Greenbrier independent. [volume] (Lewisburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1980, 1897-03-25
MINOR SOCIAL LACK.
Some Way Needed Tor DissolSing Uselea
Iutrntlt 4 ions.

Iutr"dt.rtions.
1t is to woman that our civiliza-
ton owes its social prescriptions
and penalties, because it belongs to
womans sphcr" to create and main
tain our all important system Of So
cial distinctions. \ world peoplcd
exclusively 10y mon would bo rough
ly but adequately divided for social
purposes into good fellows" and
"OthCr fellows"
This Is not to say that there do
not exist among men alone we'll
recognized degrees of social toler-
ance. Sir Walter Scott = capacity
| to find pleasure even i'll bore, or
Longfellow's Inability To shake one
off, shades Oft through II series of
| slight gradationS into an opposite
( extreme, the bru~qucnrSs of Il Car
lyle or Il TcnnySon. But the bore
some subject of borcs aside, there is
often positive irritation in being
constantly Obliged to recognize, if
only by u passing nod or half spoken
word, some entirely indifferent per
son, Il chance acquaintance, though
he be impcccablc and irreproach-
able. The fact of his presumably
admirable qualities does not seem of
itself to establish any valid claim on
the continuance of the conventional
Civility that becomes more and
moro meaningless the longer it is
continued as II nero conventional
Civility. Probably, too, the repeti-
ton of the act of recognition, which
i'll such cases il sure to he frequent,
encounters being apparently fated
and Us likely to occur in Constanti-
nople or Tokyo nsanywhero i'll Chris
tendon, is equally distasteful to the
party of the second part, the in
different acquaintance. This re-
Election, though untlattering, accen-
tuutcs the difficulty by the mutual,
ity of experience. Yet how escape
ity of "Cutting.' Besides, the ap,
plication of such radical treatment
to 50 slight Il social irritation is to
dignity it absurdly; something
never included i'll the purely fem
mime point of view, and further
illustration of woman's lack of hu.
NOR, man being the judge.
\ diplomat of wide social expert.
cnce once put it III this way: ~
wish a. and could be disintroduced
know he hates to bow to me ms
much as | hate to bow to him, and
yet there is no reason why either OF
us should cut the other. Our nc,
quaintanco is too slight for that; il
would he simply brutal"
Here is the suggestion Of IL minor
lack in modern social life which
many feel, but few distinctly rccog
nizp-thc lack of some form of dis
introduction. The whole trend OF
modern civilization is toward super
fluffy of acquaintance. Civilization
itself may he with some accuracy
defined as the process of introducing
moro and more people to more and
more other people. The possibili,
tics of Introduction under modern
conditions are infinite The letter
of introduction is almost as indis
prnsahlr and carries almost as fal
as the letter of credit. AS all the
world now travels, this involves
Implications and reduplications OF
the process! first in one hemisphere
ana then III the other. Its POSSIBLE
tiles NJ" illustrated by that popular
puStimc which consists in retliscov
Cring "hOw small the world is by
tracing ont the end less condolences
Of mutual acQuaintance--a pastime
whose infinite variety time cannot
stale nor custom wither. Know
thysclf, but do not introduce q
stranger, Il cynical version of the
ancient Socrntic injunction, may he
accepted literally as n minor social
commandment. 10 he observed until
the genius of the coming social in.
ventor has evolved II proper form OF
disintrOdUction. When at last this
Is evolved, it will asSurcdly be con.
Ccivrd i'll II spirit of malice toward
none and charity for all.-Scrib.
ner's.