Hopkinsville Kentuckian., 1890-09-19
THE COMMON PEOPLE.


Old World Customs That Strike American
| MS Preposterous.
In Europe, rank is first OF all ques
tion OF birth. Mr. Gladstone must &c
into dinner after a boy II the hoy hap
pens to be duke. This rule OF preced-
ence strikes tho American as preposter-
Gus. Our countrymen have been so long
rid OF privileged class of titled aristo-
Gratis that they can not understand how
genius and eminent service may DO
rockoncd after n mere family distinc-
tion. We believe in blood in this coun-
try. but we expect 1t to tell in achieve
ment before 1t is accorded the first place
OF honor. 1t is true that Americans are
sometimes accused, not always unjustly,
OF tuft-hunting; but the titled foreigner
is sought after over here because Ire is a
rdrd dcis, a social curiosity, and not be-
cause Americans are born with that In
stinctive Difference to rank which is so
general on the other side of the At.
lantic. An hereditary legislature has
always been impossible here. Strictly
speaking, there AZ no common people
except commonplace people. The rigid
ity OF social forms, the drill of society,
establish a conformity to etiquette
which, however decorous, is not pictur-
esque or otherwise interesting. The
regulation uniform of society. the dress
coat and white cravat, may be defended
upon certain grounds which we need not
examine now; but there should be no
tolerance for tho affection OF tonc, n
mannerism, which is at war with every
thing expressive OF originality or even
OF Individuality Wo would net imply.
OF course, that people of good society
are necessarily commonplace ordull. Wit
and humor are always welcome among
sensible mon and women; but we have
remarked tendency to make fetish of
forms, to set up Draconian code on tho
authority OF Mrs Grundy, which is only
too suggestive of another famous lady's
''prunes and prisms" But commonplace
people arc not confined to any sphere OF
life. We find them wherever a stupid
mental conservatism condemns the
eccentricity OF a. new thought or
an independent opinion. II a
man does not enjoy tho Para
disc Lost" II he is not onthralled by the
genius Of Addison or OF Steele, VIC con-
fess that we like to hear him acknowl-
edge his treason frankly. There is more
In him than there is in the SOLEMN hum
bug who Processes to admire every thing
that he has been told ne ought to ad-
mire, and who has never In all his life
been guilty of one honest criticism
is tho one essential uncom-
mon thing in tho world, and--though this
may seem paradoxical-t there Is a great
deal Of 1t among those whom we are
wont to call tho common people Our
great novelists sock 1t in remote coun-
Try districts, in mountain fastnesses, in
ihe lowly retreats Of poverty and ignor-
lnco.--wherever nature has a chance and
,eople say what they think. 1t fasci-
latos us because 1t is human rather
han conventional. The society novel;
ist essays task of immense difficulty,
for every body prefers Sam Weller to
Fitz Augustus Templeton De We're, and
society is mover dramatic until, under
tho impulse OF passion, 1t tears oil its
mask and forgets its rules. When we
said Just now that there were no COM
mon people except commonplace people,
we meant merely that there is no COM
mon mold or brand OF human nature.
Twins are not so nearly alike that their
mothers do not know them apart, and
nothing can destroy tho Impress OF in
but academic restraint and
'ocial discipline II is variety OF talent
md taste that makes tho necessary d.
Vision OF labor the joyous activity Of
,rogress, and IL is the natural oppose
ion OF tcmperaments that endows hui
nan intercourse with its chief charm.
Nothing could be more stale, fiat and
than asymposium OF inter-
ocutors who all thought and felt alike
N every imaginable subject
Tho fash OF wit. the bright Intelligence,
The beam OF song. the blaze Of eloquonce.
re provoked by tho contrast and tho
onilict OF independent minds occupying
itferent points OF vicw.-N o. Picay-
me-