to
the United States died without eye 70 r os
of this primal truth; but far more acute Oh.
servers thar ho ne t nave been equally unseeing
solemnity, was as blind as de Baco1rt, who
tripped from cradle to grave on the light fan
kingdoms follow leaders, distrnstad and %as
spised republics because republics have no lead
ers; "A mode caH th ana simple observation,
theory, would have shown that q kincdom is a
| community which enthrones its leaders; re-
| assumes leadership to be Unbeatable: republic
| recognizes leadership as an individual endow-
ment, ana demands OF each man his creden-
Within fpsdom pesRf shf is a esasr
fuses 1t into q national benefit.
Human nature Is absolutely the same under
both forms Of government. A republic no more
rs great, as rich, as polite, as happy as another
than it processes to make him as tall, as blonde,
that every soul born In its domain has freedom
to grow in the direction which nature intended.
depression mas been fof SO 80 many ages the worlds
| late freedom to grow be sometimes mistaken
for growth itself. To long cramped nature re-
| the opportunity for development. Neverthe.
| less, it Is a great opportunity.
CLASSES.
Because we have abolished an arbitrary dis
tinction of classes, it is sometimes assumed that
have no But while Thu, nu
OF the nature of angcls-in this world and in
the next society will resolve itself into classes
matters. The English AMI the American II. lions
arc one stock, almost within the meme " OF
man one nation. They have their tifto and
Their institutions tend to liberty, their etiquette
Is idle ntical, their tradition and much OF their
literature is one. Suffrage Is q little more re-
| but both are ruled by constitution. Political
| equality is more nearly attained in this coun-
try. bun social and perso lal equality are affect
ed only Indirectly, as political conditions inhu-
cnce Individual character.
There is exactly a. much difference between
scholar and ounce liz this country as i'll
| England. We think that republic permits
fewer ounces; We hope that it will not ulti-
t.cy cali a gentleman the Marquis OF Ripon
Ia this country we call him Mr.. Robinson Eat
| the gentleman no less consorts with gentlemen
here, no more consortS with the coarse I'd vul-
| Ga here than i'll a monarchy. In England the
dukes son is a duke by virtue Of being his
| leg, but he is still duke. Iu this country We
have no institutions to hold up a gentleman's
son. If he ceases to be or ii he never becomes
back on. He sinks into untiistingushed dust
and is replaced by an atom more highly organ
lied.
THE GENTLEMAN.
But the gentleman here is. in all essentials
| the gentleman Of all the rest of ChristendOm.
He loves cleanliness OF body and soul. He is
gentle and generous. He may be intellectual.
he must be dcfercntial. His etiquette is not
pI La
the rights Of Others, does not signaliZe his own
honesty, or culture. or blood, or baths, beyond
than moderately bad. His instinct OF helpful
ness Is neNe at fault.
| man has advanced in reverenctug wonlanhoOd
without regard to the position of the woman.
He loves quietness and to be unobserved. He
stands by his kin and elan without ub.ruding
the Iact He expects to be politely treated. and
Is not on the watch for inCisnities, nor quick 10
take OtfenSe.
He dresses we'll or ill, but seldom suspects
that he Is not dressed well enough. He would
not willingly wear Il frock coat where other
gentlemen are in evening dress, but he has
sword to draw in attack or defense of any dress
whatever and for the cxternals of attire is Very
apt to need the constant sustaining, retaining
and stimulating power OF the feminine element
in his household. When the brief period OF i'm
maturity is passed he has but a fitful, capri
ciOus and Enthusiastically devotion to mono
grams and ornamental walking-sticks Even
on hats and gloves his judgment is liable to be
2verthrown: In many points he is human and
refined
In a republic the gentleman takes his place
he is not even retarded, by any stars, carriers,
titles. monopolics In a kingdom the gentle
man is apt to barricade his order with securities
which 1t takes u revolution to destroy. Here
there is no wall for him to scale no gate for him
to force. The field is perfectly lear. He climbs
the highest hills who has the strongest feet and
the soundest lungs. Individual character is
therefore the safeguard and the only safeguard,
OF the republic; To the formation OF individual
cil.r. all
individual character all our stability rests. Be
cause we have no institutions to hold us up
When the intelligence and the integrity of her
citizens cease to sustain the republic the repub
lie falls. Under all civilized governments the
common virtues of life spring and grow.
AMERICAN WEAKNESSES.
Family pride is u natural and honorable pride.
An inheritance of noble deeds is the most valu-
able bequest that father can make to son. A
transmitted honor, gent!eness, culture. consti-
tute the only difference between the savage and
the civilized man. But in the broad analyses
of civilization one family Is as old as another.
Every man in the United States has the same
number or grandfathers We are all ut an equal
remove from Adam. Some families have been
a little more softcncd than others by having
come 4 few years earlier under sOftenisg infiu-
United States to day but lives in Il more refined
way than any duke OF England five hundred
years ago. The butchers of New England are
not so brutality employed as were the titled war;
rior, of old En- gland under the Richards and
Inc LenryS. lney i've Detlcr, are .. gcntIcr
manners and less rude OF speech. Even for SUBJ
stance of doctrine the common people are likely
to have n larger proportion of royal and noble
blood than the higher classes. 1t is pretty bad
as well as good blood.
We do not know SO much about our ancestry
as Queen Victoria knows about hers, but Il sor-
rier set Of louis, fuuler tangle OF scandals no
American citizen would shrink from finding in
his flmiiy legends than Victoria's royal lineage
must publish to n disguised world. Our own
families may have been no better, but obscurity
has been kind.
Let us look ut things as they are. We have
swept away ali political hereditary distinctions.
Our governing class comprises the whole poo
pie. We have no nobility. We are middle
class nation. So far arbitrary divisions go
we begin where the English highest class ends.
No eXclusivcness changes this fact. The
butchers grandson and the ferryman's grand
son and the shoemakers grandson come no
nearer being dukes or ears by barring other
people out OF their ''set" or reckoning by "three
pun ten."
My friend who would Danish his son from the
contact of all but ''gentlcmen's sons" would ex-
clude him thereby from the society of his most
illustrious ANCESTOR man VINO will be relnem-
bcrcd and revered when dukes and earls are
lying in undistinguished dust. What this ma
ton is to prove Is that arbitrary rank is not the
guinea's stamp that true gold has its own un-
mistakable glitter; that nation founded on the
rights of man, on the worth of character can
dignity, cultivation, integrity than u nation
that we equal the older nations we must sur
hon may no. ctf in at%f