Year: 1877

MORALS OFTHE BRITISH ARISTOCRACY


The traditional excellences of the
English arlstocracy may, one would
suppose, be safely defined as truth,
chivalry, and courage. Without the
first of these attributes the practice
and possession of one other virtue is
impossible; without some infusion of
the two latter no English gentleman's
character is popularl y considered com
plete. Courage at least is a quality
which in its grosser forms exists to
marked extent among those classes of
whom the modern aristocracy is COM
posed. Although the brute impulse,
which physical pluck in its ruder forms
is, may be sometimes carried to base
and cowardly extremes though the
bear fights and practical jokes, and
other freaks consecrated by patrician
usage, are not lofty manifestations of
English manhood; Notwithstanding
that the courageous exploit occasion
ally resolves into something closely ap-
preaching to gratuitous and even bru-
tai violence-physical address, resolu-
ton, and endurance are not wanting
among the rising aristocrats of the
day. There may be tendency to make
feld-sports and pastimes more easy aud
luxurious, and hunting and shooting
both admit of truly sybaritic treat
ment. But there exists a sentiment of
generous contempt for those who are
not equal to sterner operations than
those of the shires and the battue-a
sentiment reinforced, and probably to
a great extent originated, by the theory
and practice of the first gentleman in
England. Gifted with a constitution
preternaturally strong and tough, the
Prince of Wales only exchanges sthe
fatigues of London season-such as
that which has commenced for him
during the present year with the first
days of spring-for exercises taxing
muscle and nerve in the severest man
ner. The example is of course fol-
lowed far and wide. 1t is absurd to
hint at the degeneracy Of the race, or
to speake of our young aristocracy as
an effeminate caste, when with the
early autumn they take to the heather
and stubble as young ducks to water,
and with cutting winds full in their
face, under driving rain and sleet, stalk
the deer on the bleak Sutherlandshire
hills. Courage in its coarser forms,
as meaning hardihood and patience in
bodily toll, is virtue whose esteem
and popularity in England exhibit no
decline Its paramount necessity is in
culcated upon the English at every
stage of his career-at school, at col
lege, in war and play, In the pastimes
of youth, in the recreations of ma
turity.


Chivalry and truth, on the other
hand, can scarcely be said to be equal
" fortunate in the enjoyment of their
ancient reputation. The moral ideal
of the 'aristocracy' in it's present hy-
brid state includes much that is cour-
ageous, but little of necessity that is
either chivalrous or true. The often
sive or active element in the sum of
the old knightly qualities receives
prominence and preference and
over the other not less essential
features of the knightly character
The new aristocracy may be prompt
to the rash , it is less comNon to find
it 'Ievoltiug from the mean We
speak now of men alone, though the
same explanation might be par
TALLY applicable to the case of women
as we'll. The causes which have oper-
ated to depress the standard of modern
chivalry may be readily defined. To
the moral philosopher of the future, if
they happen to be of a practical turn,
nothing will seem more noteworthy
than the manner in which two currents


: g ;uAuanoa zach nf tham Otnra or less
corrupting, have eonverged in the So
ciety of the last half of the nineteenth
century. The source of these twin
streams is respectively the Racing-sta
BILE and the Stock Exchange. The two
have united their waters, and have
fairly penetrated the ethical concep-
tions and ideals of the polite world.
The Turf and the City may be said to


divide between them the business


hours of our aristocracy. The code Of


morality and honor accepted In either


of these quarters has produced per-


manent impression upon the minds OF
| its yotaries. Life is faster than of
old: competition more keen; the strug-


gle for existence more severe; the ne


cessity for investing that existence with


a maximum of show and noise and
glitter more imperious. To match, to
| out-do, to out t-maneuvre, to defeat


this is the ambition naturally engen-


dered In such a state of things. To


anticipate a rival in the receipt of in


formation, whether relating to turf


favorites or European stocks-this IS


the acme and essential of achievement,
] if success is to be insured. No man,