Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-06-28
WHAT Is GOOD SOCIETY?
CONSIDERING A QUESTION THAT IA
OLD YET ALWAYS NEW.

r.
| less than the vague wonder Of provincial ex-
| istence.
No woman is so ignorant that she does not
have some sor. IF notion concerning a fetch
which she has heard called good society.
| To her this may mean only the possession of
hideous chromos and frghtful ''lace" cur
| tains in the sacred precincts set apart as vii
lags ''parlors;" it may mean keeping help,
and SO having leisure to gossip over back
fences and talk about nothing on front piaz-
zas or in stuffy little front rooms.
No matter about the precise definition, the
| term good society" "hath a magic spell,
| before which saint and sinner, jew and Cen
| tile, rich and poor. high and low make pro
| found obeisance.
THE GOLDEN MEAN
There are certain bohemian" natures who
| will affirm that they ''care nothing for So
ciety; yet they mean by this that they do not
| consider ''the play worth the candle.n They
decline to enter the lists where misguided
| souls dream of good society," and think it
| means agonized efforts to obtain microscopic
| views Of the precise differences between
tweededum and tweedledee.
These bohemians are in danger of going to
the other extreme, and in their anxiety to
escape ''tbe petty solicitudes of middle class
gentility" become slangy, coarse, abrupt, and
even offensive
AS rule those are to be equally avoided
who care too much or too little for society"
which Is, perhaps, but another word for con-
ventionality in its general acceptation.
The UNCONVENTIONAL are narrow, soulless,
and hence without breadth Of mind or ten
of nell hot i5
true, but what is popular; never what is just,
but what is required" by mere Grundyism.
They do not ask, Who is my brotherl nor
yet, How shall l serve my neighborl They
ask only, Who is in the swi1na Their object
is pleasure; their bete noir is annoyance
They have no power to comnrehend great
things, yet they overestimate little things
rT-ney remind one of savages who will ex-
change great wealth for painted glass and to
whom looking glass is of more value than q
library. Give them "a thought that would
have delighted Plato" and they stil. require
references from your tailor or dressmaker
concerning your value.
The question is not how agreeable are you
as an acquaintance 1t is only to what
houses are you invited and what is your Wis
iting listf
w Acu SUSu PEI BULLS po>S Va
social destiny and proclaim themselves the
apostles Of good society,"" it is not strange
that we find now and then protest such as
this: GOOD society is phantom which lures
many man Of talent and virtue into nom
sensical sacrifice of self for the conversation
of pigmies and the sympathy of fats"
Nevertheless the truth remains that ''pig-
mics" and flats are not good society. They
they have nothing to say. They may possess
the polite accomplishment of keeping their
hands and feet to themselves" and refrain
from Kicking shins or punching ribs"
So long as they contine themselves to the
dumb show of leaving cards. eating dinners,
or prancing as dummies to display the skill
Of tailor or modi,te they ''do well enough"
yet when they essay conversation they prove
the truth of Josh Billings assertion, There
is no substitute for wisdom but silence"
They can show you "a perfect poem of
dress;' yet when they offer a thought it is
poor Indian blanket of mental barbarity
pitiful to behold.
The golden mean between the poor preteIl-
ses of mediocrity aping ''gentility," and
behemianisn Outraging all delicacy of feelr
ing is perhaps difficult, yet is the true ideal.
not manifested by an animal devotion to
creature comfort. It is not mere sybaritien,
nor yet fierce intellectually trampling in
the dust every sweet flower of courtesy, eve
gracious tribute to les biensances as being
''too pueriie."
''BE THOU THE TRUE MAN"
As the heart must always be higher and
hoher power than the head, so do we prize
our acquaintance not SO much for what they
know as what they have power to make and
feel
We enjoy wit, yet if it be accompanied by
carelessneSs or barbed with malice the wound
it inficts upon our sensibilities may destroy
the pleasure of its intellectual enjoyment
We are pleased with learning, yet if it be
linked with cynicism cold and self centered
impossbility, or an irritable desire for SUI
premacy, we eschew it as pedaHtry and shun
it as baleful egotisrn-
One of the fine uses of conventionahty is
its inexorable demand that people shall re-
press whatever Is disagreeable. This tends to
check the coarse selishness that must have
its own way and indulge its own feeling with
out any regard for who may be hurt or
hindered thereby. 1t induces care also that
one offend not the eye by unpleasing effects
nor the ear by discordant sounds or improper
language, nor the mental taste by crude
thoughts or ignoble sentiments
A due regard for accepted standards can
not be other than educational in its influence
and sanctifying in its last results, for what
ever induces self knowledge and self improve
ment tends to civilize and Christianize the
world
Whatever makes the distinction between
having merely an abundance Of things and
the power to collect thoughts relevant to the
higher life cannot fail 10 hasten the advent Of
social conditions that shall make existence
more noble and hence less difficult
Emerson tells US that certain attributes
render the world PLASTIC and fluid as il was
inthe beginning" and that it IS flint only to
sin and ignorance.
To possess these attributes would Be indeed
to hold the key that would unlock to rs toe
treasures Of both earth and heaven We
should know how TO find and keep and enjoy
good society" that is indeed the high com
partnership Of an association sveeter than
solitude We should cease TO chase shadows
ST feed upon the husks Of mere ceremonies
We should forsaks the mockery CT trying
TO serve both God and ulammon; yet we
should comprehend how the good is never Dir
vorced from itself, giving over tie heart and
core Of its sweetness TO evil and keeping only
what s disagreeable for duty"
Inc question Of What is good society AID
what are its manifestation Is oas that ws
may with great profit 70 ourselves and our
oeightors taoughtfully consider, taking fOr
our text " Eittier's noble Inns:
search thize oxn hear-wha. paEne<h thee