Year: 1861

/ -, O'"HlS uCtulIy aWed by hndlng
himself IN the presence of well dressed
child OF "llinence, is very ptiful ; and there
are thousands Of these poor BOYS who hov.
ing won wealth and distinction. never in
their consciousness lose their early estate
sufficiently to feel at home with those amonc
whom the advance of fortune has brouphp
] them.


A thoroughly sclfrcspectful person will
command respect anywhere A man who
carries Into the world an unsusnectinq nm.
assuming face, who is polite to everybody,
minds MS cwn business, and does not show
! by DIS demeanor that he bears about with
him sense Of degradation and inferiority.
and who gives evidence that he considers
| bimselt man, aud expects the treatment
due to man, will secure politcness and re-
Spect from every true gentleman and gen.
tlewomah IN the world The man who
SHES aud suspects and envies, and is full of
| petty jealousles, aud is always afraid that
be shall not get all that is due to him in
the way OF polite attention, and manifests
feeling of great uncertainty and anxiety
concerning his own social position. is sure
to be stunned, at last, and he will deserve
his fate. No real gentleman and no true
gentlewoman ever has feelings like these


III Is only thoSe who are neither, and who
do not deserve the position of either that
are troubled in this way | give il rs n
deliberate judgment that there is far less
OF contempt Tor he poor and obscure among
what are denomlnaed the higher classes of
society than there is of envy and hatred of
the rich and the renowned among the moor
aud humble and that the priucple bar to
Il more cordial and gentle intercourse be-


tween the two classes is the lack of selcre.
Spcct which prev0dcs the Intter aud the
mean, degrading humility which they mani.
fest 10 all iheir relations with those whom
they consider above their level.


American society is mixed-heterogen
ouS-morc SO, probable, than that of any
other country There is no such thing
as weIl.defued classification. There is
no nobility, no gentry, no Nristocracy, no
| peaSaEtry The owners Of palaces were
bred in low cabins men of learning are
the children of Doors and one eau never
tell by mans position aud relations in so.
| ciety into what style Of life he was born.
The 10y goes into the city from his father 5
! farm, carrying only a hardy frame, good
| heart and suit of home>pun, aud twenty
years frequently suffice to establish him as
man OF fortune, and marry him woman
| Of fashion There is no bar to progress in
! any direction for the ambitions man. except
! lack of brains and tact Society erccts no
| barriers OF caste which define the bounds Of
| Iii II,npIy rst',r,lino, Il; Il, =


always, III every place, IA body Of people who


assume to he "thc best society" The claim
to the tile is rarely well subStnntated & is
based on different ideas in different places
| We shall iiud in some places that society
cryStalizeS around the idea of wealth ia
others, around certain religious views, so
that, as it may happen, the "beSt society"
is constituted Of the Presbyterian, or Eps-
copalian, or Unitarian, or other sectarian
element. In other places, an old family
name is the central power, and, in others
still, a certain style Of family life attracts
sympathetic materials which assume the
position of ''the best society"


Whatever may be the central idea of the
self constituted elites, they are always the
object of the envy Of large number Of
minds. Silly people "lie awake nights" to
get into the best society Those who are
securely in, of course sleep soundly in their
safety and their sclfcomplacency and
those who are too low TO think of rising
to it, and those who do not care for it, go
through the six to ten hours Of their slum.
ber without landing" as the North river
boatmcn say. But a middle class, who
range along the ragged edges of society,
know no rest. The sail along in an uacer-
tain way, like the moon on the border of
cloud-Sometmes in, sometimes out-feel-
ing naked aud very much exposed among
the stars, and rather foggy and confused in
the cloud, as if after all, they did not be-
long there 1t is in this class thatwe meet
with Shying men aud shying women. 1t is
in this class that we find heart-burnings and
jeaIousieS and envyings and sensitive misun-
derStandings. 1t is a sort OF purgatory
through which the rising man and woman
pass TO reach the paradise of their hope,
and from which an unhappy soul is never
lifted. These people do not stop to inquire
whether they have any sympathy or any
thing in common with the society which
they seek-whether they would be lost or
whether they would be at home in it. They
do not even seem to suspect that much
which is called the best society is the last
society that a sensible good man should
seek.


Let US suppose that wealth is the cen
trail idea of the best society, and then let
the aspirant to this society ask himself
whether he has wealth. Has he fine
house an elegant turnout Does he dress
extensively, aud is he able to give costly
entertainments Is he prepared to unite,
on a place of perfect equality, with those
who give the law 10 this society Ii so, 1t
will not be necessary for him to seek it, for
the society will seek him,-that is it he be
an agreeable man. If be be very rich ln-
deed, why it is not necessary that he be
agreeable at all Bnt suppose literary cuI'
lure be the central force Of this society
has the aspirant any fitness for, or sympathy
with it? Can he meet those who form this
society as an equal. or minge in It as a
thoroughly sympalhelic element Would
be feel happy aud at home in literary at
mosphere These questions Indicate legltl'
mate direction of inquiry, touching every
class of this kind. Mullitudes Of those who
,r, l;..,,;.Gad with their DOSitiOn have