Morning journal and courier., 1888-12-25
criminate railing at society. There is society

criminate railing at society. There is society and society. There is that undefned some thing, more like machine than an aggregate of human sensibiGties, which is set going in a "season," or at watering place, or perma- nently selects itself for certain social mani festations. It is this that needs 8 missioDa- ry to infuse into it sympathy and charity. If it were indeed 8 machine and not made up of sensitive personalities, it would not be
 to it's members so selfish and cruel. It
 would be less ambitious scramble for
 place and favor, less remorseless towards the
 unsuccessful, not so harsh and hard and su-
 percillous- In short 1t would be much more
 agreeable if it extended to it's own members
 something of the consideration and sympa-
 thy that it gives to those it regards as it's in-
 feriors. It seems to think that good breed
 ing and good form are separable from kind-
 Illness and sympathy and helpfulness. Ten-
 der hearted and charitable enough all the in-
 dividuals of this society" are to persons
 below them in fortune or position, let us al- low, but how are they to each other? Noth-
 ing can he ruder or less considerate of the
 feelings of others than much of that which
 is called good society, and this is why the
 writer desires to turn the sltruistic senti-
 ment of the world upon it, in this season,
 set apart by common consent for usefulness.
 Unfortunate are the fortunate if they are
 lifted into sphere which is sapless of deli
 cacy of feeling for it's own. Is this an in-
 tangible matter? Take hospitality, for in- stance. Does it consist in astonishing the
 invited, in overwhelming him with sense
 of your own wealth or felicity, or family or
 cleverness even, in trying to absorb him in
 your concerns, your successes. your posses
 sions, in simply what interests youf How
 ever delightful all these may be, it is an off,
 fense to his Individuality to insist that he
 shall admire at the point of the social bsyo-
 net. How do you treat the strangerl Do
 ol III
 to him, or insist that he shall adapt himself
 to you? How often does the stranger, the
 guest, sit in helpless agony in your circle Gall
 of whom know each other) at table or in the
 drawing room, isolated and separate, because
 all the talk is local and personal about your
 little world, and the affairs of your clique, and your petty interests, in which he or she cannot possibly joina Ahl the Sioux Indian would not be so cruel as that to guest. There is no more refined torture to sensi- tive person than that. Is it only thoughts
 lessHess? It is more than that. It is a want of sympathy of the heart or it is lack of intelligence and broad minded interest in af- fairs of the world and in other people. It is
 this trait-absorption in self-pervading so- ciety more or less, that makes it so unsatis- factory to most people in it. Just want of human interest; people do not come in cons tact.
 Avid pursuit of wealth, or what is called pleasure, pernaps makes people nara tO eacn other, and infoses into the higher social life, which should be the most unselfsh and en- joyaDle life, a certain vulgarity similar to that noticed in well bred tourists scrambling for the seats on top of mountain coach. A person of refinement and sensibility and in- telligence. cast into the company of the se- l lect, the country house, the radiant, twelve l button society, has been struck with infinite pity for it, and asks the writer to do some- thing about it. The writer cannot do any- ! thing about it. He can only ask the prayers | of all good people on Christmas day for the l rich. As we said, we do not have them with
 us always-they are here to~day, they are gone to Canada to~morrow. But this is of course current faeetiousness. The rich are l as good as anybody else, according to their l lights, and if what is called society were as good and as kind to itself as it is to the poor, | it would be altogether enviable. We are not | of those who say that in this case charity l would cover multitude of sins, but 6 diff fusion in society of the Christmas sentiment
 of good will and kindliness to itself would | tend to make universal the joy on the return of this season.