The Progress., 1893-06-03
PETTY ARISTOCa.iCY.
aGV. THOMAS ClXCN, J7., o. 50 CALL
90 HIGH SOCIETY.

toms the Incarnation of Nulsar!;y. In Its
Standard of Life Immoral and Corrupt
ing-slouSh!ns NJ the Top.
New YCRK. MAY 2S.-Rcv. Thomas
Dixon. Jr.. delivered this morning the
sixth sermon in the series on The Gates
of Hell Ia Modern Babylon. The sub
Ject of tOday's sermon was so Called
High Society" The texts chosen werc
from Isaiah iii. 1875. X. ~
II IL We that have eaten UP the vineyard. Inc
spoil Of he poyr il IN y1Tr houses, What mean
ye that We crr'h my propi" and grind tho fac"
of the poor s.'ith the Lord. the Lord nf hosts
Moreover. t'.a Lord said. Because the GlCgh-
iers o; /ior are naughty, and walk with
stretched forth necks and ranton eyes, walk
ing and mn.irg they go and making "A
tnsling with their feet, therefore the Lord
will siuite with Il scab the crown of the head
of the daughters Of Zion. and the Lord
will lay bare their secret parts. In that day
the Lord will take away the bravery Of their
anklets. and 'he cauls. and the crcsCcnts: the
pendants, RnL the bracelets, and the mutlers'
the hcadtrs:. and the ankle chains. and thg
sashes. ana the perfume LuXcs. and the anu
let's; the rings .Hd the nose Jewels, the testiva,
robes. ami tie uiantles. and the shawls. ana
the satches. the hand mirrors. and the fine
shall come to pass that instead of sweet spices
there shall hr rottcnness: and instead of "A CIR,
die a rope. and instead Of well set hair baid-
ness: aad instead OF Il stomaCher girding Ci
sackcloth. branding instead of beauty. Thy
men shall fall hy the sword. and Thy mighty in
the
\ consumption Is determined, oycrlowing
with righteousness.
There Is a certain coterle or clique OF
in, CIT IN
to themselves the title society" This
so called society is IN one sense insignifi.
cant, IN another sense it is practically
omnipotent. The little clique so far
from constituting society is simply a
mob Their arrogance is something sub
lime. The nmpudence with which they
assert their right to the title which Ges-
ignates the solidarity of the race is some
thing amazing They assume that they
are the arlstocracy of the world As Il
matter of fact. they are an aggregation
of all sorts and conditions of light head
ed. insignificant people. They could all
be dropped from the world tomorrow.
and the worlds business would not suf
fer. They are so insignificant in the
sum total of the race that they can be
left out of account in considering its
problems but for the fact that THEN
ideals have reflex action upon the
masses of the people.
The pretensions of this set are accepted
10y thousands of people as facts. and their
ideals are bowed down to as though
they were the deliverances of the oracles
of the Most High God. This insignifi-
cant. light headed set of people are only
worthy of study and discussion because
of this tremendous influence upon the
ranks below them. Ii has been force
fully said that society is divided into but
two classes-namely, the masses and the
asses. The more we study this state
ment the more absolute we see its truth.
The 40 called high society of our great
cities is IN its pretensions q humbug. in
ais customs The incarnation Of ruigdrity,
an its adnddTd Of life essentially i'm
moral and corrupting
We observe this:
First-In the atmosphere surrounding
this clique. 1t is of the earth earthly.
1t smells of the lowest ideals possible 10
rational men and women. Money is the
foundation on which its temple of wor-
ship rests. Mammon is the god they
worship whom they serve. and little
insignificant fop. with superannuated
European title. is the angel of which they
dream Marriage is made question of
alliance for the multiplication of fortune
or of chicanery for the gaining of for
tune. 1t becomes strictly matter of
bargain and sale. Ii becomes strictly
commercial transaction. and mothers an
gle for desirable men as the faithful
fisherman bats his hook and waits for
the victim.
Not more than year ago. it is said,
an enormously rich whisky manufacturer
died and left one daughter, heiress to a
couple of millions and as ward to his
partner Tie girl was only l6 and at
school, but hardly two months after the
fathers death her guardian received not
less than dozen letters from men of ii
tie in Europe. coolly requesting the girls
age. the exact wording of her fathers
,rill and his consent to an immediate
marriage Two of them desired to know
if she possessed beauty. amiability and
what was her religion. The guardian
threw the lovers letters into the waste
basket and punctuated his remarks with
language that is scarcely admissible in
the Sunday school or the pulpit.
The question of brains, of capacity, of
talent. of power. in manhood and wom-
anhood do not enter into the ideals that
govern this coterie of men and women.
Life is for self. Self is the center around
which the universe revolves. The tri-
umphs Of this world for them are the
mighty questions that center about tie
color of cravat. the tint of dress. the
twist of bang. the style of spring gar
ments. summer garments, winter gar
ments The man or the woman who has
money-it does not matter where it was
made or how it was made-if he is per
sistent ard is willing to pay the price,
can buy his way into this circle There