Connecticut western news., 1893-06-01
PETTY ARISTOCRACY.
REV. THOMAS DIXON, JR., ON SO CALL
 ED HIGH SOCIETY.
In Its Pretensions Humbug, In Its Gus toms the Incarnation of vulgarity, In Its Standard of Life Immoral and Corrupt ing-Slon ghfng at the Top.

toms the Incarnation of vulgarity. In Its
 Standard of Life Immoral and Corrupt
 ing-sloughing at the Top.
 NEW YORK, May 28.-Rev. Thomas Dixon, Jr., delivered this morning the sixth sermon in the series on ''The Gates of Hell In Modern Babylon" The sub ject of today's sermon was ''So Called High Society" The texts chosen were from Isaiah iii, 14-25; X, 22:
 It Is ye that have eaten up the vineyard. The spoil of the poor is in your houses What mean ye that ye crush my people and grind the face of the poor2 saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts.
 Moreover, the Lord said: Because the daugh- ters of Zion are naughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walk Ing and mincing as they go and making a tinkhng with their feet, therefore the Lord will smite with 8 scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will lay bare their secret parts. In that day tho Lord will take away the bravery of their Anklets. and the oauls. and the crescents: the pendants, and the bracelets, and the muff1ers; the headtires and the ankle chains, and the sashss, and the perfume boxes, and the amu- lets; the rings and the nose jewels, the festival robes, and the mantles, and the shawls, and the satchels, the hand mirrors, and the fine linen, and tho turbans, and the veils. And it shall come to pass that instead of sweet spices
  de . rope; and instead of well set hair bald mess; and instead of @ stomacher girding of sackcloth; branding instead of beauty. Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war.
 A consumption is determined, overfowing with righteousness
 There is 8 certain cOterie or clique of people in every great city who arrogate to themselves the title society" This % called society is in one sense insignif- 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 impudence with which they assert their right to the title which des- ignates the solidarity of the race is some thing amazing. They assume that they are the aristocracy of the world. As a 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 it's problems but for the fact that their ideals have reflex action upon the -- masses of the people.
 The pretensions of this set are accepted by 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 insignif- cant, light headed set of people are only worthy of study and discussion because of this tremendous influence upon the ranks below them. It 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 30 called high society of our great cities is i,s its pretensions q hunabasg, aaa its customs the incarnation of vulgarity, in its standard of life essentially ins- norul and corr-upting.
 We observe this:
 First-In the atmosphere surrounding this clique. It is of the earth earthly. It smells of the lowest ideals possible to rational men and women. Money is the foundation on which it's temple of wor- ship rests. Mammon is the god they worship, whom they serve, and a little insignificant flop, with 8 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. It becomes strictly matter of bargain and sale. It becomes strictly commercial transaction, and mothers an- gle for desirable men as the faithful fisherman baits 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. The girl was only 18 and at school, but hardly two months after the fathers death her guardian received not less than dozen letters from men of ti- tie in Europe, coolly requesting the girls age, the exact wording of her fathers will and his consent to an immediate marriage. Two of them desired to know if she possessed beauty, suitability 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 the color of 8 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 and is willing to pay the price, can buy his way into this circle. There Is no ethical law known to their stand ards by which any individual can be ex- cluded if he wear as good clothes and
 knows how to articulate ordinary Eng hsh. We see this fact.
 Second-In the manners of this circle of people. The customs of their dress, of their amusements, of their daily life, pings and fnery which go with 1t save them from infamy. A distinguished woman says most forcibly, speaking of this modern circle of society: "There is an indescribable expression of the eye every hn0 observer knows 1t-wmch dis tinguishes modest girl from matron. Look for it in the eyes of the girls of to- day-it is missing so often. It is re- placed by another so worldly wise, SC unpleasantly experienced, that we shrink with sense of having lost the most pre- cious thing in girlhood." There is bold ness, if you please bald vulgarity, about IL -- --Ax xt xt-4- IL Il they suppose passes for culture, for boise and self possession, which as fact smells of the Bowery and of the ditch. The business of this class of people is after all, the exploitation of person, the imposition of that personality upon the credulity of the world. And if the per son be girl her marriage is the event looked forward to, and the methods used to bring 1t about are those that are ir vogue in all swindling transactions.
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