River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1890-07-31
RULES OF SOCIETY.
At Times They Approach Dangerousl,
Near to Hypocrisy.

Near to hypocrisy.
The rules of polite society lead
naturally to a course OF conduct APP
preaching dangerously near to hypocri-
sy. 1t is not good form to express ones
emotions of pleasure or pain; all peo-
pie, whether agreeable or otherwise,
must be received with pleasant man
ner, very often concealing the real feel
ings; things that might be disagreeable
must be left unsaid, and utterance
given only to fiattering or unconven-
tional remarks. These are some of the
rules that society establishes, and they
are responsible for a great deal of
hypocrisy. There is no great harm
done, perhaps, by the popular young
man who grasps the hand of each new
acquaintance as though he had met an
old friend, inquiries after his health,
and expresses the liveliest concern in
his welfare, forgetting all about him
in the same instant; yet his insincerity
is in great danger of being developed
into something worse. This is so well
understood, even by those who, to a
greater or less extent, follow the estab-
lished fashion, that they look with sus-
picion upon those who are too ELUSIVE.
The dramatist who is obliged to deal
mainly with stronglv-marked types of
character puts such people on the stage
to point a moral, and enlists the sympa-
thies of the audience for a contrasted
character, bluff, honest, outspoken and
disregardful of the rules of polite So
ciety. However ingenious plav-writers
may be in inventing plots and situa-
tions, they seldom add new characters
to the stage. Joseph Surface appears
in many plays and under many dis
guises, and SO does his brother Charles.
The world assumes that the smooth,
well-spoken man who most closely fol-
lows the rules of polite society is a
hypocrite, and that his frank,
hearty brother, though full of
faults, has good heart and
will come out right in the end.
But in spite of the dramatists this is
not always the case. Sometimes it is
the uncouth man with the coarsesiest
and the jovial manner who is the hypo-
critic playing a part. He has learned
enough to know what manner of man
is accounted honest and trusted, and he
things that men may remark his frank
ness, doing unkindness that men may
note his Independence of the common
rules of social intercourse. But all
hypocrites, being insincere, are liable
to overact their parts. To the keen OBJ
server they expose themselves by ex-
aggerating the peculiarities of true
men. The customs of society that
when carried to an extreme develop
hypocrisy are founded on principles of
lust a consideration for others. 1t is
right that men should to a certain
degree repress expressions of their
feelings and thoughts because these
may be unjust to others; it is right
that they should treat all men with
courtesy whom they meet on terms of
equality; it is right that they should
seek to be agreeable to strangers or
chance acquaintance in whose COM
pany they may be thrown. All these
things, which constitute polite be-
havior, are consonant with truth and
honesty. 1t is only when they are car
ried to extremes not required by
any rules of polite society that they
SAVIOR of hypocrisy. On the other
hand, the man who gives blunt ex-
pressions to his opinions, VINO rs lncon-
yderate of others feelings and takes
pride in speaking his mind may
be sincere and honest, but does not
show that regard for his fellows which
he ought to express. His conduct is
not to be commended, however much
one may respect his honesty of pur-
pose. His imitators are simply intoler-
able. They have not even the poor ex-
cuse of being sincere in their boorish-
ness, but are hypoerites without grace
of manner. Hamlet advises his mother
to assume virtue If you have it not "
He recommends hypocrisy, and there IS
more excuse for that hypocrisy which
initiates virtue than that which at
tempts to conceal itself under the vices
of bad breeding. But the rules of good
society that give rise to what is known
as courtesy are in themselves good. and
should be followed by those who have
enough intelligence to understand the
reasons for them. and enough honesty
to obey them in spirit as well as in out
ward form and ceremony. baltimore
Sun