,,the ,,blight ,,of ,,respectability4 ,,university ,,press4 ,,the ,,blight ,,of ,,respectability ,,an ,,anatomy ,,of ,,the ,,disease ,,and ,a ,,theory ,,of ,,curative ,,treatment ,,by ,,geoffrey ,,mortimer4 ,,london ,,the ,,university ,,press1 ,,limited1 #af1 ,,john ,,street1 ,,bedford ,,row1 ,w4,c4 #ahig4 ,,contents4 #a4 ,,what ,,is ,,respectability8 #b4 ,,the ,,pathology ,,of ,,the ,,disease4 #c4 ,,ladies ,,and ,,gentlemen4 #d4 ,,specific ,,symptoms ,,of ,,the ,,malady ,,in ,,women4 #e4 ,,respectability ,,and ,,morals4 #f4 ,,cultured ,,gentility4 #g4 ,,plutocracy4 #h4 ,,villadom4 #i4 ,,the ,,tyranny ,,of ,,respectability4 #aj4 ,,respectable ,,civilisation ,,and ,,after4 #aa4 ,,conclusion4 ,it was never merry world in ,england since gentlemen came up4 ,,ii4 ,,henry ,,vi4 iv4 ,,ii4 ,opinion's but a fool that makes us scan1 ,the outward habit by the inward man4 ,,pericles ,,ii4 ,,ii4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,,what ,,is ,,respectability8 ,you live a respectable man1 but ,i ask ,if it's worth the trouble4 ,,george ,,meredith4 ,the ,beggar's ,soliloquy4 ,respectable is a word that has been wrested from its true meaning of worthy of respect1 and applied to the most sordid characteristics and conditions of human life4 ,respectability1 like vulgarity and prudery1 is an ,anglo-,saxon attribute appertinent chiefly to the huge middle-class part of society4 ,it is not the fetish of the upper ten thousand1 nor do the majority of the working class bow down before it4 ,respectability stands for gentility1 and the genteel folk are not often of the orders aristocratic and proletarian1 but of the bourgeoisie4 ,to call a decent1 intelligent man respectable is to dub him genteel1 and to label him so implies that he has reached about the lowest level of mental degradation4 ,would it not be an act of sheer defamation of character to describe ,ben ,jonson1 ,shakspere1 ,dryden1 ,fielding1 and ,burns as respectable men8 ,no great man has ever been1 or ever can be1 of the respectabilities1 for the simple reason that the great are not ordinary1 and the ordinary alone are respectable4 ,have you ever read or heard of a truly noble man or woman who was also respectable8 ,nobility of character and a reputation for respectability1 the two things are utterly incompatible6 ,supposing it possible for an original mind to pursue the preposterous chimera of respectability1 where would such a mind find itself ultimately8 ,prone and lazy on the unclean straw of intellectual habits1 an impotent among impotents1 or a sheep among sheep4 ,the respectable man is a slave to convention1 and therefore a stick-i'-the-mire4 ,he is fearful of being deemed a crank1 so fearful that he succeeds in becoming a nonentity4 ,now some men are born respectable2 they could never be anything else4 ,but that is no reason why they should exert the tyranny of their personal preferences over the minorities of their fellow-men4 ,defiance of ,respectability is the beginning and the end of social progress2 you cannot be at once highly respectable and progressive4 ,respectability is one of those dull and sordid sins that are entirely without charm4 ,all good1 regular conduct was once bad and irregular4 ,but originality and irregularity are abhorred of the respectable mass4 ,he who lets the world1 or his portion of it1 choose his plan of life for him1 says ,j4 ,s4 ,mill1 has no need of any other faculty than the ape-like one of imitation4 ,it is by the exercise of this simious instinct that genteel people order their lives down to the minutest detail4 ,they scout eccentricity and individuality of speculation and judgment2 they live in streets of houses all built alike2 they imitate each others' mode of dress1 think each others' thoughts1 and say ,it is better to be dead than out of the fashion6 ,originality6 is there anything greater under the sun8 ,yes1 say the ,respectables1 it is better to be a sheep amongst sheep than to gain a name for eccentricity4 ,this is why our national1 moral1 intellectual1 and artistic advance is so slow3 men and women infected by the craze for respectability act as dead weights on the arms of pioneers4 ,grundy1 ,bowdler1 and ,podsnap are the three gods of the shoddy respectabilities4 ,respectability6 who has it not cursed and perverted at some time in his life8 ,there is perhaps no better instance of the moral blight that respectability has upon the middle-class mind than the treatment of ,mr4 ,bradlaugh1 not only at the hands of rabid sectarians1 but by timorous and respectable rationalists and utter indifferentists4 ,it may be taken as an axiom that if you want to blast a man's reputation as a tolerable specimen of the human race1 you have merely to class him as respectable4 ,the very word is damnatory and detestable4 ,at best it always leaves a bad flavour of middle-class hashes in the mouth1 and wafts to the nostrils the reek of stuffy parlours with horsehair couches1 dried grass1 and wax flowers4 ,a most respectable man4 ,we all know him--a sort of factory-made cheap line in humanity1 with a few prim1 precise1 little superstitions1 no reasoned morals1 and no intellectual or sthetic needs4 ,he is a big man of a petty sect1 and on ,sunday he troops a stout1 silk-dressed wife and seven or eight children to hear ,boanerges hold forth at the tin ,bethel at the end of the street4 ,this is one type1 perhaps the commonest4 ,another sort is not particularly pietistic1 but eminently respectable4 ,he lives at ,brixton or ,clapham in a continuous struggle to keep up a decent appearance among the neighbours4 ,his wife takes in paying guests1 and his daughters spend most of their time in blocking the pavement in front of drapers' shops4 ,mamma and the girls are gangrened with respectability and snobbishness1 but were it not for the inherited virus they might have been decent and wholesome women4 ,their minds are blank to all the wider interests of life2 they are simply mechanical dolls4 ,says a woman concerning these types3 ,i have known miners1 railway men1 iron and cotton and wool workers1 many who have denied themselves physical necessities to buy and read a book1 attend lectures1 or a concert4 ,i never knew a middle-class woman guilty of such a glaring want of common-sense4 ,to live respectably1 as the world deems respectability1 is to live a lie4 ,no man or woman with a part to play in life can play it well if they are constantly exercised as to what people will think--people1 in this instance1 standing for ,respectability4 ,can any wholesome influence come out of the frowsy atmosphere of a villa inhabited by ,veneerings8 ,as well expect to find lilies within the fences of the alkali works4 ,the fact is that what ,respectability thinks is never of the slightest importance to a man of real moral stamina and vigour of intellect4 ,he has learnt with ,schopenhauer that reputation is of little avail in the making of happiness4 ,what we are in and for ourselves1 says that philosopher1 is of sole moment2 and if we have had an opportunity of seeing how the greatest of men will meet with nothing but slight from half-a-dozen blockheads1 we shall understand that to lay great value upon what other people say is to pay them too much honour4 ,a woman who was horribly crushed in the ,crewe railway accident begged the surgeon with her dying breath to set her bonnet straight4 ,it was not death that she feared1 but the opinion of that grimmer monster ,respectability2 a striking instance this of the firm hold that the instinct has upon feeble minds4 ,yes1 to be appraised as a thoroughly respectable man among ,philistines1 you must either possess scanty ideas1 or you must perpetually dissemble your opinions4 ,dr4 ,stockman1 in ,ibsen's ,an ,enemy of ,society1 is ostracised by respectable society because he refuses to be an unmitigated liar4 ,a finer satire on ,respectability has never been written4 ,stockman discovers that the water supply of the town is polluted1 and he tells the truth about it4 ,the respectable authorities1 the tag-rag of the bourgeoisie1 and the toady editor of the local journal--who is at heart a ,freethinker--hoot him down in compliance with the respectable methods of toleration usually accorded to reformers4 ,at a public meeting the ,doctor says3 ,i am going to make a great revelation to you1 fellow-citizens6 ,i am going to disclose that to you which is of infinitely more moment than the unimportant fact that our waterworks are poisonous1 and that our hygienic baths are built upon a soil teeming with pestilence4444 ,i have said ,i should speak of the great discovery ,i have made within the last few days--the discovery that all our spiritual sources of life are poisoned1 and that our whole bourgeois society rests upon a soil teeming with the pestilence of lies4 ,for ,i am going to revolt against the lie that truth resides in the majority4 ,upon reading a ,philistine opinion of himself1 ,diderot laughed1 and said3 ,i must be an eccentric sort of fellow3 but is it such a great fault to have preserved amid all the friction of society some vestiges of the angularity of nature8 ,no thralls to ,respectability can ever be natural men and women4 ,the respectability of the middle-class is largely a growth of the ,calvinistic theory of submission and poorness of spirit2 the effort of the ,respectables is towards docile conformity to the custom of their narrow community1 until1 as ,mill says1 by dint of not following their own nature1 they have no nature to follow3 their human capacities are withered and starved3 they become incapable of any strong wishes or native pleasures1 and are generally without either opinions or feelings of home growth or properly their own4 ,no fanatical fakir ever endured the torments that some ,english folk inflict upon themselves before the ,mumbo ,jumbo of respectability4 ,dwarfed social endeavour1 suppressed healthy desires1 degraded faculties--these are the sacrifices in the name of conventionality4 ,daily1 men and women do a score of things that they know to be hurtful and insane1 because they fear to be accounted peculiar1 and not quite respectable2 and so it comes about that the keeping up of appearances1 as it is called1 the incessant striving to be popular at all costs1 engenders endless hypocrisies and falsehoods1 and makes knaves and cowards4 ,not content with warping our national character by slavish veneration of this abstraction1 we have corrupted decent barbarians by inoculating them with our miserable disease of ,respectability4 ,we have clothed the innocent nude1 and taught them shame1 and in making them respectable we have annihilated their pristine morality1 and substituted ,western cant and indecency4 ,fortunately1 however1 the savage is too wholesome an animal to become respectable without protest1 and in most instances1 we have failed to convince him of the benefits of insanitary clothing as badges of respectability and tokens of civilisation4 ,quoting from ,dalton1 ,reclus1 in his ,primitive ,folk1 says of the ,kolarian women3-- ,these savage women win hearts by their frank and open manners and nave gaiety4 ,mixing freely from earliest childhood with the other sex1 they have none of the prudery of ,hindoos and ,mussulmans1 who have been brought up in strict seclusion2 a prudery which at moments gives place to unclean talk1 and is full of suggested obscenities4 ,on the other hand1 the modest grace of young ,hos or ,moonah maidens and the little girls of the ,larkas is a subject of praise4 ,patience6 ,civilisation will soon cure them of this barbarism1 will correct their ignorance4 ,it is a wretched reflection that these delightful women will one day be as respectable as the female natives of ,stoke ,newington4 ,a lady novelist writes that every ,english woman is a savage at heart4 ,does she not pay her sisters too high a compliment8 ,the enforced clothing of the ,curumbas women of ,malabar1 at the instigation of the respectable ,english ladies at ,calcutta1 is one of the pitiful examples of the indecency of thought born of our ideas of respectability4 ,these damsels of the ,curumbas tribe wore aprons of leaves suspended from a bead waistband4 ,such garb was not only suited to the climate1 but it was charming as well as healthy4 ,the ,calcutta ,british ,matrons thought such wear abominable4 ,how could these women be respectable in such scanty drapery8 ,accordingly1 by direction of ,bumble1 four corporals and two sergeants of infantry were told off with a company to drag the leaf aprons from the front and behind1 and to put the women into petticoats4 ,the greenery was then burned in a bonfire4 ,what a glorious triumph of ,respectability6 ,how thoroughly ,british matronly and indelicate in conception was this compulsory clothing of innocent modest women by ,tommy ,atkins and his pals4 ,is there the least need to dwell upon the contrast of decency that these ,curumbas women present to the respectable ,english ladies of ,calcutta8 ,our insular arrogance is the twin sister of respectability4 ,when we are not taking pride in the personal possession of a pot-hat and a frock coat1 we go about bragging of national respectability and superiority4 ,every miserable fool who has nothing at all of which he can be proud1 says ,schopenhauer1 adopts as a last resource pride in the nation to which he belongs2 he is ready and glad to defend all its faults and follies tooth and nail1 thus reimbursing himself for his inferiority4 ,for example1 if you speak of the stupid and degrading bigotry of the ,english nation with the contempt it deserves1 you will hardly find one ,englishman in fifty to agree with you2 but if there should be one1 he will generally happen to be an intelligent man6 ,nothing can destroy ,respectability but a gradual extirpation of the bourgeoisie4 ,i say gradual advisedly1 and in a double sense2 first1 because we have many respectable relatives and friends whom we would be grieved to asphyxiate2 and1 second1 because gradual processes in social evolution have more permanent resultants than cataclysms4 ,diderot1 with wonderful prescience1 asserted that a scientific anarchism is the extreme goal of social progress4 ,this was in #aggf4 ,in #ahig a thousand sociologists recognise this fact1 this diablement idal1 as ,diderot termed it4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,the ,,pathology ,,of ,,the ,,disease4 ,the evil is not merely a stagnation of blood1 but a stagnation of spirit4 ,many1 no doubt1 are well disposed1 but sluggish by constitution and by habit1 or they cannot conceive of a man who is actuated by higher motives than they are4 ,,thoreau4 ,i had written my first chapter when ,i met a friend possessed of the qualities of moral and intellectual seriousness1 which1 when conjoined with a sense of humour1 are proper elements for the making of a fine man4 ,this estimable ,mentor had read my midnight lucubration with a sad heart4 ,he told me1 with appropriate gravity1 that his standpoint was the ethical-cum-philosophic4 ,judged from that imposing standard1 my screed depressed him by reason of its cynicism4 ,i wish1 said he1 that you had dealt less ruthlessly with the ,philistine4 ,is he not a man and a brother8 ,whereupon he proceeded to administer reproof with ,demosthenic eloquence1 concluding with the altruistic admission1 ,though ,i have endured much from the ,philistine1 ,i still love him4 ,well1 the ,respectables are a large body1 very much in the majority so far as my researches have informed me2 and1 if the right and the truth are on their side1 they will not be worsted in a fair encounter4 ,i am still impertinently chuckling at that charge of cynicism and ruthlessness4 ,i love not ,diogenes nor ,torquemada4 ,by all means let us be just and fear not in this anatomy of the ,respectable ,person4 ,have ,i not said that were it not for the inherited virus1 the veneering girls might have been decent and wholesome women8 ,did ,i not indicate a method of prophylaxis1 a scientific1 humane1 and gradual extinction of the taint8 ,vulgarity1 snobbery1 prudery and obscenity are common specific contagious affections1 manifesting a dangerous tendency to increase4 ,i regard these diseases1 with their concomitants and sequel as momentous social evils1 and it is entirely on humanitarian principles that ,i emphatically refuse to sprinkle rose-water over the victims of the contagion1 and to leave the disorders to take their lingering and miserable course4 ,these ailments are1 without question1 hereditary1 and the microbes have a strong and deadly hold upon the host4 ,i pity the vulgarian1 the snob1 and the prude2 ,i commiserate them with the same sympathy that ,i extend to the leper1 the blind1 and the insane4 ,every physician must perforce at times be cruel to be kind2 and ,i do not intend to exercise injudicious gentleness in treating these forms of mental disease4 ,it is well known that firmness1 amounting occasionally to severity1 is most essential in dealing with certain neuroses4 ,therefore1 from that ethical basis upon which my honourable ,mentor takes his stand1 ,i shall discuss these social disorders in plain vigorous terms1 recognising that the ,respectable is not to be cured and his offspring preserved from the inherited sting by sentimental demonstrations of fraternal affection and pats on the back4 ,such methods as that have utterly failed4 ,no1 we must endeavour to convince the sufferer from chronic respectability that he is an anti-social being1 a moral and mental paralytic1 a prey to the hallucinations and dreads of his class1 showing by this very habit of imitation that serious lesions have arisen within his brain4 ,as in many diseases1 the congenital cases of ,respectability are the most stubborn1 and the prognosis cannot often be technically described as good4 ,it is a serious and important fact to be carefully noted by the ,respectable1 that many incurable imbeciles are the descendants of steady1 stolid1 and apparently well-conducted ancestors of the trading order1 the folk who live in a petty round of narrow interests1 without the inclination to form their minds1 and without any cultivation of the sthetic and poetic sides of their natures4 ,if you add to this a dour religiosity of the ultra-puritanic type1 you have an excellent nidus of insanity4 ,in every asylum you may find the heirs of such unfortunate prenatal influences4 ,they are the victims of certain forms of ,respectability1 the result of the ape-like faculty of imitation in their forbears4 ,what were the peculiarities of these ancestors whose idiosyncracies have degenerated into actual brain disease8 ,they tried to be conventional4 ,it was of no matter to them what ,bacon or ,diderot or ,herbert ,spencer said about the conduct of life4 ,their ethical guides were the lesser lights of the sectaries1 the pastors and deacons of ,zoar and ,bethesda1 teachers often1 akin in intelligence to ,mr4 ,ruskin's little squeaking idiot1 telling an audience of seventeen old women and three louts that they were the only children of ,god in ,turin4 ,all their culture came from such inspired sources4 ,they were afraid of ,god1 but1 as a minor poet says1 more afraid of ,mrs ,grundy4 ,mrs4 ,brown1 ,mrs4 ,smith1 and ,mrs4 ,robinson were their models2 the ,brownian view of life was good enough for them4 ,was not ,mr4 ,brown very respectable8 ,did not ,mrs4 ,smith set the example in ton1 in ,little ,muddleton ,road8 ,was not ,mrs4 ,robinson distantly related to a branch of the aristocracy8 ,they lived like human sheep4 ,if one of the flock jumped automatically1 the others began to jump2 and one moral or social baa set all the rest bleating in the same respectable mechanical strain4 ,rarely a boy or a girl in the community began to develop healthy independence of judgment1 or a taste for one of the arts or sciences4 ,if the youthful rebel had tough grit in him he pursued his own course against tremendous obstacles1 and amid taunts of eccentricity and disrespectability1 until he freed himself from the miserable petty tyranny of the ,brownian and ,smithian codes4 ,but if the boy or the girl of originality was timid and submissive1 ,respectability triumphed1 and society lost a useful member4 ,it is impossible to estimate the immense amount of moral1 intellectual1 and artistic capacity that has been impaired1 perverted1 and stamped out of existence in the bud by the slavish worshippers at the altar of the ,goddess ,grundy4 ,i do not deny that a strong mind may emerge comparatively unscathed from the blighting environment of ,little ,muddleton ,road2 but a man or woman with inherited ,respectability in his or her fibres1 starts life's race handicapped1 and it may need years before the poison can be eradicated from the moral system4 ,in most cases the true congenital ,respectable is a hopeless subject for experimentation4 ,the task of reforming him needs far more patience and tact than most reformers possess2 and even if the patient shows improvement1 a transference into the infected areas is certain to result in a recrudescence of the disorder4 ,remember the true ,congenital ,respectable inherits a very vigorous and malignant taint2 that his system is surcharged with humours that resist the most patient treatment4 ,are we1 then1 to despair of a cure8 ,the answer must be1 ,no1 not if all the available hygienic remedies are employed while the ,respectable is young4 ,i could not hope to heal the mind of a patient of forty1 for instance1 and especially a female patient of that age4 ,in women there are characteristic symptoms of a nature so peculiar that we must differentiate them in our pathology from the specific manifestations of the affection in men4 ,obviously1 the greatest impediment to recovery lies in the fact that1 in nine instances out of ten1 the subject has no desire to be cured4 ,respectability presents the phenomenon of most neurotic diseases3 the patient does not understand that he is ill4 ,if you tell a maniac that he is not the ,emperor of ,russia1 but an inmate of ,bedlam1 he will think you are the madman1 and that he is the sane man4 ,in the same way1 a person attacked by an insidious wasting malady imagines he is in robust health1 because1 when he has eaten a full meal he feels ready to eat another4 ,he thumps himself on the chest1 and says1 ,sound as a bell6 ,look at my appetite6 ,like these deluded folk1 the ,respectable believes firmly that his derangement is a normal healthy state4 ,all his friends are ,respectable2 he is ,respectable also1 thank heaven6 ,while the ,respectable remains in this grateful frame nothing can be done for him4 ,you must convince him that ,respectability is a species of mania1 and until you have done this1 there is palpably no hope of curing him4 ,ridicule1 contempt1 satire--these are the instruments that you must employ4 ,scarify him mentally1 if you can1 with ,titanic laughter at his wretched hallucination4 ,kick his preposterous idol till the sawdust flies out of it2 deride it1 mutilate it1 tear off its flimsy tinsel4 ,you must be prepared for a tussle with the ,respectable4 ,he will fight long and savagely for his fetish1 for it is the god of his fathers1 and he was taught to revere it when he left the cradle4 ,he is fighting for all that he conceives to be most dear and sacred to him1 and he looks upon you as an impious iconoclast and a fanatic4 ,to a ,respectable1 all are mad who seek to destroy illusions1 to show the inside of things1 and to disencumber the social ground of the tares and thistles that make such a brave show4 ,he loves his world of seems and shams and hypocrisies4 ,our hope is in the young1 in the rising generation1 ere they are hopelessly crushed and disfigured beyond all recognition beneath the wheels of ,respectability's triumphal one-horse brougham2 before their callow brains are dwarfed and warped in ,dame ,grundy's seminary and in ,dr4 ,birch's select school for the sons of wholesale tea merchants2 before the miasma of ,villadom has poisoned their morals and befogged their mental vision4 ,education must be widened and democratized4 ,the principle that a mon's a mon for a' that must be inculcated1 and true worth of character will then be dissociated in the mind from that vile1 tawdry1 make-belief virtue called ,respectability4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,ladies ,,and ,,gentlemen4 ,the snob in soul who looks above1 ,trampling on what's beneath4 ,,francis ,,adams4 ,is she a ,lady or a ,person8 asked a ,british ,matron when ,i spoke of a certain young woman4 ,the question is well calculated to set one pondering on those nice distinctions of class1 and sub-distinctions within the classes1 characteristic of most semi-civilised and so-called highly civilised nations of the world4 ,unquestionably1 my interrogator was a lady in the popular sense of the title4 ,she lived in a large house1 received visits from the rector and the curate1 gave parties attended by well-to-do tradesfolk and one or two professional men1 with their wives and families1 and refrained from committing the misdemeanour of carrying parcels in the street4 ,undoubtedly she was considered a lady by most members of her own order4 ,but was she a lady8 ,i confess ,i do not know what you in particular mean by a lady4 ,i must know you tolerably intimately before ,i can even hazard a surmise4 ,this dame was the daughter of a tradesman1 and she earned her own livelihood4 ,that is quite enough to stamp her as a mere person in the judgment of an immense class4 ,for many years ,i have been trying to understand the jargon of ,respectability1 and ,i have failed4 ,i cannot get three people in one room to entirely agree as to the constituents of a lady or a gentleman4 ,one will tell me that the claim to the distinction depends upon birth2 another denies this1 and says it is simply a matter of good manners2 but a third1 in spite of my protest that the manners of my housemaid betoken a gentle-woman1 affirms that her social status debars a domestic servant from the label lady1 though she may be a very well-behaved young woman4 ,if you think it is easy to obtain a precise definition of lady and gentleman1 ,i suggest that you interrogate your near acquaintances1 and make notes of the answers4 ,perchance your luck is better than mine4 ,no1 ,i do not to this day know exactly what people mean by calling this man gentleman and that man plain man4 ,i have heard that there was a time when only those men who plundered the poor1 swore gad-zooks and very much worse than that1 got drunk nearly every night1 and debauched a great number of maids were the only respectable gentlemen in the land1 all the rest1 who were not up to this form in usual practice being churls1 and knaves1 and clowns4 ,it is a matter of history that these crapulous bandits were the only gentlemen of their day4 ,but take the phrase in its most modern sense4 ,a4 is a patrician1 and therefore pre-eminently a gentleman in the esteem of tens of thousands4 ,he uses the foulest back-slum expressions in the hunting-field1 pals with harlots1 gamblers of shady notoriety1 and ruffianly hybrid sportsmen of the turf and ring1 drinks to excess1 and1 after a career of low vice and mean trickery1 he pays his creditors--many of them struggling tradesmen--sixpence in the pound1 or less than that4 ,you say he is no gentleman4 ,quite so2 but he is received in that polite company where you and ,i would be cold-shouldered1 and the society that receives him is undoubtedly very high and good society4 ,moreover1 the ,respectable million1 though they may roll their eyes unctuously at his misconduct1 would be extremely delighted to have the honour of entertaining ,lord ,a4 at afternoon tea4 ,you know perfectly well1 my friend1 that his lordship is a gentleman bred and born1 and that circles closed to ,b41 an impecunious artist1 but a man of exemplary deportment and refinement of feeling1 are open to ,lord ,a4 ,i hold that the terms lady and gentleman1 like the word ,respectable1 have become grossly perverted1 and are now merely the connotations of an odious snobbery4 ,i would like to see the phrases deleted from every dictionary4 ,in their original sense they were good words1 i4e41 gentle-man and gentle-woman1 or if you will1 lady4 ,but they are now utterly corrupt and meaningless1 except when applied to the vulgar of all ranks4 ,the lady who does washing calls for the woman's linen4 ,the cant term has become the privileged title of the vulgarest plebeian4 ,an ignorant1 ill-mannered1 middle-class woman dubs herself ,lady1 and describes her cultured governess as a ,person4 ,diogenes went about with a lantern looking for a man4 ,some of us are questing for those mythical personages known as ladies and gentlemen2 and1 like ,mrs4 ,gamp1 who doubted the existence of ,mrs4 ',arris1 we are feign to believe there aint no sich a person4 ,when the majority disagree as to the outward semblance and the inner attributes of real gentlefolk1 how can we distinguish individuals of the order8 ,at a flower show ,i once overheard the daughter of a provincial solicitor remark to her lady friend3 ,my dear1 there is really no one here but us4 ,i looked around1 and saw bankers and brewers1 men of evil omen1 with their resplendent wives and daughters1 and a great number of social small-fry4 ,but these were nobodies4 ,they were not lawyers1 or the sons and daughters of lawyers1 therefore they were nonentities4 ,how quaint are the invidious distinctions and the usages of ,snobbery6 ,for example1 it is considered impertinence if a brewer follows the hounds in a scarlet coat1 but a banker may wear the pink and buckskins4 ,such1 at any rate1 is the unwritten law in some hunting districts4 ,as for army snobbishness1 it is well known that in several regiments the impecunious officer1 not up to the extravagant form of the mess1 is regarded as a cad by brainless1 swaggering subalterns1 whose expenditure on their stomachs amounts to several hundred pounds per annum4 ,but to write upon the inflated ,respectability of the ,service would require a separate section of this essay4 ,it is enough to say that the bullying1 blustering military ,respectable is usually a scion of a parvenu family4 ,the type is not only to be found in the regular forces2 it is very common in the county militia and in the provincial volunteer corps4 ,a son of a wine merchant1 or some other prosperous tradesman1 secures a lieutenancy in the volunteers1 and soon rises to a higher rank4 ,he is an officer1 and therefore a gentleman2 and he lords it over other tradesmen and tradesmen's sons with the air of a patrician major-general4 ,one of these precious jackanapes once abused me for a civilian1 and threatened me with an orderly1 in a raucous tone of wrath1 because ,i inadvertently trespassed within the lines of a volunteer camp4 ,i said3 ,where is the orderly8 ,i'll wait for him1 and ,i sat down on the grass and smoked my pipe1 and summoned fortitude for the awful tribunal of a court-martial4 ,but the orderly came not1 though the civilian waited long and patiently4 ,much as ,i dislike slang1 ,i find the cant terms side and bounce so admirably adapted to my purpose in delineating certain phases of ,respectability that ,i may perhaps be pardoned for using them in this attempt at a scientific exposition4 ,side and bounce will carry you far in ,respectable society4 ,self-assertiveness is an excellent thing4 ,johnson and ,carlyle were born with the faculty2 they knew how to inspire awe1 and no one dared to contradict them4 ,the ,yankees call this quality side4 ,they say that an egotistical1 swaggering1 dominant man puts on a lot of side4 ,many men and women make their way to ,respectability by putting on side4 ,the rules are3 7#a7 ,to appear to know all about everything4 7#b7 to talk in a loud voice1 and to interrupt other speakers4 7#c7 to push1 jostle1 and trample upon the weak1 the very young1 and the diffident4 ,the man who observes these rules is sure to get on in the world4 ,have you not seen the crowd cower like frightened sheep at the sound of a self-important voice8 ,if you wish to get the better of your brother man1 you must terrify him and awe him into admiration4 ,there is a good story of ,colonel ,burnaby4 ,he was once speaking on a political platform1 and some dissentients made a hubbub1 and shouted ,chuck him out6 ,burnaby knew the value of side4 ,he walked down to the menacing rowdies1 asked one of them for a light1 sat down among them1 and smoked his pipe4 ,we may not love bumptious1 thrusting mortals1 who make their brother men their stepping-stones to higher things4 ,but we are all more or less envious of their success2 and we are always giving way to them1 and making their path easy and pleasant4 ,when we see a pompous personage walking grandly up ,pall ,mall1 and gazing scorn upon the vulgar herd1 we are often tempted to step up to him and say1 as ,douglas ,jerrold1 or someone else1 once said to one of these superior persons3 ,pray1 sir1 are you anyone in particular8 ,but we don't do it4 ,we wither beneath the glassy stare of an eye-glass4 ,some men are born with side4 ,it is easy and natural to them4 ,as children they are never the horse1 but always the driver when playing at horses1 and at school they become cocks of the walk and chiefs of the dormitories4 ,they are destined to be highly respected among the ,respectables1 for the rank and file of ,respectability like to be dominated4 ,the other day ,i read a letter from a young ,english ,respectable settled in ,south ,africa4 ,he wrote3 ,you have no idea how much time it takes to kick sense into nigger servants4 ,glorious ,british supremacy6 ,that is the way to plant the banner of civilisation in heathen lands4 ,in a modern comedy which ,i have seen played 7,i forget the title71 a flunkey who inherits an unexpected fortune1 thumps the table with his fist1 crying1 ,now ,i'll be a gentleman6 ,i'll be a gentleman1 by ,god6 ,you will possibly try to convince me that this fellow never could become a gentleman4 ,why not8 ,money makes the man4 ,he may not be a gentle-man in your sense1 but he is a gentleman in the estimation of an immense number of the general public4 ,do not dupe yourself with the notion that there is only one kind of gentleman in the community4 ,there are at least a dozen sorts--the true gentleman1 the real gentleman1 my idea of a gentleman1 your idea of a gentleman1 ,mrs4 ,grundy's gentleman1 the ,veneering conception of a gentleman1 the ,oxford ,university definition of a gentleman1 the crack cavalry notion of a gentleman1 the county society idea of a gentleman1 the gentleman who keeps a shop1 but is too gentlemanly to sell you things over the counter1 the natural gentleman1 the born gentleman1 the gentlemanlike person1 and so on4 ,is there no room for ,jeames in this mixed assemblage8 ,once and for all1 clear your mind of the fallacy that your especial conception of a gentleman is the only true one4 ,there are1 fortunately1 not one1 but several standards of feminine beauty4 ,there are also several criteria of the real gentleman and the perfect lady4 ,turn to the dictionary for a correct definition of gentleman if you wish to fog your mind still more upon this subject3 ,gentleman 7from genteel and man7--,in a general sense1 every educated person above a labourer1 an artisan1 or a tradesman1 an individual possessed of the conduct1 habit1 and outward appearance which belong1 or are expected to belong1 to persons born and educated in a high social position2 a man in any station of life who is possessed of good breeding and refined manners1 strict integrity and honour1 kindliness of heart1 and suchlike qualities2 in a limited sense1 a person of good fortune and good family1 whether titled or not2 one who bears a coat of arms2 a term of complaisance or respect1 as in the plural gentlemen1 when addressing a number of persons4 ,does this hotchpotch of contradiction help you in determining the qualities of a gentleman8 ,i confess it is of no service to me4 ,no1 we must end this disquisition as we began it4 ,terminology merely bewilders and frustrates clear thought on the question4 ,there is obviously room and to spare for all of us in the temple of gentility4 ,we can all be gentlemen and ladies if we choose4 ,the only thing to decide is1 which sort8 ,personally1 ,i feel honoured at being spoken of as that man4 ,i endeavour1 writes ,m4 ,taine1 rightly to comprehend the epithet so essential 'a gentleman'2 it constantly recurs1 and comprises a mass of ideas wholly ,english4444 ,in ,france we have not the word1 because we have not the things1 and these three syllables1 as used across the ,channel1 summarise the history of ,english society4#a ,,footnote3 #a ,notes on ,england4 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,specific ,,symptoms ,,of ,,the ,,malady ,,in ,,women4 ,their hypocrisy is a perpetual marvel to me1 and a constant exercise of cleverness of the finest sort4 ,,thackeray1 ,mr4 ,brown's ,letters to a ,young ,man4 ,it would take a large volume to contain the authentic accounts of deception practised by women4 ,,dr4 ,e4 ,j4 ,,tilt1 ,the ,change of ,life4 ,women are particularly susceptible to the disease of ,respectability4 ,our sisters esteem rank and birth2 they bow down to all kinds of idols with a veneration seldom equalled in men4 ,form1 ceremonies1 modes of dress1 points of etiquette1 and social observances mean more to them than to us2 and it is difficult to prove to them the hollowness and inutility of mere seems1 because externals satisfy their sense of decorum and give them pleasure4 ,the average bourgeois woman reads the court news and aristocratic tittle-tattle with avidity mingled with envy4 ,baubles1 insignia1 uniforms1 and the pomps of officialdom attract and dazzle her1 and she would rather know a stupid peer than a sage1 unpretentious philosopher1 man of science1 or poet4 ,notice the large proportion of women in the crowds that gather outside a ,west ,end mansion1 or at the door of a church1 on the occasions of a ball or a fashionable wedding4 ,many women will travel long distances1 and endure severe fatigue and discomfort to gain a transitory glimpse at titled personages4 ,lacking the power of analysis1 and being deficient in imagination1 they admire the popular and ostentatious1 and contemn the persons and the things of true worth4 ,besides this1 women's sense of humour is less keen than that of men2 they fail to see the droll side of customs and fetishes1 and they get angry with those who jest and chuckle at grotesque ceremonies and functions4 ,it matters not to the middle-class woman how good or wise a man or woman may be if they do not conform to preposterous codes and usages4 ,the romantic youth who imagines that most women are more sentimental and romantic than himself1 discovers his error when he becomes a lover1 and is received as a suitor in the family of his inamorata4 ,he finds the ,little ,muddleton ,road folk extremely practical and respectable4 ,materfamilias may possibly have been slightly tinged with romance and poetry in her teens2 but at fifty she is a slave to ,respectability1 and she teaches her daughters1 in season and out1 that they must1 before all else1 be ,respectable members of society4 ,is it a matter for wonder8 ,naturally1 the romantic youth puzzles over this shrewd1 business-like phase of woman's character2 but he forgets that human beings1 cramped under worse than ,south ,sea ,isle taboo1 develop astuteness in order to survive4 ,you cannot expect women who have been fenced around by ,respectability and restricted to the back parlour and the kitchen1 to be wild1 free1 natural creatures1 and nymphs of the woodland4 ,we ought not to have imprisoned them in this way at the beginning4 ,by this time1 alas6 the majority of them appear to hug their fetters4 ,the black shadow of the plague of ,respectability is over love and the relations of the sexes1 and women suffer more than men from this terrible blight4 ,respectability isolates the sexes before marriage1 and only allows them to discover each other's idiosyncracies1 caprices1 and foibles when they are inseparably united ankle to ankle and wrist to wrist1 to hobble on through life1 and pretend that they are enjoying the penance4 ,i do not say that the shackles always gall4 ,it is almost a sheer question of chance if they do not4 ,for this fearful uncertainty ,respectability is much to blame4 ,girls are immured and guarded1 like vestal virgins of old2 there is no wholesome widespread social commingling of the sexes4 ,boys are free2 but what is their liberty worth to them1 when girls are watched1 chaperoned1 and secluded at the very age when their society is most sought by the youth of the opposite sex8 ,this nunnery system is practically restricted to the middle-class ,respectables4 ,what is its effect upon the morals and the weal of the order8 ,most disastrous4 ,the young man1 in a very large number of instances1 gains his knowledge of womankind among the flashy1 flighty1 and even more undesirable specimens of the sex4 ,he meets the ,little ,muddleton ,road girls at parties occasionally1 but if he walks home from chapel with one of them1 ,paterfamilias or ,mamma intervenes1 and cuts short the friendship1 or they want to know the young fellow's intentions towards ,ethel4 ,his own parents tell him he is too youthful1 or too poor1 to think of wooing yet2 and ,i have even known mothers who excluded all girls from the house for fear that their sons should fall in love prematurely4 ,now1 it is quite probable that the young man has no intentions1 beyond gaining a friend in one of the ,little ,muddleton ,road girls4 ,he may simply desire social intercourse with one of the feminine kind1 out of obedience to an eternal and immutable law of attraction4 ,but no1 such intimacies1 unless they are distinctly understood to be the prelude to marriage1 are rarely permitted by the ,respectables4 ,it is not proper for ,ethel to be seen about with that young ,simpkins4 ,what will ,mrs4 ,robinson think8 ,therefore ,ethel is interdicted from communication with the estimable ,simpkins1 and injured propriety is appeased and quieted4 ,i say without hesitation that such isolation is ruinous to the morals of the community4 ,finding how exceedingly difficult it is to associate with the daughters of the ,respectables1 young ,simpkins finds companions among the female outcasts of society1 women who besmirch his romance1 and degrade his pure passion to the lowest animal lust4 ,the world is full of love1 could he but find it2 but ,respectability locks it up in fusty dens1 and says3 ,you mustn't be a close friend of my daughter4 ,that will never do6 ,if you were engaged to her it would be a different matter2 but you're not1 and people would talk4 ,so ,simpkins goes away1 and picks up very questionable girls in the street1 and buys his first experience of love4 ,and the saddest thing is that he forms his opinion about women from these types1 which is1 of course1 unwise1 to say the least4 ,but is he wholly to blame for this8 ,no1 he is one of the victims of ,respectability1 the grim tyrant who mars and blasts millions of human lives in ,england4 ,at thirty-five ,simpkins is a blas1 cynical young man-about-town1 a sufferer1 probably1 from inordinate sexuality1 with a profound contempt for all women1 founded on his miserable experiences with female harpies and panders4 ,a fool and sinner1 cries the moralist4 ,yes1 but there are many like to him amongst us2 and they were once decent1 healthy1 chivalrous young men4 ,and what of the isolated young girl8 ,her case seems to me even more sorrowful and piteous4 ,half of life is a sealed book to her4 ,she has scarcely any ideas that are not delusions about love and the opposite sex1 and the most important offices of her being4 ,her natural impulses have been suppressed1 stunted1 and perverted1 and her physical health is probably feebler than that of the dissipated young man4 ,she marries late1 dazed with joy that her hour has come at last1 and frequently awakes in the first year of marriage to the truth that she knew little about men in general1 and not nearly enough about the man she has wedded2 that she was wofully inexperienced and ignorant1 and that ,respectability condemns her to drain the bitter cup of disappointment to the dregs1 to drain it with composure and a smiling face to the world4 ,she was not allowed to mix freely with men4 ,all her ideas of male human nature are derived from mawkish novels and story books1 often written by women as ill-informed as herself4 ,many women have confessed to me that they did not understand men till they married one1 and many men have said the same concerning women4 ,how1 then1 can we lessen the chances of drawing the wrong card in the great lottery of marriage8 ,certainly not by the sequestration of youths and maidens1 for that is one of the chief causes of unsuccessful unions4 ,grundyism and ,respectability must be set at defiance1 and boys and girls in adolescence allowed to form companionships with each other4 ,the artificial barriers between them must be broken down2 the old stupid inhibitions rescinded1 and a wholesome association not only permitted1 but by every means encouraged4 ,education in life through the fellowship and the interchange of ideas between the sexes is one safeguard against wreckage in the perilous journey of matrimony4 ,discoursing upon the eternal feminine1 ,schopenhauer says3 ,individual and partial exceptions do not alter the fact that women are1 and will always remain1 the most thorough and incurable ,philistines4444 ,their domination and influence ruins modern society4444 ,the essentially ,european lady is a being who ought to have no existence at all2 there ought1 on the other hand1 to be housewives and girls who hope to become such1 and who are1 in consequence1 brought up to domesticity by subordination4 ,just because there are ladies in ,europe1 women of a lower grade1 who form1 therefore1 the great majority of the sex1 are much more unhappy than they are in the ,east4 ,as to the charge of ,philistinism1 ,i am1 unfortunately1 compelled to agree with the pessimistic mysogynist4 ,women are the larger part of humanity in this country1 and1 that part being ,philistine1 it must exercise a bad influence upon society in the mass4 ,i do not deny that the spirit of rebellion lurks in every woman's breast1 but1 for all that1 women are not readily persuaded to rebel against absurd conventions4 ,their great desire is to be on the popular side1 and in the ranks of the mightier force1 because unpopular causes are generally accounted discreditable by the majority4 ,women1 therefore1 set a high value on ,respectability1 and they endure much suffering to maintain it4 ,yet here and there we find women as leaders and foremost fighters in assaults upon irrational institutions and customs1 and they are often wise tacticians and valorous assailers4 ,but such women are not of the ,respectables2 they are thinkers and reformers who have cast aside the cumbrous1 tawdry trappings of that order1 so that they may be of service to humanity4 ,the ,philistine woman cares little or nothing for social advance and the welfare of posterity1 and in this respect she is always rather more apathetic or actively hostile to progress than the ,philistine man4 ,she feels that a woman has more to lose than a man by abandoning conventionalities and orthodox opinions4 ,but this dread is somewhat ill-founded and exaggerated1 because there are many unconventional men only too ready to warmly welcome the women who revolt1 and not only to bid them cheer1 but to pay them high homage for their bravery and independence4 ,in the long run1 a woman gains far more esteem and friendship in the army of the ,unconventionalists than she wins from the host of the ,respectables4 ,timidity is one of the prime sources of the disease of ,respectability in both sexes1 and women are by nature more timid than men in the matter of revolt against ignorant ,public ,opinion4 ,the result is that women are much less free than men in so-called free countries4 ,a man glories in being considered bold1 but a woman shrinks from the charge of boldness1 as degrading to her sex4#b ,and here ,i shelter myself behind a doughty champion of women1 because if ,i wrote the indictment which he has set down1 my ethical-cum-philosophical ,gamaliel1 and possibly many of my women readers1 would charge me with cynicism and sex-bias4 ,i quote again from ,mr4 ,gibson1 who1 in this charge of the alleged untruthfulness of women1 is almost as emphatic as ,schopenhauer3 ,owing to the subordinate position of women1 they are less truthful than men4 ,they work up to their ends without the exercise of force1 and must therefore use guile4 ,men lie as readily as women when they think lies will serve their purpose1 but1 having more freedom1 and being less afraid of conflict1 they have less cause to lie4 ,women are taught to lie from their childhood1 in order to hide their desires1 their disappointments1 and their sufferings4 ,women are driven in upon themselves1 and in sheer self-defence lie as men are not called upon to lie4#c ,i know several charming women who lie most glibly and as to the manner born1 without a tinge of shame2 indeed1 it is a difficult matter to make sure that you have got them1 so to speak1 for their speech is so slippery1 and they fib so artistically that no reliance can be placed upon their admissions of belief or disbelief in this or that4 ,all that they say must be swallowed with a large grain of salt4 ,but let me qualify this impugnment somewhat4 ,i think we may fairly say that the tarradiddles of women are not generally of the more ignoble order of lies4 ,they are mostly pretty little semi-transparent falsehoods which do not utterly deceive the hearer who has studied the psychology of women4 ,it is ,respectability that makes cowards and cozeners of men and women2 and those who imagine that they have the most to lose by frankness will naturally practice the most deception4#d ,the woman-thrall to convention is forced to use the weapons of falsehood and to don the armour of deceit4 ,in corroboration of this assertion1 ,i shall again quote the words of another writer1 and a woman to boot4 ,miss ,violet ,hunt1 a clever satiric novelist1 thus describes the unhappy girl who has been inoculated with the virus of ,respectability3-- ,how one knows the kind of girl6 ,one meets a specimen in almost every house-party4 ,she is nicely dressed1 but not quite so nicely as the other girls staying in the house4 ,she has charming manners1 but there is something of the offensive and defensive sharpness of the street ,arab about her4 ,she has had to take care of herself ever since she was grown up1 and make her tongue do the work of chaperonage4 ,if it rains1 she is in mute agony1 because she cannot afford to spoil her clothes4 ,she takes ,champagne regularly at dinner because she does not have it at home4 ,she is at some pains to propitiate her hostess1 because she intends to be asked again4 ,she holds her tongue when grand functions are mentioned1 because she was not there4 ,in short1 she is a kind of innocent whited sepulchre2 a frail1 jerry-built edifice1 whose prestige may be destroyed at any moment by untoward revelations as to her social standing1 whose whole endeavour is to give the impression that she lives in a mentionable part of ,london1 and dresses on more than thirty pounds a year4#e ,this is a pitiless exposure of the shifts and subterfuges to which you must stoop in posing as a lady or gentleman1 when you are only a person4 ,what happiness1 what profit1 come out of such masquerading8 ,it is better1 a hundred times better1 to save your soul alive1 and preserve something of self-respect1 as one of the unreceived and unrecognised ,non-,respectables4 ,you will find this enchanted garden of ,philistia1 fenced with high walls bristling with spikes1 and set with warning boards1 is a very shoddy ,paradise when you are admitted to it on sufferance4 ,it is the domain of the bores and bored1 the haunt of parasites and toadies1 incessantly scheming and distrusting each other in a deadly dull atmosphere of uncongeniality4 ,my sister1 you gain nothing by fostering this malady of ,respectability1 by vapouring and wasting your sweetness in the aridity of the ,little ,muddleton ,road4 ,so long as you slavishly conform to the barbaric customs and codes of that wretched clan1 so long will you be abject and unhappy4 ,come out of the fetid air of the ,charnel-house of ,convention1 rip off those corsets and cramping disguises1 cast away your high-heeled boots1 and stand erect and fearless among men and women who dare to live free uncontaminated lives1 beyond the reek and blight of the infected purlieus4 ,,footnotes3 #b ,the ,emancipation of ,women1 by ,j4 ,gibson4 #c ,the italics in this passage are mine4 #d ,heine1 in his confessions1 says3 ,we men will sometimes lie outright3 women1 like all passive creatures1 seldom invent1 but can so distort a fact that they can thereby injure us more surely than by a downright lie4 #e ,the ,way of ,marriage4 ,,chapter ,v4 ,,respectability ,,and ,,morals4 ,mrs4 ,alving3 ,oh6 that perpetual law and order6 ,i often think it is that which does all the mischief here in the world4 ,ghosts4 ,,ibsen4 ,reputation is an idle and most false imposition2 oft got without merit4 ,,othello4 ,that which people call thorough ,respectability is1 in the main1 very bad morality4 ,i do not state that the disease under discussion invariably annihilates the subject's sense of justice1 integrity1 and charity1 but it does so in many cases1 and in the generality of instances1 it certainly perverts the ethical judgment4 ,the true ,respectable is compelled to work out his own social salvation and prestige by means of consistent duplicity and craft4 ,he must be artificial to succeed in winning the popularity that he craves4 ,he has1 therefore1 two sets of opinions--one for the sanctum and the other for the marketplace4 ,for example1 to satisfy the ,brownian code1 our ,respectable1 though he may be anti-,sabbatarian in private belief and practice1 is careful to dissemble his views on the question4 ,he probably goes to chapel1 at least now and then1 in order to maintain a reputation for ,respectability1 but he has been known to sneak by devious ways to his favourite side bar at the conclusion of his penance4 ,brown knows nothing about the side bar2 he gulls himself with the idea that ,smith attends ,bethesda from a deep sense of devotion4 ,but ,brown is as great a humbug as ,smith4 ,has he not been heard to declare in private that his regular attendance at chapel is a matter of business8 ,and1 as for ,robinson1 does he not absent himself from service whenever he is beyond the espionage of the ,little ,muddleton ,road clan8 ,i have even seen him fishing at ,datchet on ,sunday4 ,i do not wonder that these three worthies distrust each other in trading4 ,each one is conscious in fleeting moments of honest self-introspection that the man who habitually deceives his neighbours concerning his religious1 political1 and social opinions1 is scarcely the one to practise strict commercial probity4 ,nor1 indeed1 is he4 ,respectables who dupe their neighbours as to their moral and intellectual beliefs and convictions are just as likely to defraud them in business transactions1 and ,i have never met an intellectual liar who was scrupulously truthful and upright in his business affairs4 ,a man1 for one reason or another1 emotional or purely expedient1 wishes to believe1 or to persuade his acquaintances that he believes1 certain theological doctrines1 and1 by a process of deliberate stultification of his reason1 he may actually cajole himself that he does believe them4 ,is this the kind of man who will sedulously guard against soiling his hands in dirty commercial enterprises8 ,i think not4 ,if he deceives you about his private views1 and plays the mental poltroon and hypocrite in public1 you may be almost certain that he adulterates his bread1 or sells his customers ,american ,cheddar1 assuring them that it is of ,english make4 ,we cannot draw a sharp line of distinction betwixt intellectual and moral dishonesty4 ,the man who pretends to have ,radical leanings1 when he is at heart a ,tory1 is the man who will probably swindle you in the way of trade4 ,a trimmer and an opportunist is to be distrusted all round4 ,respectability1 like emasculation1 makes men cowardly1 untruthful1 and mean-spirited4 ,it is a terrible moral and mental blight upon the community4 ,do you not know the unctuous provincial tradesfolk who never attend their local theatres for fear of the ,puritans of ,little ,peddlington8 ,i have known scores of them--aye1 and seen them with my own eyes at the ,alhambra and other places of entertainment in ,london4 ,they don't spend all their holiday in town at ,exeter ,hall and the ,city ,temple4 ,i need not say any more about these unmitigated impostors2 but this passage from ,ibsen's ,ghosts will not be an inapt illustration of their slyness3-- ,manders3 ,what6 ,do you mean to say that respectable men from home here would----8 ,oswald3 ,have you never heard these respectable men1 when they got home again1 talking about the way in which immorality was getting the upper hand abroad8 ,manders3 ,yes1 of course4 ,mrs4 ,alving3 ,i have1 too4 ,oswald3 ,well1 you may take their word for it4 ,they know what they are talking about6 7,presses his hands to his head74 ,oh6 that that great1 free1 glorious life out there should be defiled in such a way6 ,when ,respectability has a strong hold on a man's moral sense1 there is no low crime that it may not lead him to commit4 ,respectables1 like the congenital criminals described by ,lombroso1 almost invariably profess religion1 and many are outwardly very devout1 but full within of ravening and venality4 ,he shows the whites of his eyes on the ,sabbath1 and the blacks all the rest of the week1 says ,thoreau4 ,when the plate is passed around after divine service1 the ,respectable ostentatiously deposits a florin upon it1 registering a secret vow that he will get back that coin1 with ample interest1 by some shady trick of trade on ,monday morning4 ,he gets it1 too1 you may be sure1 and with a swinging profit on it1 in consideration of his ,sabbath generosity4 ,there may be treasure laid up in heaven for the ,respectable1 but he is not the fool to despise the good things of this life4 ,he believes that all things have been given unto him richly to enjoy1 here and hereafter1 and he takes care that none of these good things go by mistake to the wrong quarters4 ,his golden rule is1 obtain from others all that you can4 ,however latitudinarian he may be upon some points of doctrine1 he is strictly orthodox in the application of that useful text1 ,blessed are the poor4 ,decent ,society is full of these whited sepulchres2 their dank1 poisonous stench pervades every ,little ,muddleton ,road in the ,kingdom4 ,i like to hear the working man speak his mind on the ,respectables4 ,the ,british working man has his palpable faults and failings1 but he is most often free from the disease of ,respectability4 ,he knows worth of character when he sees it1 and he detests the two-faced dealings1 snobbishness1 and cant of his self-styled superiors4 ,the ,british working man has his failings1 ,i say1 but he is not very seriously infected with ,respectability1 except in rare instances4 ,he is a cleaner1 much more moral man than the bourgeois1 and considerably more intelligent as a rule1 because he is under no social necessity to lie to his better judgment and juggle with his reason4 ,the proletariat1 like the aristocratic class1 have obtained a tolerable liberty of opinion and conduct4 ,they can afford to be ,non-,respectables1 and they possess the pluck to be honest thinkers4 ,and one can say this without having a profound veneration for noble lords and the institution of the peerage1 and without intending to whitewash blackguards1 whether they be mere patricians or simple costermongers4 ,a friends of mine1 a man of feeling1 once sojourned for a space in the home of a provincial linen-draper of eminent1 ,respectability4 ,i don't know what my friend was doing in that galley2 ,i can't explain the juxtaposition of a ,man of ,feeling in such company2 but it is enough to say that my eccentric friend was there4 ,well1 the highly ,respectable linen-draper was likewise very religious1 as the phrase is1 and he used continually to dwell upon the importance of devotional exercise1 as most ,respectables do4 ,he read ,scripture aloud to his family and assistants1 went to chapel regularly1 observed ,sunday scrupulously1 behind drawn window blinds1 believed in small profits and quick returns1 drove a good trade1 and held his head high1 for the sober1 ,god-fearing1 enterprising shopkeeper that he was4 ,at meal times this fellow would hold forth on grace--a virtue in which he was strangely lacking--also on obeying the precepts of ,christ4 ,ah1 he would say1 rolling the yellows of his greedy little eyes2 ah1 that ,i were more like the ,master6 ,now1 this speech incessantly on the lips of a sweater and a hypocrite began to cause the ,man of ,feeling's gorge to rise1 for he was a healthy1 decent liver1 and a hater of cant4 ,so one day1 when the ,respectable lifted his gaze to the ceiling and muttered his usual aspiration1 the ,man of ,feeling could endure the sickening ordeal no longer4 ,like the ,master6 he cried vehemently4 ,you wish to be like the ,master1 and you pay your female assistants eight or ten shillings a week1 and expect them to live on that miserable sum6 ,don't insult ,christ6 ,don't cant and pretend that you wish to be a penniless socialist1 and go about trying to do good4 ,you6 ,and1 with these words1 the ,man of ,feeling arose1 and left that ,respectable house1 shaking its dust from his feet1 and panting to breathe once more a pure and bracing air among the ,non-,respectables1 to whom1 by moral conviction1 he rightly belonged4 ,ah6 the mud-hearted ,bourgeois6 ,i don't wonder that another ,man of ,feeling1 poor1 sensitive1 pitying1 indignant ,francis ,adams1 called you by that title6 ,can you by any human power be dragged out of the slime in which you love to wallow8 ,yet these are the censors of genius1 the founders of public taste1 the friends of religion1 the conservers of morality1 forsooth6 ,every little shallow1 mean-souled ,respectable thinks himself capable of deciding that ,shelley and ,burns were immoral2 that this or that work of genius is injurious to morals2 that one brilliant man is morally incapacitated from assisting in legislation1 and that another ought to be imprisoned for the expression of heterodox religious or political opinions4 ,british ,respectability makes ,britain the laughing-stock and butt of the wits of the world4 ,nay1 more2 the ,respectable's stupid blatant patriotism and bullying arrogance cause us to be hated in all the quarters of the globe4 ,i repeat that ,respectability is practically incompatible with moral worth4 ,with true1 sound1 broad morality it is quite incompatible4 ,you cannot grow grapes on thorn bushes1 nor force lilies among stinging-nettles4 ,politics1 commerce1 the relations of the sexes1 science1 art1 and literature1 are all more or less corrupted by the mephitic blight of ,respectability4 ,i will conclude this chapter with a quotation from ,m4 ,taine1 who estimates our insular propriety very shrewdly in his entertaining ,notes on ,england4 ,i am acquainted with a ,london merchant who visits ,paris twice yearly on business4 ,when he is there he is very jovial1 and amuses himself on ,sunday as freely as anyone else4 ,his ,paris host1 who visited him at his home in ,london1 where he was made thoroughly welcome1 going downstairs on ,sunday to the room where there was a miniature billiard table1 pushed the balls about on it4 ,the merchant in alarm begged him to stop at once1 saying1 ',the neighbours will be scandalised should they hear this4' ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,cultured ,,gentility4 ,i hardly know an intellectual man1 even1 who is so broad and truly liberal that you can think aloud in his society4 ,most with whom you endeavour to talk soon come to a stand against some institution in which they appear to hold stock--that is some particular1 not universal way of viewing things4 ,,thoreau4 ,do you persuade yourself that ,i respect you8 ,,measure ,,for ,,measure4 ,cultured gentility is one of the signs of the times4 ,snobbishness is a deep-seated vice of human beings1 and a trait of the gregarious mammalia1 with which the human snob1 when he is more than ordinarily ignorant1 disclaims relationship4 ,when ,darwin told people that their early progenitors were hairy and ape-like1 with prehensile feet1 great canine teeth1 and tails equipped with the proper muscles1 all the ,respectables jeered at him1 and said that they were only a little lower than the angels1 and that monkeys must have been fashioned as travesties of men4 ,but though we have moved upwards1 working out of the beast1 ,man still exhibits race prejudice1 patriotic bias1 and the low instinct of class exclusiveness4 ,perhaps at no period of our social evolution have we been more cultured1 and yet more vulgar1 than at the present time4 ,such a juxtaposition may appear to indicate that a little knowledge for the masses is not without its disadvantages as well as its blessing4 ,the proletarian of the sixteenth century could not read nor write2 but he was probably less vulgar than those among his descendants whose acquaintance with modern literature is restricted to the gutter library of cuts and snips and racing tips4 ,simple1 merry ,dick trolled ,old ,rose2 flash ',arry and his blatant mates hiccough the staccato of ,glorious ,beer4 ,contemporaneous with a widespread vulgarity of thought and a hideous banality of living1 there is an immense development of culture4 ,nowadays it is the fashion to go in for culture1 and in society you must know1 or affect to know1 something about evolution1 the higher criticism1 ,ibsen1 ,whistler's pictures1 and ,chippendale furniture4 ,you may learn much about these1 and be smart at the same time2 for smartness and culture go hand-in-hand to the crushes and at homes1 and are as brother and sister one to the other4 ,to use a phrase from the vocabulary of culture-cum-smartness1 you are not in the running if you have merely mastered the theory of the universal germ1 and neglected to practise the skirt dance or the plantation song4 ,once upon a time1 the philosopher and the man of letters came out and was separate from amongst the crowd4 ,he lived mostly in the seclusion of his library1 which was neither good for his understanding nor his digestion4 ,but he forewent the pomps of smart society1 partly because smart society did not wish to be bored1 and partly owing to his enlightened instinct of ,bohemianism1 which found wholesome gratification in the unostentatious amenities of the literary symposium1 the forgathering with one or two of his craft at the historic ,cheshire ,cheese or the ,cock ,tavern4 ,he dressed himself with a certain careless distinction2 he drank cider with ,porson1 and spent ambrosial nights in the fumes from churchwardens with genial ,lamb1 ,hazlitt1 ,godwin1 ,leigh ,hunt1 and ,landor4 ,these were men of culture who refused to hover on the fringe of a shallow1 fashionable society1 not because they were intellectual snobs1 but because their pursuits were on a higher plane than the frivolities of ,respectability4 ,wordsworth dwelt remote among the hills2 ,de ,quincey led laborious days in the solitude of ,mavis ,bush2 ,shelley lived unknown of his neighbours at ,marlow2 and ,landor1 a noble-looking old man1 badly dressed in shabby snuff-clothes1 a dirty old blue necktie and unstarched cotton shirt1 lived chiefly aloof in ,florence4 ,none of these qualified themselves for lionisation in society4 ,the arts of gentility are not compatible with the study of science and philosophy4 ,ampre1 the scientific investigator1 went one day to dine with ,madame ,beauregard4 ,his hands were stained by a drug which leaves its mark on the skin for several days4 ,poor ,ampre6 what did he in a company where externals count for all a man is worth8 ,his hostess could not dine with one whose hands were soiled in the interest of posterity3 ,i promised not to return there before my hands were white4 ,of course1 ,i shall never enter the house again1 wrote ,ampre to his wife4 ,and have we not read how ,dr4 ,johnson and ,sir ,joshua ,reynolds were mistaken by a finical lady for a pair of working men when she saw them conversing together8 ,but we have fallen upon different days4 ,the philosopher has been lured from his den2 the poets have come down from ,parnassus to sport with the nymphs of ,philistia1 the intellectual rogue elephant has been tamed to caper nimbly in my lady's chamber1 and the recusant and the pariah sat down to table with the imposing dignitaries of the ,church and ,state4 ,it may be well on the whole1 but these gracious concessions from the ,philistine are not without their perils for the philosopher and the artist4 ,even the wisest of them cannot always escape the moral and mental deterioration that comes of being au fait in the whiffles and frothy small talk of drawing-rooms1 the parlour tricks and pretty deportments2 and the donning of a chimney-pot hat and a dress coat is often the first step on the downward career of the intellectual4 ,have we not seen it8 ,one season will transform the modest1 single-hearted1 plain-living artist or student into a vain1 insufferable1 intellectual mountebank4 ,a few months of interviewing1 and log-rolling1 and posturing in ,mayfair1 and you change your ideas1 stultify your conscience1 and degenerate into a ,respectable4 ,it is almost inevitable4 ,we are all sweetly human1 and vanity is one of our prime characteristics4 ,most of us1 also1 as some critic of life observes1 would rather be the chief of a committee of four than the unknown benefactor of our species4 ,an author of mediocre ability1 possessing that quality of self-assertiveness known commonly as side1 can far outpace the shy genius in the race for public esteem4 ,the brazen bumptiousness and supercilious disdain of the mere talent which lacks astute worldly wisdom are the components of the snobbishness that makes for social success4 ,society closes the door upon the needy philosopher in his threadbare garb2 but it throws its portals wide to welcome the adept of claptrap1 whose higher philosophy is the study of the main chance4 ,i do not applaud the intellectual exclusiveness with which some of the cultured attempt to keep their immaculate souls unspotted from the world4 ,we want no ,respectability of pedants and book-worms4 ,erudition is worthy of the highest respect2 but the erudite snob is imperfectly cultivated4 ,he is frequently more ignorant of many important phases of life than the sheer illiterates whom he pities for a narrowness of judgment upon men4 ,who can gainsay ,sir ,thomas ,browne1 when he writes3 ,it is an unjust way of compute to magnify a weak head for some ,latin abilities2 and to under-value a solid judgment because he knows not the genealogy of ,hector8 ,it is difficult to dissociate arrogance from ignorance1 even when we know that the arrogant man is learned4 ,snobbishness is a mark of shallowness4 ,undoubtedly1 many men and women of genius have evinced the specific snobbery of culture4 ,shakspere1 ,jonson1 ,victor ,hugo1 and ,turguenieff1 are great figures that suggest exceptions to the rule4 ,carlyle is a bad case of playing to the ,respectables2 for1 despite his loudly-proclaimed reverence for humanity1 his vanity1 like that of ,antisthenes1 peered through the rents in his cloak4 ,in extolling the imposers of brute force in the community1 the sage displayed a tendency to cajole the oppressing class1 for whom he had about as much real sympathy as the ,southerner has for the negro race4 ,he jeered at and snubbed his contemporary writers2 he despised mere literary artists2 he told a now eminent novelist that he was ganging to the de'il by the very vulgarest road2 he described ,lecky as a willow-pattern sort o' man1 voluble but harmless1 a pure herbivorous1 nay1 mere graminivorous creature2 he called ,landor a wild man1 and sighed over the spectacle of the commonplace torn to rags2 ,maurice was uninteresting 444 twisted1 screwed1 wiredrawn2 and it is said that the most he could say for ,george ,meredith was that he was nae fule4 ,to a host of minor essayists1 journalists1 and literary hangers-on1 ,carlyle set that fashion of priggishness and snobbery that prevails so widely at the present time4 ,what a mighty and fearsome foe to knowledge is ,academic ,respectability4 ,beneath its sway the seats of learning become fusty abiding-places of mouldy pedantry4 ,it posts its wary lackeys at every avenue of research to warn back adventurous explorers1 with their theological or political red flags and notice boards4 ,academic ,respectability expelled ,shelley4 ,it frowns upon ,bain1 ,francis ,newman1 and other bold investigators and scholars of modern times4 ,it killed ,socrates1 persecuted ,spinoza1 insulted ,david ,hume1 sneered at ,buckle1 and derided ,darwin4 ,de ,quincey tells us that he scarcely spoke to a soul while he was at ,worcester ,college1 ,oxford4 ,was the pensive opium-eater thoroughly overawed or depressed by the ,respectability of the classic city8 ,possibly those were the days of the genesis of the ,oxford manner1 that supercilious drawling affectation of superior sapience which characterises the sons of bourgeois families at ,alma ,mater4 ,let ,william ,morris speak3 ,oxford was beautiful even in the nineteenth century1 when ,oxford1 and its less interesting sister1 ,cambridge1 became definitely commercial4 ,they 7and especially ,oxford7 were the breeding places of a peculiar class of parasites1 who called themselves cultivated people2 they were1 indeed1 cynical enough1 as the so-called educated classes of the day generally were2 but they affected an exaggeration of cynicism1 in order that they might be thought knowing and worldly-wise4 7,news from ,nowhere47 ,thomas ,hardy1 in describing the manners of ,christminster1#f writes in a similar strain of the system that has elbowed the proletariat off the pavements1 to make room for the sons of millionaires4 ,academic stubborn opposition to new and revolutionary theories of all kinds is one phase of the mental malady of ,respectability4 ,all hierarchies and autocracies have the sacrosanct seal of ,respectability2 they have a conventional reputation to maintain1 and it is to their vital interest to fight innovating opinion4 ,for instance1 the ,french ,academy refuses persistently to elect ,m4 ,zola1 on the very plea of his literary unconventionality and virility4 ,he writes for the thoughtful and wide-visioned1 and not for the horde of shallow ,respectables4 ,yet ,zola is beyond doubt the greatest novelist of our age2 and perhaps the only ,french novelist of his day who can count upon immortality4 ,it is his greatness1 his genius1 that exclude him from the narrow coterie4 ,my position is simple1 he writes4 ,since there is an ,academy in ,france1 ,i ought to belong to it4 ,i have stood for election1 and ,i cannot recognise anything wrong on my part in having done so4 ,so long as ,i continue to stand1 ,i am not beaten1 therefore ,i will always stand4 ,but ,zola may rest well content2 he has won greater fame and honour than the ,academy could confer upon him4 99 99 99 99 99 ,instance1 again1 the ,respectable hostility to the evolutionary theory4 ,was the opposition entirely motived by a spirit of scientific scepticism and caution8 ,certainly not4 ,the main attack was made by the army of ,respectables1 who became exceedingly angry with ,charles ,darwin because he calmly demolished a number of groundless suppositions as to the origin of life1 the descent of man1 and the development of the sense of morality4 ,your true conventionalist1 confronted with a new and startling idea1 is like the savage who lashes himself into a passion at the sight of a steamboat or some other mechanical invention4 ,the savage wants to smash the machine and the man who made it4 99 99 99 99 99 ,mr4 ,lawson ,tait1 the well-known physician1 has stated that he suffered in social and professional life for his acceptance of the ,darwinian hypothesis4 ,mr4 ,tait writes3 ',the ,origin of ,species' was published in #ahei4 ,i came across it in #ahfa--;as a boy of #ag--;it captivated me1 and took such a hold of me that ,i tried the application of its principle in every direction open to my youthful mind4 ,in #ahfc1 as president of the ,hunterian ,medical ,society 7the ,society of ,university ,students71 ,i applied ,darwin's doctrines in directions which brought upon me the expressed anger of the authorities1 and my career as a ,university student was in danger of a premature ending4 ,not only was there not a single professor of the ,university of ,edinburgh at that time who was other than actively hostile to ,darwin's views1 but the acceptance of them actually drove me from my native city1 in #ahff4 ,such is a typical illustration of the mental corrosion induced by the insanity of ,academic ,respectability4 ,i am not tilting at ,universities1 but against ,respectability in every guise4 ,with the growth of power in the bourgeois class1 the ,universities have1 to a large degree1 degenerated from halls of knowledge into mere forcing beds of the disease of ,respectability4 ,the case seems even worse in free ,america4 ,plutocracy has taken the colleges under its gis1 and knowledge has been cramped to suit the whims of millionaire patrons4 ,just as happened in the case of the academic professors who protested against slavery1 so are they now threatened when they advocate new economic doctrines1 which do not fit in with the ideas of big capitalists4 ,sensational light was thrown on this matter by a letter written by one of the professors of the ,leland ,stanford ,university of ,california1 and given to the public by the chief of the ,literary ,bureau of the ,democratic ,bryan ,party1 though its language seems to suggest that its writer did not expect its publication4 ,this professor states that college professors enjoy no freedom of expression on the money question4 ,i know1 he says1 there are many who wish to champion national bi-metallism1 but ,i am very sure if there were such1 they would be compelled to surrender their present livelihoods4 ,he cites by name several instances of instructors who have been placed under duresse for teaching views that are considered heterodox by the wealthy men who rule the ,board of some of our principal colleges1 and rule them in orthodox obedience to the gospel of self-interest4#g ,the same writer informs us that for advocating the passage of a ,bill by the ,illinois ,state ,legislature to give the ,city of ,chicago the option of becoming the owner of a municipal gas plant1 and for some other exhibitions of a spirit of economic freedom1 ,professor ,bemis was dismissed from his position in the ,university of ,chicago1 an institution created and largely maintained by a great millionaire1 part of whose fortune is in gas stock4 ,wisconsin has a university supported by the people of that ,state1 and there learning has a chance to flourish4 ,but wherever the influence of the patron is found1 there progress is blocked by plutocracy4 ,a most competent professor of political economy1 in one of the greatest of our universities1 allowing himself to become an advocate of the ownership and operation of our telegraphs by the ,government1 was compelled to give up his place by the influence of one of the trustees1 who happened to be a large owner of telegraph stock4444 ,the victorious trustee carries about with him in his pocket-book a little printed slip1 containing the offensive views of the discharged professor1 and it is his pleasant habit to read this when occasion offers1 to instructors or students who may1 he thinks1 need bracing up1 and he accompanies the reading with cheering comments on the fate which befel the heretic who uttered such doctrines4 ,an important scientific school in ,america had been created and endowed by one of our poor boys1 become plutocrat4 ,he was dissuaded with difficulty by the ,president from carrying out the idea which he proposed1 that the teachers should be hired by the month1 as were the clerks in his factories1 so that they could be discharged whenever he wanted to do so6 ,you see1 even in democratic nations1 the trail of ,respectability is over education4 ,,footnotes3 #f ,jude the ,obscure4 #g ,from article ,freedom in the ,american ,colleges1 in ,progressive ,review1 ,january1 #ahig4 ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,plutocracy4 ,constant at church and change2 his gains were sure1 ,his givings rare1 save farthings to the poor4 ,,pope4 ,of the ,use of ,riches4 ,here you a muckworm of the town might see ,at his dull desk1 amid his ledgers stall'd1 ,eat up with carking care4 ,,thomson4 ,castle of ,indolence4 ,everyone knows ,pugsley1 the great ,pugsley1 proprietor of ,pugsley's ,pure ,piquant ,pickles4 ,you have seen his gracefully alliterative advertisements on the hoardings at the railway stations1 and all down the ,great ,turnover ,line1 glaring at you in pastoral scenes1 where ,chloris led her lambkins in the pre-plutocratic days of merrie ,england1 and even obtruding their hideous drawing of the pickle bottles 7,ask for ,pugsley's1 ,pure and ,piquant7 upon you in lonely mountain inns of the ,grampians4 ,there is no escaping the all-pervading ,pugsley4 ,your grocer has foisted ,pugsley's ,pickles on you1 and you have had to taste them1 willy-nilly4 ,he had a good reason for sending you ,pugsley's ,pickles4 ,the firm are able to undersell all other competitors in the drysaltery interest1 because they pay low wages to their workpeople4 ,but1 though you are familiar with the name of the ,great ,pugsley1 and know the flavour of his relishes and condiments1 you have never troubled to learn how the man made his huge business4 ,i will tell you his history4 ,it is very instructive4 ,pugsley's father was a village grocer at ,hookham ,nooton4 ,he sold butter and cheese and tea for forty years1 and left his son #ejj at his demise4 ,young ,pugsley early developed shrewd commercial instincts4 ,at school he retailed his father's sugar to the boys1 making a clear halfpenny profit on each penny2 and when he had made a little capital by this huckstering1 he launched out into bigger trading ventures1 such as the vending of knives and cricket bats1 and cheap magic lanterns1 till he became a kind of ,universal ,provider at the select academy for young gentlemen4 ,this was good training for his after career of buying1 and selling1 and exploiting4 ,there is nothing like beginning these things when you are young4 ,at fifteen1 ,pugsley1 junior1 was installed behind the parental counter at ,hookham ,nooton1 where he learned how to weigh tea with a bit of paper under the scale pan1 and other recognised dodges of the trade1 so that he soon became his father's right hand1 and a great acquisition to the business4 ,when ,pugsley1 senior1 departed hence1 his son took sole control of the shop4 ,but the young man realised that he was born to be a great merchant1 and not a petty trader in a remote village4 ,one day he chanced upon an old book of practical recipes1 which told you how to make ketchup and sauces1 and1 by dint of messing with vinegar and spices1 he hit upon the famous blend that made his name as a sauce maker4 ,bottles of the stuff sold readily in the village and neighbouring small towns1 for there is no denying that it was a tasty relish4 ,then came small wholesale orders1 and trade began to hum1 as business slang has it4 ,five years later we find ,pugsley the owner of a pickle factory in ,spitalfields1 and the employer of fifty hands1 mostly girls and boys4 ,ten years after1 his pickles are used in every ,respectable family in the kingdom1 and their repute has reached ,america and the ,colonies2 and so1 before the prime of life1 ,pugsley is a pursy citizen1 with a fine house at ,richmond1 a horse and chaise1 a housekeeper1 maidservants1 and a gardener and coachman--all the proper rewards of industry4 ,at thirty-six1 ,pugsley married money1 and further extended his business4 ,his wife received local snobs1 and gave at homes1 attended by inferior celebrities and all the people who are likely to be of use to us4 ,at forty ,pugsley was a ,constitutional candidate for ,diddleham1 the hope of the ,respectables1 the cynosure of the hide-bound conventionalists in politics4 ,you may remember that he was returned by the imposing majority of six4 ,now came the zenith of his fame4 ,pugsley's politics like his pickles1 are notoriously piquant4 ,he has voted against every democratic measure1 and prated about the natural leaders of the working class4 ,see him now1 in his honoured old age1 hated of his workpeople1 envied by ,respectables1 despised by the county gentry and feared by almost everyone1 a millionaire to-day1 with a seat in ,clodshire1 a house in ,portland ,terrace1 a yacht at ,brighton1 and a deer forest in ,inverness-shire4 ,i have met his son1 the ,master of the ,slowcomb ,hounds1 a good sort of ,philistine1 who would rather do his fellow-men a good turn than an ill one1 but a terrible ignoramus and deadweight for all that2 with far less real knowledge of men and books than my cobbler round the corner4 ,there are three daughters4 ,one of them1 ,miss ,evelyn1 is betrothed to ,lord ,durt1 the young impoverished peer1 who was lately earning thirty shillings a week as society reporter to the ,gadabout4 ,i am glad for ,durt4 ,he has had a rough time1 and ,evelyn is an amiable1 even hopeful specimen of the ,respectable girl4 ,she has lately talked about industrial questions1 and ,i believe she is half ashamed already that papa has women in his employment earning nine shillings a week upon which to keep body and soul together4 ,yes1 it is with the sweat of women and children that ,pugsley has become a plutocrat4 ,his wife is the ,patroness of the ,refuge for the ,fallen4 ,how many of ,pugsley's women have been forced to supplement their wretched earnings by prostitution8 ,someone once put this question to the pickleman4 ,really1 ,mrs4 ----1 he said1 ,i am not responsible for the morals of my working people4 ,but ,i say that it is such fellows as ,pugsley who force girls to sell themselves in the street4 ,i ask you1 my ,respectable sister1 could you live yourself and help to support your widowed mother and two young children on a wage of seven shillings a week8 ,i have known one of ,pugsley's women workers try to do this till death came with its eternity of rest for that poor1 semi-starved1 aching body4 ,to me it is a constant source of wonder1 and a matter of profound respect for woman's moral courage that more of ,pugsley's ill-paid women helpers do not walk the streets for hire4 ,o6 ,great ,pugsley1 ,i would that ,i could be certain of a day of reckoning betwixt you and an ,almighty ,judge6 ,sometimes1 in dreams1 ,i hear the tramp1 tramp1 of thousands of feet1 and see the white faces of toilers gleam in the murk of a ,london night1 a night of violent retribution4 ,must we wait for this8 ,must hands be stained with men's blood ere the rich will bestir themselves to render justice to the poor8 ,i pray the fates that it may not be so6 ,but everywhere1 in the great cities1 and out in the fields1 ,i hear the murmur of deep1 sullen discontent4 ,think what such a man as ,pugsley has wrought in the name of ,respectability4 ,he has systematically lied1 cheated1 and crushed the weaker to the wall4 ,he has piled up wealth by defrauding the widow and the orphan of bare human rights1 turning them into worse than slaves by his thrice-accursed lust for money4 ,i have heard of old servants being deposed in his warehouse1 and put into subordinate positions to make way for the young2 of men dismissed for the expression of ,liberal political opinions2 of hands threatened with discharge for professing trades union principles2 of fines wrung from hungry children for trivial offences2 and of bullying and insult and injustices without number4 ,i hear my cut-and-dried economist calling me to account with his formulas and expositions4 ,ah6 ,i have listened to them2 ,i have read them2 but they never have1 and never will1 persuade me that ,pugsley1 the plutocrat1 does what is right and humane and reasonable towards those who have built up his fortune1 and bought his mansions and his yacht1 and dowered his daughters4 ,i know about competition1 and the law of demand and supply1 and ,i take my stand on sound social science4 ,but no science that ,i have studied convinces me that this plutocracy and plunder and monopoly are good for anyone but the plutocrats and the plunderers4 ,and not good for them1 either1 in any moral sense4 ,is it moral to kill the social affections8 ,i say that the professional burglar is a model of virtue by the side of ,pugsley4 ,he does not pose as a ,christian philanthropist and a friend of the people when he goes about his nefarious business4 ,pugsley1 the great successful gambler1 fines poor country louts for playing pitch and toss with halfpence4 ,the next day he perpetrates a filthy fraud on ',change4 ,shelley was right1 the true ruffian of a community is not the cutpurse who knocks you down in the ,gray's ,inn ,road1 and gags you1 while his accomplice grabs your watch and valuables1 but the ,respectable man--the smooth1 smiling villain whom all the ,city honours1 whose very trade is lies and murder2 who buys his daily bread with the blood and tears of men4 ,i want to know why the big thief1 ,pugsley1 is made a peer1 and the man who steals a handful of turnips is sent to the ,county gaol8 ,the other day1 a labourer1 out of work1 wired a rabbit on ,pugsley's estate1 and went to prison for a week for the misdemeanour4 ,but ,pugsley annexed the very land that the rabbit was on1 a good wide strip of it1 too1 which belonged to the people4 ,i used to walk on that same ground1 looking for the first primroses4 ,now ,i must ask ,pugsley's permission before ,i dare set a foot there1 on this property which ,i own in common with my neighbours6 ,and you tell me that this sort of law and order is good for my morals4 ,i am glad that my ethical-cum-philosophical friend is not at my elbow just now1 to suggest that ,i ought to be kind to ,pugsley4 ,why1 in the name of reason1 am ,i to flatter and applaud this commercial gamester8 ,i look upon him as a victim of morbid acquisitiveness induced by ,respectability4 ,pugsley thinks he must keep up his reputation among the ,respectables of his set1 and to do this he is urged to plunder the poor4 ,he is a dangerous maniac2 he ought to be detained and set to hard labour to cure him of his derangement4 ,the stupidest farce played by the ,pugsleys is when one of the girls goes district visiting1 and tells the wives of the peasants earning twelve shillings a week1 that they ought to put by for a rainy day4 ,i wonder that the women can keep their patience with the ninny4 ,if ,miss ,clara ,pugsley were to use her atrophied brain for five minutes1 she would know that no woman with a husband and five children to feed and clothe1 and a rent of eighteenpence a week to pay1 can save a farthing out of such wages4 ,it is gross insolence of this over-fed1 idle1 ignorant girl to talk in this fashion to the poor4 ,but this fatuous nonsense is preached all over the country every day in the week4 ,ladies call it helping the poor to be thrifty1 elevating the workers1 etc4 ,o1 ,great ,pugsley1 it is not envy of your possessions that makes me dip my pen in gall1 though ,i know well that is what you will think should you read these words of mine4 ,i would be well content with the income of your under-steward4 ,you have measured human nature with your little foot-rule1 and come to the opinion that all men are naturally greedy vampires like yourself4 ,believe me1 ,pugsley1 you are sadly wrong in this view4 ,i know men and women who would not stain their fingers with your wretched blood-money for their own usage1 though they would gladly employ it for the benefit of those from whom you filched it1 drib and drab1 by underpayment of their hard1 dull toil4 ,i wish1 how ,i wish in malignant moments1 that ,i had assurance of a hereafter for ,pugsley in a dark1 noisome factory1 where he would have to work for ten hours a day on skilly4 ,the parson tells me that there is a mansion in the skies prepared for ,pugsley4 ,and another equally sumptuous residence for the more honest ,bill ,brown1 the poacher8 ,why not8 ,london1 ,liverpool1 ,manchester1 ,sheffield--these are the paradises of the ,pugsleys2 they batten in the rechy air of these gambling centres4 ,how do these dismal1 over-crowded1 smoke-blackened haunts of ,respectability impress the intelligent foreigner8 ,send a philosopher to ,london1 but no poet1 says ,heine4 ,everywhere we are stared down on by wealth and ,respectability1 while1 crammed away in retired lanes and damp alleys1 poverty dwells1 with her rags and her tears4 ,heine1 like many another thinker1 was struck by the wretchedness and poverty of ,london1 hiding away behind the mansions of plutocrats and ,respectables4 ,he saw gaunt hunger staring beseechingly at the rich merchant who hurries along1 busy and jingling gold1 or at the lazy lord who1 like the surfeited god1 rides by on his high horse1 casting now and then an aristocratically indifferent glance at the mob below1 as though they were swarming ants1 or1 at all events1 a mass of baser beings1 whose joys and sorrows have nothing in common with his feelings2 and the poet cried to poor ,poverty1 ,well art thou in the right when thou alliest thyself to vice and crime4 ,outlawed criminals often bear more humanity in their hearts than those cold1 blameless citizens of virtue1 in whose white hearts the power of evil is quenched1 but also the power of good4 ,mr4 ,grant ,white has written a book entitled ,england ,within and ,without1 a very pungent and witty delineation of the ,english character from an ,american point of view4 ,he tells us that the ,british ,philistine is perfect of his kind2 that ,philistinism pervades the whole society of ,great ,britain south of the ,tweed4 ,mr4 ,grant says that this ,philistinism is of late growth in ,england1 a phenomenon of the last hundred and fifty years4 ,we cannot find traces of it in the spacious days1 in the plays of ,beaumont and ,fletcher1 ,ben ,jonson1 ,ford1 and ,massinger1 nor in all the comedies of ,shakspere4 ,master ,ford and ,master ,page1 the townsmen of ,windsor1 are neither snobs nor ,philistines4 ,but now1 in this wonderful nineteenth century1 the ,philistines are as obvious as the poor2 they swarm and teem everywhere4 ,the dense-minded middle-class man1 rich1 purse-proud1 vulgar1 incapable of apprehending anything beyond the range of his own personal experience1 comes upon the stage4 ,enter ,pugsley1 with a capacious abdomen1 a red beef face1 set off with cropped side whiskers1 a shiny pow1 a big voice1 and an imposing cough4 ,he is the butt1 it is true1 of the courtier and of the travelled man2 nevertheless1 he is represented as the type of a large class1 and as one who is becoming a power in the land1 and who is recognised as one of the characteristic elements of its society4 ,he is conscious at once of his importance1 and of his social inferiority1 and he submits1 although with surliness1 to the snubbing of his superiors1 which sometimes takes a very active and aggressive shape4 ,one day they will be coming round to me for a subscription towards erecting a statue of the ,great ,pugsley4 ,you know the kind of effigy--,pugsley in a pot-hat1 beaming benevolence1 on a granite pedestal1 that all who pass by may behold and envy the glory of this apotheosis of the ,successful ,man4 ,but why should not ,pugsley have his monument8 ,could one devise a better way of advertising his ,piquant ,pickles8 ,yes1 let us have a colossal bronze figure of ,peter ,pugsley1 ,m4,p41 in the market place of ,diddleham1 with raised pickle-bottles in metal festooned around the pedestal1 and the words1 ,ask for ,pugsley's graven in the polished stone4 ,there is not much artistic beauty in ,diddleham in the way of statuary4 ,the statue will supply a long-felt want4 ,besides1 there is a purely utilitarian aspect to the question 7they are very utilitarian at ,diddleham74 ,at six meetings of the ,town ,council1 the question of where to put the public fire-escape has been discussed with great heat4 ,let me suggest that it should be stood against the memorial to ,pugsley4 ,if ,i had a son who began to develop the faculty of getting on upon the ,pugsley lines1 ,i would do all ,i could to encourage the youngster4 ,he would earn success so easily that he would not care a rap for it4 ,i would go1 unbeknown to him1 and scatter pins on the ground in front of the office where he intended to apply for a clerkship1 so that he might stoop to pick them up1 thereby1 like the youth in the story1 convincing the employer of his thrifty and methodical qualities4 ,his library should be stocked with the lives of self-made men1 the biographies of smart bagmen1 and works on how to grow money4 ,portraits of successful merchants should deck the walls of his bedroom1 and he should be taught to revere them as patron saints4 ,i warrant such methods of fostering the love of commercial success would have the desired effect4 ,the boy would run away to a hollow tree1 a crust of bread1 and liberty4 ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,,villadom4 ,there is less inconvenience in being mad with the mad than by being wise by oneself4 ,,diderot4 ,it is among the respectable classes of this vast and happy empire that the greatest profusion of snobs is to be found4 ,,thackeray4 ,i sojourned perforce for a long while in ,villadom1 says an enemy of ,respectability2 and ,i came away with some of its froust about my person4 ,you can't bide there without getting harm2 but the worst of it is1 we have no option1 many of us2 we have to live in ,villadom at some time or another in our lives4 ,thackeray1 ,guy de ,maupassant1 ,george ,gissing1 and ,george ,moore have given us some clever studies of the kind of folk who live in those genteel residences in the suburbs4 ,mr4 ,moore's picture of ,ashbourne ,crescent1 in the last chapter of ,a ,drama in ,muslin1 is about the finest of the sort ,i have met with in fiction4 ,it is so good a description of the region that ,i am tempted beyond resistance to steal parts of it4 ,in ,ashbourne ,crescent there is neither dissent nor ,radicalism1 but general aversion to all considerations which might disturb belief in all the routine of existence1 in all its temporal and spiritual aspects1 as it had come amongst them4 ,the fathers and the brothers go to the ,city every day at nine1 the young ladies play tennis1 read novels1 and beg to be taken to dances at the ,kensington ,town ,hall4 ,on ,sunday the air is alive with the clanging of bells1 and1 in orderly procession1 every family proceeds to church1 the fathers in all the gravity of umbrellas and prayer-books1 the matrons in silk mantles and clumsy1 ready-made elastic sides2 the girls in all the gaiety of their summer dresses1 with lively bustles bobbing2 the young men in frock-coats which show off their broad shoulders1 as from time to time they pull their tawny moustaches4 ,each house keeps a cook and housemaid1 and on ,sunday afternoons1 when the skies are flushed with sunset1 and the outlines of this human warren grow harshly distinct--black lines upon pale red--these are seen walking arm-in-arm away towards a distant park with their young men4444 ,and that ,ashbourne ,crescent1 with its bright brass knockers1 its white-capped maidservants1 and spotless oilcloths1 will in the dim future pass away before some great tide of revolution that is now gathering strength far away1 deep down and out of sight in the heart of a nation1 is probable enough2 but it is certainly now1 in all its cheapness and vulgarity1 more than anything else representative1 though the length and breadth of the land be searched1 of the genius of ,empire that has been glorious through the long tale that nine hundred years have to tell4 ,i have conceived of a suburban colony of houses where a man might live and be natural and healthy-minded among his neighbours2 where he might1 if he chose1 walk about in cool1 backwoods dress1 a shirt1 breeks1 and wide-brimmed hat--or no hat--in hot weather1 without inciting derision1 or becoming a pariah4 ,but ,villadom cares nothing for naturalness1 nor liberty of opinion and conduct2 and1 unconscious of the madness of its severe conventionality1 it deems those insane who cultivate ideas and try to live up to them4 ,what6 is there one man in ten in this great sheep-pen who would like to be seen blacking his own boots or sweeping the snow from the front of his house8 ,no1 they prefer to ill-pay some man's daughter to do all their irksome and dirty work4 ,what does ,villadom read1 talk of1 and think upon8 ,the fathers read the newspapers1 the mothers and daughters peruse ,john ,halifax1 and such like literature of the ,pap-boat and ,pumplighter sort2 and the talk is of money1 the neighbours1 and the back-parlour window curtains and carpets--all good themes enough in their season1 but not the only things in life of vast importance4 ,the denizens of ,villadom tell you that they have their livings to earn1 dinners to cook1 and houses to control2 therefore there is no time for cultivating their intellects1 and developing their sense of the beautiful in nature and art4 ,no time6 ,it is the old plea of the men and women who squander hours in tittle-tattle and loafing4 ,gerald ,massey1 a bargeman's son1 and a fag in a factory2 ,elihu ,burritt1 a blacksmith2 ,thomas ,edward1 a shoemaker2 ,walt ,whitman1 a compositor2 ,bradlaugh1 a soldier1 and afterwards a clerk2 ,james ,hosken1 a postman1 not to mention a hundred other hard-working men1 found time to read1 and think1 and improve themselves4 ,it is the will1 and not the leisure1 that is lacking in ,villadom1 the will to be something better than mere ,respectables in the eyes of society4 ,the foppery and frippery of ,villadom are miserable outlets for human energy4 ,if this is the end of civilised beings1 give me rather the wildest life of primitive barbarians1 for they1 at least1 wish to learn higher arts of living4 ,no past civilisation presents this picture of ,philistine apathy to the nobler interests of life4 ,karl ,pearson says truly that the two most pitiful illustrations of our pseudo-civilisation may be seen in the main streets of the ,west ,end of ,london4 ,in the afternoon you see crowds of idle1 shallow women standing1 rapt in the admiration of bits of ribbon in the windows of the drapery stores4 ,a few hours later1 when the shops are closed1 another army of women parade the pavements1 ogling and smirking in their nightly quest for the bread of prostitution4 ,the ladies of the afternoon promenade are mostly the wives and daughters of ,villadom4 ,they do not know how largely responsible they are for that nocturnal orgy of the streets when they are snug in their luxurious drawing-rooms4 ,it is the fetish-worship of ,respectability that makes thousands of women redundant1 drives some to the streets1 and condemns others to withered celibacy4 ,men realise that the ,respectable daughters of ,villadom are luxuries that they cannot afford to maintain1 in early life1 at least2 and the demi-monde know this1 too4 ,as ,mr4 ,w4 ,r4 ,greg wrote3 ,while the monde has been deteriorating1 the demi-monde has been improving2 as the one has grown stupider and costlier1 the other has grown1 more attractive1 more decorous1 and more easy4 ,the ladies there are now often as clever and amusing1 usually more beautiful1 and not infrequently 7in external demeanour1 at least17 as modest1 as their rivals in more recognised society4 ,this writer1 rightly or wrongly1 affirms that the way to set things straight in this anomaly of polyandry for thousands of women1 and celibacy for thousands of their sisters is by the respectable ladies emulating the manners1 and attaining the charms of the hetr1 in cheerfulness and kindliness of demeanour1 economy of style1 and ease and simplicity4 ,i know the advanced women--some of them1 at any rate--will tell me that men are not worth winning at this expense1 and that they prefer to go their own ways alone4 ,so be it4 ,there is no coercion to matrimony for such as elect to remain in single independence4 ,on the other hand1 we have not yet killed the sexual attraction and the maternal instinct in all our emancipated women4 ,and1 as for the girls of ,villadom1 they1 at all events1 look upon marriage as their destiny4 ,then1 ,i say1 let them get rid of this spurious virtue of ,respectability1 which costs so much to maintain1 and is worth nothing after all their pains4 ,villadom exists principally for women4 ,bachelor men do not1 as a rule1 need domestic whim-whams and nick-nacks to make them happy in their diggings4 ,villadom has been built and embellished for the fair sex2 they reign almost supreme there1 and it is their part to refine the atmosphere of their domain4 ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,,the ,,tyranny ,,of ,,respectability4 ,men1 and still more women1 who lift themselves above the ordinary standard by their philosophical tastes and speculations1 may indeed be accounted fortunate if they escape calumny or obloquy from general society4 ,w4 ,,carew ,,hazlitt4 ,mankind is an ass1 who kicks those who endeavour to take off his panniers1 says a ,spanish proverb4 ,when we are very young and enthusiastic about the great part we mean to play in the reformation of society1 we work ourselves into fearful furies of indignation with those who have persecuted innovators in all ages4 ,later in life we learn that the persecutor is more of an ass than a villain2 and the more we study humanity1 not forgetting our own human nature1 the more are we persuaded that this is the right scientific view to take4 ,while we had the taint of ,respectability in us 7and very few men and women are born without it71 we were disposed sometimes to do some of this asinine kicking upon those whom we considered dangers to society4 ,we did not pause to think whether they wished to help us by removing the packs from our galled backs2 but1 as soon as a ,samaritan approached us with kindly intent1 we let fly our heels and attacked him4 ,the fact is1 as ,thoreau says1 there are really very few men1 even of the ,non-,respectables1 without some trace of ,respectable prejudice4 ,let us1 therefore1 be as tolerant as possible towards the misguided ,respectables who brutally maltreat their would-be benefactors4 ,perhaps you have never thrown flints at an itinerant evangelist1 nor hustled a ,socialist in the parks2 nevertheless1 you have persecuted in some shape or form at one time of your life4 ,too lazy by nature to inquire into a novel social doctrine1 or to dispassionately examine a new theory of morals1 you have misunderstood and denounced the promulgators and theorists4 ,this is very often the outcome of your ,respectability1 and a purely emotional manifestation of prejudice against something that you have not tried to understand4 ,thus persecution begins4 ,if you have a large element of the savage in you1 your opposition will take the form of actual physical violence and scurrilous abuse2 if you are moderately humane and intelligent1 you will merely scorn and deride the heretic4 ,your blood seethes when you read of the persecution of martyrs4 ,take heed of yourself that you do not evince the malevolent spirit that impels men to denounce others unheard1 at the first suggestion of heterodox opinion4 ,priestley1 a ,unitarian minister1 of ,birmingham1 experimented in chemistry1 and discovered oxygen1 alone and entirely unassisted1 in a laboratory fitted up at his own expense4 ,the world owes much to this industrious man of science4 ,but the human nature that killed ,christ and ,bruno1 hated ,priestley because he tried to convey new truths4 ,a mob of fanatical ,respectables burned down his house1 and destroyed all his books1 notes1 and apparatus1 and drove him from his native land4 ,home1 the author of the tragedy of ,douglas1 was persecuted and turned out of the ministry by ,scotch ,respectables for writing a play to amuse and instruct his fellow men2 and ,dr4 ,alexander ,carlyle was threatened with a prosecution for standing by ,home1 his friend4 ,religious ,respectability persecuted the devout ,hannah ,more for instructing the children of the poor4 ,moneyed ,respectability hanged ,john ,brown1 mobbed ,theodore ,parker1 and threatened to shoot ,ernestine ,rose for endeavouring to free negro slaves4 ,shelley1 one of the humanest souls who ever lived1 was driven from ,eton by respectable young cads1 expelled from ,oxford by ,respectability1 and banished to another country4 ,byron1 who taught men1 by brave precept and example to love liberty1 was reviled1 slandered1 and forced to live abroad4 ,walt ,whitman1 for showing men the beauty and purity of the reproductive function1 degraded and assailed by ,respectability1 was greeted with howls of execration4 ,respectability has cursed ,ibsen1 ,zola1 and ,bjrnson1 three mighty forces for righteousness in ,europe4 ,charles ,bradlaugh1 who devoted his life to the service of man1 was bitterly assailed and vilely aspersed by his contemporary ,respectables4 ,respectable human nature kicks everyone who sets himself to benefit humanity4 ,the history of this moral pest and mental blight abounds with instances of its venomous effect upon men's hearts and minds4 ,i can bear it no longer1 cries ,thackeray1 this diabolical invention of gentility which kills natural kindliness and honest friendship4 ,proper pride1 indeed6 ,rank and precedence1 forsooth6 ,the table of ranks and degrees is a lie1 and should be flung into the fire4 ,organise rank and precedence6 ,that was well for the masters of ceremonies of former ages4 ,come forward1 some great marshal1 and organise equality in society1 and your rod shall swallow up all the juggling old court 'goldsticks4' ,carlyle calls ,england the wealthiest and worst instructed of ,european nations4 ,respectability piles up money1 accumulates vast stores of material products1 and starves men's minds in the process4 ,it tyrannises in every province of ethics1 science1 art1 literature1 and politics1 laying continually on our shoulders burdens grievous to bear4 ,you can scarcely move without coming into collision with ,respectability2 you are expected to eat1 drink1 dress1 think1 marry1 and be buried in accordance with its canon4 ,the ,respectables of the ,exchange will snub and insult an independent-minded man who ventures within the shoddy circle without a chimney-pot hat4 ,i have heard this stupid tyranny of majorities defended as a safeguard of decency and order4 ,what6 ,these attempts to stamp out individuality of character promote social progress8 ,this is an odd way of reasoning4 ,but the ,respectable doesn't reason2 he follows the crowd mechanically4 ,you have only to give the ,respectables plenty of rope1 and they will strangle every effort of advance4 ,they form societies for suppressing this thing and harrying that1 with their wary scouts prowling in every direction2 they try to rob the poor man of his beer1 while they gorge themselves with fat meats2 they fought tooth and nail against the ,sunday opening of museums and picture-galleries2 they prosecuted ,mr4 ,vizetelly for selling translations of ,zola's novels2 they oppose amelioration of our absurd1 cruel1 and ineffective prison system2 they ban the teaching of physiological morality in sex matters2 and they put hobbles and blinkers on women4 ,i have no especial veneration for ,lord ,beaconsfield as a politician1 but ,i admire him for his unconventionality4 ,how many young men possess the pluck to appear at a dinner party in green velvet trousers1 a canary-coloured waistcoat1 low shoes with silver buckles1 lace at their wrists1 and their hair in ringlets8 ,on another occasion1 ,disraeli turned up at a diocesan gathering at ,oxford clad in a black velveteen shooting jacket1 with a wideawake hat4 ,a ,respectable booby1 writing the other day to a ,liberal newspaper1 referred to these eccentricities as though they were vices in a man1 instead of recognising that such flaunting of a dull1 drab ,respectability1 betokened courage and individuality4 ,immediately you dress in accordance with your own taste1 instead of in the mufti of convention1 you are dubbed a mountebank and a posturer4 ,of course1 after these aberrations of deportment and form1 there is not a good word to be said for ,dizzy1 only vehement abuse and denunciation4 ,yet the same ,radical ,respectable knew perfectly well1 when he sat down to write that diatribe1 that many of his class affect peculiarities of dress4 ,,chapter ,x4 ,,respectable ,,civilisation ,,and ,,after4 ,i announce a life that shall be copious1 vehement1 spiritual1 bold4 ,,walt ,,whitman4 ,it is the boast of the ordinary patriotic ,briton that he lives in a highly civilised country4 ,during his tutelage1 he learns that climate1 or insularity of position on the face of the globe1 or the system of monarchy1 or the ,bible1 has1 or have1 combined or separately1 made ,england the foremost nation on earth4 ,in later life he is sometimes prone to exclaim against our advanced civilisation1 and even to go to the extreme of asserting that we could well dispense with much of it4 ,the latter-day ,anglo-,saxon1 who thinks without thought1 has for himself a very clear and satisfying idea of civilisation4 ,emerson1 on the other hand1 remarks that nobody has attempted a definition of civilisation1 and that we usually suggest it by negations2 and he adduces instances of people lacking an alphabet1 iron1 and abstract thought4 ,thus1 when we ask for an explanation of the term ,civilisation1 we usually hear an enumeration of the constituents of a state of primal savagery1 and are then possibly referred to the material products1 money1 and ,gatling guns of a nation for signs of its civilisation4 ,it is then much simpler for the majority to formulate intrinsic barbarism than to define refinement1 and to delineate a reliable ideal of ,civilisation4 ,they are conscious that much1 if not most of that which they would designate civilised could1 upon close examination1 be proved to be barbaric4 ,their easy exposition will not withstand keen scientific scrutiny2 and a definition which will not stand this test is merely a stumbling-block in the way of inquiry4 ,a member of a reputedly cultured community or class naturally resents attack upon those views and customs which in his estimate denote civilisation1 and are of its very essence4 ,if he is a pious ,englishman1 he will probably confess that in the matter of faith the people of ,eastern countries are barbaric1 while he fails to discern the trail of barbarity in his own creed and ritual4 ,in like manner1 a ,philistine aristocrat will scarcely accede that there is barely one degree of coarseness betwixt his pleasures and those of the illiterate proletarian1 who1 in his turn1 persuades himself that he is more intelligent and decent than his compeers of another land4 ,yet the truth is that a very small number of the inhabitants of these isles can be justly labelled civilised4 ,we must search1 as it were1 in the mode of ,diogenes for the highly organised man1 brought to supreme delicacy of sentiment1 as in practical power1 religion1 liberty1 sense of honour and taste1 who stands for ,emerson's type of civilised humanity4 ,that such examples are not unknown at this stage is as certain as the fact that many more are in the process of evolution4 ,and although savagery in idea and practice confronts us this way and that in each scale of society1 we shall do ill if we approach the study of modern barbarism in a vein of mocking pessimism4 ,it is also necessary that a lively faith in the evolutionary principle applied to human nature should be tempered by a look behind while our hopes are young4 ,slowly and painfully are we working out the beast1 slowly and painfully must we climb the stages till we cease to obey the blind dictates of instinctive impulse and to base our codes on the reigning opinions of the irrational mass4 ,it is hardly needful to reiterate even one of the preliminary conclusions of all philosophers and humanists to prove that most men have no reasoned views upon the conduct of life4 ,seneca says that the common sort find it easier to believe than to judge1 and content themselves with what is usual1 never examining whether it be good or no4 ,by the common sort is intended the man of title as well as the clouted shoe4 ,the veracity of ,swift's aphorism that most men have as much turn for flying as for thinking1 and of ,carlyle's laconic mostly fools1 is unquestioned4 ,it is therefore no unsupported postulate that the larger part of civilised people always tend to lead barbaric lives1 and that what each class is apt to accept as an approximation to a complete civilisation is a very inchoate form of that truer culture urged upon society by individualist reformers in each successive age4 ,a very slight examination of the thought and pursuits of what is called the highest class in our existing social scale will serve to demonstrate the prevalence of barbarism4 ,for there1 as in the lower circles1 we find the lines of apathy1 vulgarity1 and animalism graven on patrician faces1 and proclaimed in the talk of the dinner-table1 the smoking-room1 and the covert-side4 ,obviously1 all our peers are not ultra-barbarians2 neither are all our bargees and coalheavers savages4 ,yet the dominant tone is just as often low and inane in the mansion as in the tenement1 and with much less to offer in its extenuation4 ,millions toil and ache1 and are vulgarised in order that a coterie of hereditary lords and titled parvenus shall enjoy the leisure which they mainly devote to frivolity and the killing of the ons of time4 ,upon these1 the intimates of monarchs1 the protectors of the sacred pheasant1 the distributors of largess1 a barbaric populace alternately lavishes its affection and its abuse4 ,so long as the baron flings his groats to the churls1 all is peace in vassaldom2 but when rents are racked1 game laws enforced to their utmost limits1 and the dice rattled in the hall1 the voice of the people is upraised in tumult1 and the virtuous artizan1 clinking his silver winnings on the way from the racecourse1 thanks heaven he is not as these nobles are1 gamblers1 adulterers1 and oppressors of the widow and the orphan4 ,set a barbarian to lash a barbarian if you wish to see injustice done4 ,the fact is that1 being barbarous1 we first allow an accident of birth to raise a man to a position of power1 and then run atilt at our shoddy dignities because the power tends to impede general well-being4 ,worth of mind is the one qualification for esteem1 a trite enough dictum in the mouths of those who persistently ignore its truth4 ,but the time must come when the aristocracy of character will be the only recognised aristocracy in civilised nations4 ,i think that if one should suggest that it is right to hate the members of our bloated aristocracy1 he is no less absurd than those who fawn around the lackeys of a court4 ,our noble lords are not of one type1 as our common people are not of one cast1 though in many rude examples of nobility we can trace the basic elements of ruffianism1 and see the bestial fruits thereof4 ,what most concerns us is the question whether a society that grants titles to its successful money-grabbers is clean-purged of its antique barbarism4 ,an academical diploma conferred upon a teacher of the arts or sciences is possibly one means by which the respectful heed of the uncultured is secured for new doctrine4 ,for the one who appends certain characters to his signature will be held in esteem by the many as a man worth hearing4 ,even in the matter of degrees given to scholars of distinction1 we too often discover that such award fosters moral and mental deterioration1 and that it narrows and mars the career of thinkers who are elevated to a throne of authority4 ,our laureates must need be eminently wary in their main theories1 though they may pipe an undernote of revolt in the sequestered grove1 to ease their souls of the sting of the stultifying penalty of vulgar rank4 ,yes1 titles of all kinds seem to have a tendency to degrade2 and the sun of courtly favour often withers the real and aids the growth of the spurious nobility4 ,brave old ,samuel1 ever a ,respectable in leading sentiments1 was more so when he took a dole from the palace4 ,there is little hope for the amendment of the semi-barbaric prophet when he is taken from the wilderness and thrust into a position only tenurable by wily compromise with the ,respectabilities4 ,very engrossing is the study of ,respectability in high places4 ,these be the men we are told to look up to1 said a tattered plebeian1 whose eyes had been blasted by the hunting magistrate who was riding on other men's land4 ,but that we do look up to our rich1 idle folk with an avid awe is undoubted4 ,few persons in a town are especially interested in hearing that ,mr4 ,herbert ,spencer is there on a visit2 but we are most of us anxious to shake hands with a prize-fighter1 or the ,jubilee ,plunger1 or to take tea with a millionaire's wife4 ,we look up to or hunt after such because they have vulgar notoriety or money1 and we are not concerned to know how they came by their popularity and their cash1 and whether they deserve either1 and make a good use of their power4 ,were it not for the few civilised beings who dare to be considered odd1 this odious admiration of trivial character and empty claims would mean a ripening to the decay of society4 ,involuntarily1 the civilised make the ways of barbarity easy to thousands1 for they absolve the lethargic from the exertion of severe thinking4 ,the paradise towards which the bourgeoisie strive is not the leisure to refine the mind1 but the opportunity to vie with the more commonplace section of the upper class in dissipation4 ,the labourer who resents the lordling's contumely1 and indicts him for living a lazy life1 may only work when he is starving1 and perhaps not then4 ,his ideal may rise no higher than perpetual beer and ninepins1 while the squire craves no higher satisfaction in life than hunting six days a week1 and champagne1 billiards1 and the sporting papers on ,sunday4 ,the evil is in the setting up of a barbaric aim of life in all classes4 ,our greatest ideals are the commercial and the voluptuous4 ,the eternal pursuit of the frivolous1 which makes up the chief part of what is foolishly termed high life1 and the sordid middle-class struggle to amass money1 are accepted by the shallow as tokens of our progress in civilisation4 ,we are rich and luxurious2 we are therefore far above the savage4 ,yet how far8 ,our leisured and affluent have for the greater number returned to the employment of a pre-pastoral epoch4 ,look at the lives of thousands of ,english gentlemen4 ,truer barbarians never existed of old than many of those whose whole thought1 energy1 and wealth are given up to sport4 ,many of them are restless nomads1 ever hurrying from one quarter of the globe to another in search of fresh game to kill4 ,i do not underrate the need for the development of the physical man1 nor ignore the value of sports rightly comprehended as a means to the end of training and recreating the body4 ,but what shall be said of that multitude of our countrymen who live to amuse themselves in such primitive fashion8 ,it is these who waste their powers1 and barbarise the vulgar by the force of ill example4 ,let us not wonder that1 in bygone days1 a gaping peasantry1 with quaint uncouth notions of what constituted an efficient mouthpiece of their wants1 yelled at the hustings for the return of those who rode straight1 and could pummel the best man of the mob in a brace of rounds4 ,of such order are still the credentials in some of the ,pagan constituencies1 where the beer-steeped intelligence pleads the election of an old-fashioned sort and a thorough sportsman4 ,we are still rearing these rude types in our public schools and universities1 and for these we laudably reserve the chief places on the senate1 on justiciary benches1 and in local boards4 ,despite their educational chances and social opportunities1 these are surely among the retrograde1 with their argot culled from the racing journals1 their strange drawling pronunciation of the ,english tongue1 their points of breeding1 their caddish hauteur1 their rampant ,john ,bullisms1 and their innate aversion to thought and earnestness4 ,the fop of ,charles's time1 says ,leslie1 in ,mr4 ,mallock's ,new ,republic1 aimed at seeming a wit and a scholar4 ,the fop of ours aims at being a fool and a dunce4 ,quitting this strange horde1 let us descend to the mart for an examination of the ,commercial ,ideal4 ,no one denies that for a nation of shopkeepers we have done great things in the world's history4 ,in a very large measure we are civilised by the shop1 and it is only when the shop absorbs the best of us1 mental and physical1 that commercial activity tends to retard progress4 ,provide that a man's moral sense and intellect are not warped or unexercised in the making of money1 and there is nothing degrading1 but the opposite1 in his desire to succeed commercially4 ,but in the fierceness of competition in an over-populated country1 cruel barbarity and detestable meanness and cunning arise4 ,and not only these1 but the curse of intellectual and sthetic atrophy lights upon the host4 ,out of this undue stress is developed a tendency to sordid living1 a preference for the lower gratifications of life4 ,yet need money-getting always degrade the people8 ,will the prosperous business career of the future be alone compatible with a low standard of thought1 and a corrupt canon of commercial morals8 ,life without industry is guilt2 industry without art is brutality4 ,now1 in the push and drive of industry at the close of this century it is as hard for myriads to keep the soul alive1 as it is for many thousands to find food for the body4 ,the trader who makes ,mammon his idol1 who thinks money1 and spends his wealth irrationally1 brutalises life4 ,but for the others1 let us rather pity and try to amend the condition of those who cannot1 in plain terms1 leave the shop4 ,there are strong-minded and somewhat exceptional tradesmen who can shake off the dust of the warehouse1 and spend the hours of freedom in the cultivation of the intellect4 ,there are men of business who do excellent work in art and science1 while their jaded associates are satisfying their purely animal wants4 ,the question is--,can a man live the higher life1 and succeed in the worldly meaning of prosperity8 ,men do not grow money by storing the brain with knowledge1 and the merchant who ponders upon a phase of evolution1 or murmurs a rhythm of ,tennyson while he is at the ledger1 will most probably be an indifferent money-maker4 ,lamb's ,good ,clerk1 you will remember1 gets on because his first aim is to be a good piece of mechanism4 ,it is a grievous reflection that zeal for the desk should eat up the brain and better part of a good man1 and leave him a machine4 ,the expert clerk is as valuable as the clever author or the great painter2 but the trouble is that while the trader is making himself efficient as a trader1 he is frequently neglecting his mind1 narrowing his social judgments1 and tending backwards4 ,is there no escape from a seemingly invincible fate that restricts the thought and energy of the million to the bare affairs of the shop8 ,it does almost seem at first that there is none4 ,what we have to determine is whether we shall aid the production of mediocre shopkeepers1 who will desire to live cultured lives1 while they devote a due share of thought to the shop1 or whether we shall continue to rear a class who place business first and culture last1 or practically without their scheme of life4 ,for every sociologist this is a great problem4 ,speaking out of my own prejudice1 ,i would rather live in a country of moderately prosperous men1 who read1 and speculated1 and had aspirations for something higher than lucre1 than in the land where the mass were rich and unintellectual4 ,there is an economic aspect of the alternatives4 ,art thrives where there is wealth2 but money does not of necessity make good art4 ,at present two formidable hindrances stand in the way of developing culture--over-population1 and a passion for ostentation4 ,regulate the reproductive faculty1 and save the potential slave of industrialism from a struggle that waxes keener yearly4 ,this must be done in the individual and national interest1 to the gradual diminishment of abject poverty and the lessening of the awful strain in the congested centres4 ,allied with this teaching1 there should be a wide inculcation of the value of a refined simplicity of material life1 a substitution of high-thinking for mere barbarous display in living4 ,these were the leading precepts of ,john ,stuart ,mill to an unheedful generation2 but ,i1 for one1 take courage in the view that this will become the creed of many as we advance in the art of living4 ,in ,liberty1 ,mill writes3 ,the superior worth of simplicity of life1 the enervating and demoralising effects of the trammels and hypocrisies of artificial society1 are ideas which have never been entirely absent from cultivated minds since ,rousseau wrote2 and they will in time produce their due effect1 though at present needing to be asserted by deeds1 for words1 on this subject1 have nearly exhausted their power4 ,the way of the civiliser is hard4 ,if the men and women of ideals and broad sympathies go1 as ,mills enjoins1 into ,barbaria and ,philistia as apostles1 they must be prepared to receive the hurts of primitive weapons4 ,missionaries are not welcomed with barbaric shouts of glee when they land to subvert ancient faiths4 ,neither are apostles of righteousness and sweetness and light beloved of our children of darkness in ,belgravia and ,bloomsbury4 ,but as ,mr4 ,hamerton asks in his ,intellectual ,life3 ,are the ,philistines to have all the talk to themselves for ever2 are they to rehearse their stupid old platitudes without the least fear of contradiction8 ,how long1 ,o ,lord1 how long8 ,yet1 let your apostle be the quintessence of tact and humility1 he will not escape slander1 odium1 and contempt when he essays to contradict the ancient platitudes4 ,broach boldly any subject1 from religion to corset-wearing1 in the drawing-room at ,bloomsbury1 or in the back parlour at ,lambeth1 and you will have to contend against stubborn apathy4 ,to cultivate eccentricity of opinion and conduct for the purpose of evoking the curiosity of the languid ,respectables1 is a form of insanity which no one will suppose ,i am advocating as an effort towards civilisation4 ,but social danger is always to be apprehended from conventionality that is stagnantly content with the existing order1 and has not the desire nor energy to advance4 ,it is1 then1 the onerous duty of a thoughtful member of the respectable classes to awaken his relatives or associates from a blank contentment with mere animal well-being and trivial aims4 ,he must not shrink from the burden because it is the habit of unthinking persons to believe that the conclusions of sounder brains have been gained by the same meagre thinking as their own flimsy theories1 or that his wrought-out views are only crotchets advanced to flatter his egoism4 ,for by those who shirk deep thinking1 intellectual seriousness in others is merely regarded as a more or less peculiar temperamental trait4 ,they do not know that the eternal voluntary martyrdom of thinkers is their salvation4 ,they are unaware that the good and the earnest toil daily in order that the evil and the frivolous may be preserved to reap the reward of toilsome thought1 in which the apathetic have had no share1 and for which they have little praise4 ,reflect upon what ,darwin has done for morality1 science1 and art1 and then mark the mean ingratitude and ignorant misrepresentation of some of those who are now being made whole by his sane science4 ,will the ,respectables always crucify their social redeemers8 ,not wholly encouraging is the investigation of barbarism in our industrial and proletarian classes4 ,yet perhaps1 if there is one party above another that appears to be progressing rapidly towards a higher civilisation1 it is the operative4 ,when one thinks of what the working class has done1 with its lack of advantage in the past1 and its scant opportunity in the present1 the progress is one of the most wonderful and hopeful omens of modern times4 ,it is inevitable that the acquisition of a little knowledge should bear some ill fruit among the sound2 but the humanising influences of education far exceed in their proved result the expectation of the early pioneers of a noble movement4 ,much has been done1 and much remains to be accomplished1 in the work of constructing the foundations and superstructure of an ultimate democratic civilisation4 ,whitman and ,ibsen1 latter-day prophets of sound social foresight1 predicted at the outset of their careers that in the fibre and stuff of a cultured democracy lies our hope4 ,undoubtedly1 the moral tone of the industrial class is growing higher yearly4 ,the rough hand of the artisan has fashioned much of our civilisation1 and his hard1 calculating intelligence will have a larger share in the government of the near future4 ,i confess that it thrills me to hear that a set of miners in the ,north have begged the custodian of a public library to provide them with ,mr4 ,meredith's fine but difficult novels4 ,again1 we should rejoice to learn that a factory worker1 who has taught himself to read at the age of forty1 is studying ,mr4 ,spencer's ,first ,principles4 ,as ,i have before tried to show1 the neglect of civilising thought and study is not voluntary in the case of many busy men and women4 ,it is largely an outcome of complex commercial rivalry and overpressure that thousands should not share in the higher refinements of civilisation1 and that science should be outside their rule of life instead of at the bottom of it4 ,thoreau speaks of the best part of the husbandman being ploughed into the soil for compost2 and the figure represents the case for legions of toilers4 ,mr4 ,ruskin is among the oracles when he announces that the final outcome of all wealth is the producing as many as possible full-breathed1 bright-eyed1 and happy-hearted human creatures4 ,perhaps so2 but for the nonce1 we mostly plod on in that dim-eyed and narrow-chested state of being1 which we are wont to describe as getting on in the world4 ,it is a great thing1 this educational advance of the tool-skilled4 ,yet there is much to be done4 ,it is needless to rehearse the manifold savage characteristics1 the mob frenzies1 and the low pleasures of many of the working class--imperfections which all of us exhibit either in like kind or with faint difference4 ,we forget that a mechanic who indulges in a weekly debauch1 and sometimes beats a constable1 has his counterpart in those who call themselves superior4 ,ruffianism1 brutality1 and gross sensuality are not restricted to one class4 ,english epicurism is mostly of the lower kind in every rank4 ,the uncivilised of the upper class spend the larger part of their incomes upon dishes and drinks2 the coarse of the labouring class expend nearly half their wages on beer4 ,our sensuousness trends in the direction of sensuality4 ,we pride ourselves that we are able to consume quantities of flesh1 and we apotheosise ,john ,barleycorn with ,shakspere4 ,very sombre is the spectacle of the life that bruises the million4 ,to one who walks the streets observantly on public holidays1 the white faces and worn bodies of his toiling brothers tell of dull1 grinding lives4 ,see the poor mercantile clerks and the shopmen1 the genteel drudges1 the indispensable factors of wealth which they will never share4 ,well does ,guy de ,maupassant picture the type3 ,with sallow faces and twisted bodies1 and one of their shoulders a little forced up by perpetual bending at work over a table 444 they all belonged to the army of poor threadbare devils who vegetate frugally in a mean little plaster-house1 with a flower bed for a garden4 ,how can we inveigh against these tired workers for the drowsy occupation of their few leisure hours8 ,what is chiefly at fault is the crushing system that leaves so little time for expansion of the mind and the sympathies1 the ideal that shapes the many to this level cast4 ,mr4 ,grant ,white gives a grimly sardonic sketch of a ,london shopkeeping pair in his ,england ,without and ,within4 ,he tells of faces that had probably once expressed some of the vivacity of youth2 but this had passed away1 and nothing1 no trace of thought or feeling1 had come into its place--only fat2 a greasy witness of content4 ,but there is more pathos than humour in this study from lower middle-class life4 ,were there not originally the germs of ideas1 imagination1 and emotion1 in these unfortunate contented souls8 ,are such doomed to take no thought for higher things than bread-getting and eating1 and will their minds for ever starve on the ,bethel hymn and the newspaper8 ,more pitiful and tragic is the state of the lowest1 the lapsed1 the untameable of the slums4 ,our society1 says ,m4 ,taine1 is a fine edifice1 but in the lowest story what a sink of impurity4444 ,it seems to me that the evil and the good are greater here than in ,france4 ,the law cannot cure inherent propensities to evil doing1 and pious philanthropy can merely patch a rotten vestment2 but scientific criminologists will eventually probe to the root4 ,too long have we relied upon the gaoler and the priest4 ,we are learning now that congenital crime is a subject for the physiologist and the mental pathologist4 ,so1 too1 with the plague of chronic destitution1 the prime infamy of pseudo-civilisation4 ,instinctive barbaric pity urges liberal almsgiving2 but the beautiful emotion of sympathy needs as much control in its gratification as the purely animal appetites4 ,we shall awake soon to the truth that it is our selfish ,respectability that must be fought with the weapons of a new economic science1 based upon righteousness4 ,we should strive to destroy the sources of hopeless want1 as we endeavour to exterminate disease microbes in the body4 ,are these the visions of ,utopianism8 ,no2 for when we consider what modern science has done in its infancy1 we may surely reckon upon greater victory in days now dawning4 ,to support this inspiring creed of science we do not need to fabricate evidences out of improbability1 conjecture1 and fallacy2 for the proofs are plain and convincing1 and will survive the severest criticism4 ,truly1 if we make moan one day for the tenacity of unreason in the human brain1 we may rejoice on the morrow in the thought that never in history has the outlook been brighter4 ,it is too evident that thousands who can no longer be satisfied with the guesses of primitive barbarians concerning man's origin and destiny still cover their inner convictions with the cloak of ,respectability1 and endeavour to seem that which they are not4 ,honesty will thrive with the wane of ,respectability4 ,,chapter ,,xi4 ,,conclusion4 ,respect is often paid in proportion as it is claimed4 ,,dr4 ,,johnson4 ,respectable reader1 you are perchance by this time partly inclined to at least agree that this disease of yours may be harmful to yourself and to others4 ,i have not minced my words in discussing the unpleasant symptoms of your ailment4 ,you are a prey to hallucinations1 and it behoved me1 as a judicious physician1 to jeer at your fancies and to deride your dreads4 ,i have endeavoured to convince you that ,respectability is anti-social1 improgressive1 and often cruel4 ,you cannot deny that the world's greatest moral worthies have been the ,non-,respectables1 the ,unconventionalists1 the enlightened ,eccentrics4 ,they have all deviated in some particular1 or in many ways1 from the ordinary standards and customs of the majority4 ,in many instances they have been accounted immoral1 but that has not deterred them1 because new morality has always been deemed immorality by the ,respectables4 ,wesley1 for example1 thought it immoral to doubt the existence of witches4 ,yet1 who to-day but the most degraded peasants of the wild hills believes in witches8 ,mr4 ,gladstone considers divorce immoral2 but those who differ from him may be counted in millions4 ,they are the adherents of a new morality1 more reasonable1 just1 and humane than the old which has passed away4 ,therefore1 to make progress we are compelled to defy ,respectability1 and to outrage propriety4 ,but that does not mean that we are to become ruthless ,vandals1 taking delight in destroying everything that is old4 ,far from it4 ,we must pull down that idol ,respectability from its throne1 and set up some worthier object of veneration in its place4 ,true worth and integrity of character can have no alliance with intellectual insincerity and social hypocrisy4 ,we need more brave-hearted men and women1 with the courage of their opinions1 more heterodox thinkers1 more consistent heretics to stand solidly together in a great attack on the shams and falsehoods that constitute ,respectability4 ,our children must be taught to use their brains1 so that when they grow up they will not allow their little corner of the world to rule their lives and make them cowardly and deceitful4 ,the words of the ,knight in ,pericles should be taught to boys3 ,we are gentlemen that neither in our hearts nor outward eyes envy the great1 nor do the low despise4 ,education must be freed from the restrictions and hindrances of ,respectability1 and made catholic1 comprehensive1 and equal for both sexes4 ,the canker has eaten too long at the heart of our great nation4 ,its ravages1 if unchecked1 will ultimately destroy our prestige1 and we shall fall as ,babylon1 ,rome1 and ,greece have fallen4 ,our social affections are blighted and chilled by this fell disease1 our emotions are shrivelled1 our national virility enfeebled4 ,colonies in their youth offer us a good illustration of the rapid progress of a people who have abandoned the cant of ,respectability4 ,in such communities men and women work for the commonweal1 on a fraternal basis1 with no heed to rank and precedence1 and it is in these societies that individualism1 independence1 and unconventionality have full play and outlet4 ,only at a later stage does the blight of ,respectability descend upon the people of a new country1 as we see it now in ,america1 and1 to a certain extent in ,australia and ,canada1 where the bourgeoisie have established themselves and infected the populace with their disease4 ,this diabolical invention of gentility1 as ,thackeray terms it1 is disintegrating society in ,england1 slowly and surely4 ,it is not foreign aggression1 nor anarchy within1 that we should most fear1 but the insidious virus of the disease that is sapping our vitals4 ,it is the middle-men of the middle class who chiefly spread the contagion and transmit it to posterity4 ,antiquated political economists tell us that the middleman is useful to everyone1 and that the man who gambles with other folk's money is a benefactor4 ,there was a time when trade meant a handicraft2 now it is a term for gambling with articles made by ill-rewarded workers4 ,and the man who lives by this system of dealing expects the farmer1 the miner1 and craftsmen to doff their caps to him1 and call him gentleman4 ,since every ,jack became a gentleman1 there's many a gentle person made a ,jack1 says ,shakspere4 ,no one with a clear gaze on the future can delude himself that the middleman is a permanent institution1 to be preserved and commended4 ,his respectability1 without dwelling upon his economic raison d'tre1 has made him the contempt of the upper class and the detestation of the working population4 ,he has made himself king of provincial towns1 censor of morals1 and patron of the arts2 and the mob has let him gain the upper hand1 looking on with mouths agape at his cleverness4 ,respectability in its worst forms will last as long as the bourgeoisie possess this power over the masses4 ,i leave it to ,anarchists1 ,socialists1 ,individualist1 ,tories1 and the rest to settle whether the shoddy god1 ,respectability1 is to reign despotically over ,england4 ,,the ,,university ,,magazine ,,and ,,free ,,review4 ,among the high-class magazines1 the ,university ,magazine and ,free ,review takes the first place in ,english advanced literature4 ,independence of thought1 freedom from conventional fetters1 and boldness where necessary1 impart a freshness and vigour to the articles of this publication1 which we miss even in the best and most earnest literature of the day4 ,it is the ,magazine for such readers as care for progressive thought in all or any of the main fields of discussion--the religious1 the political1 the sociological1 the ethical1 the economic1 the literary1 the scientific1 and the sthetic4 ,it always takes the part of the weak and oppressed1 and this ,magazine has done much to call attention to indisputable evils4 ,contents of the ,,april ,no41 #ahig1 ,vol4 ,,viii41 ,no4 ,i-- ,the ,case ,of ,dr4 ,romanes1 by ,john ,m4 ,robertson4 ,cardinal ,manning1 the ,sceptic1 by ,r4 de ,villiers4 ,the ,inertia of ,english ,universities1 by ,f4 ,r4 ,sarritor4 ,the ,bible and the ,child1 by ,chilperic4 ,tourgenieff1 by ,ernest ,newman4 ,roden ,noel1 by ,karl ,blind4 ,the ,whole ,duty of ,woman1 by ,geoffrey ,mortimer4 ,the ,blasphemy ,laws1 by ,fred4 ,verinder4 ,martin ,turner1 by ,h4 ,j4 ,cressingham4 ,the ,intellectual ,movement in ,france1 by ,a4 ,hamon4 ,periodicals1 by ,walter ,shaw ,sparrow4 ,contents of the ,,may ,no41 #ahig1 ,vol4 ,,viii41 ,no4 #b-- ,bentley and ,anthony ,collins1 by ,m4 ,w4 ,wiseman4 ,roden ,noel1 by ,karl ,blind4 ,tourgenieff1 by ,ernest ,newman4 ,the ,downfall of ,olive ,schreiner1 by ,x4 ,marie ,corelli and her ,public1 by ,a4 ,w4 ,stanbury4 ,moral ,instruction without ,theology1 by ,f4 ,j4 ,gould4 ,the ,social ,purity ,hallucination1 by ,j4 ,p4 ,gilmour4 ,current ,pseudo-,philosophy1 by ,john ,m4 ,robertson4 ,slumland by ,night1 by ,g4 ,m4 ,william ,blake and ,modern ,problems1 by ,edward ,willmore4 ,the ,social ,evil and the ,moral ,law1 by ,a4 ,macevir4 ,periodicals1 by ,walter ,shaw ,sparrow4 ,new ,books4 ,contents of the ,,june ,no41 #ahig1 ,vol4 ,,viii41 ,no4 #c-- ,nietzsche's ,indictment of ,christianity1 by ,john ,m4 ,robertson4 ,an ,ethical ,excursion1 by ,hugh ,mortimer ,cecil4 ,the ,teachings of ,thomas ,hardy1 by ,duane ,williams4 ,the ,tory ,professor1 by ,robert ,duncanson4 ,mr4 ,gladstone's ,latest ,postcard1 by ,alan ,stephens4 ,usury and ,thrift1 by ,j4 ,greevz ,fisher4 ,a ,specimen of ,religious ,journalism1 by ,stanley ,bruce4 ,in ,extremis1 by ,allan ,laidlaw4 ,the ,legitimation ,league1 by ,a4 ,goldwin4 ,nancy1 by ,ernest ,newman4 ,new ,books4 ,,the ,,university ,,press1 ,,limited1 #af1 ,,john ,,street1 ,,bedford ,,row1 ,,london1 ,w4,c4 ,just published1 #ajs4 nett1 ,,pseudo-,,philosophy ,,at ,,the ,,end ,,of ,,the ,,nineteenth ,,century4 ,by ,,hugh ,,mortimer ,,cecil4 ,an ,irrational ,trio3 ,kidd1 ,drummond1 ,balfour4 ,a vigorous refutation of the well-known ,pseudo-,philosophical ,works1 ,social ,evolution 7,kidd71 ,the ,ascent of ,man 7,drummond71 and ,the ,foundations of ,belief 7,balfour71 showing the absurdity of the methods adopted on the one hand1 and the insincerity of these ,pseudo-,philosophers on the other4 ,the ,academy1 ,,april #ag1 #ahig3 ,mr4 ,hugh ,mortimer ,cecil will have none of this legerdemain2 the flank of the rationalist position shall not be so turned if his vigilance can frustrate the manoeuvre2 and with a pen steeped in sulphuric acid1 he has set out to confute these writers one by one4 444 ,he is one who must be reckoned with as a clear thinker1 a cogent reasoner1 a lucid and accomplished writer4444 ,it is impossible1 in the space at our disposal1 to consider at large ,mr4 ,cecil's criticism of ,foundations of ,belief4 ,it is a very serious and capable attack which will have to be reckoned with4 ,especially damaging is the criticism of ,mr4 ,balfour's theory of authority4 ,that argument can be employed with effect only by one religious body1 and it is not that body of which ,mr4 ,balfour is a member4 ,and here we venture to suggest to ,mr4 ,cecil that it would be well were he to find out1 before the issue of a second edition1 the meaning of the ,roman ,catholic dogma of the ,immaculate ,conception1 to which he more than once alludes2 he appears to be under the impression that the phrase is equivalent to parthenogenesis4 ,the ,new ,saturday ,review1 ,,april #ag1 #ahig3 ,the book is only one of many evidences of the fact that it is quite time the theologians recognised the real danger of their position1 and sent into the lists stronger champions than those we have been writing about4 ,it is little to the credit of the theological leaders that1 after first condemning ,darwin and vilifying some of his supporters1 they should adopt his teaching only to misrepresent it1 and to make a sophistical use of that misrepresentation4 ,of what moment are all the questions concerning ecclesiastical tradition and ritual in comparison to the great question of the relation between science and religion which is agitating the minds of those who will be the shapers and formers of the next generation8 ,it is not the simple souls who find their modern gospel in ,kidd's ,social ,evolution or in ,drummond's ,ascent of ,man1 good as those simple souls are1 that will make the dominant public opinion of the next half century4 ,nor are the rank-and-file of the clergy--of all denominations--in many instances qualified to engage effectively in this controversy4 ,their pulpit science has long been a by-word4 ,unless some defenders of the orthodox position abler than those that have yet appeared can be found1 the rationalists will be believed when they boast1 as our author does1 that they hold a fortress that is quite impregnable4 ,pseudo-science and pseudo-philosophy are not science or philosophy at all4 ,our author's book will probably win its way into only a few of the libraries of the orthodox4 ,rationalists will read it1 and will find in it only a vigorous statement of their own opinions4 ,the proper use of the book is to show the orthodox what they have to do1 if they would defend their position4444 ,it is a challenge which would deserve attention if it stood alone4 ,but it does not stand alone2 it is backed up by a great body of philosophers and scientists and social reformers1 and men of the highest culture and noblest characters1 as well as by a vast amount of smouldering suspicion and distrust and doubt among the people4 ,national ,observer and ,british ,review1 ,,april #ag1 #ahig3 ,portions of the author's criticisms are not only just1 but valuable2 and when he is judicious enough to suppress his own personality1 he can often be read not only with assent1 but with satisfaction4 ,the chief object of ,mr4 ,cecil's antipathy is any attempt at reconciling positive science with religion1 whether the religion be ,christianity1 or merely a natural theism2 and1 as types of the methods by which the attempt is now being made1 he takes the arguments of three modern apologists--,mr4 ,kidd1 ,mr4 ,drummond1 and ,mr4 ,arthur ,balfour4 ,he takes these in order4 ,the first section of his work is a criticism of ,social ,evolution2 the second of ,the ,ascent of ,man2 the third1 of ,the ,foundations of ,belief4 ,in completely discrediting the two first of these three works1 ,mr4 ,cecil's task has been easy1 and he has shown considerable skill in accomplishing it4 ,if we take ,mr4 ,kidd's ,social ,evolution as it stands1 it is difficult to imagine a more signal monument of self-deception2 and when we recollect the avidity with which a large section of the public devoured the volume1 and allowed themselves to be deceived with the author1 we feel that such a fallacious guide can hardly be too trenchantly exposed4 ,mr4 ,cecil contrives1 with the adroitness of a sharp solicitor1 to collect and place side by side a number of ,mr4 ,kidd's self-contradictions1 and shows that his argument1 taken as a whole1 falls to pieces at one touch of serious criticism4 ,he shows also that ,mr4 ,kidd's history is as childish and imperfect as his logic4 444 ,but1 in spite of these omissions1 he has said quite enough to discredit effectually what would rank as the most remarkable specimen of contemporary pseudo-philosophy1 if it were not for a specimen produced by a ,scottish writer1 who has distanced altogether the fallacies of his ,english rival4 ,this last is ,mr4 ,drummond's ,ascent of ,man2 and it is in his criticism of this that ,mr4 ,cecil shows himself at his best4 ,had he only been less destitute of the rudiments of good behaviour and good feeling1 we should have had little but commendation to bestow on the manner in which he exposes ,mr4 ,drummond's absurd justifications of the ways of ,god to man1 and the hopeless inaccuracies of his theories as to altruism1 and the struggle for the life of others4 ,few books in the long run do more harm than such books as ,the ,ascent of ,man4 ,instead of really reconciling religion and science1 they injure religion by making the attempt at reconciliation ridiculous4 ,the ,morning ,leader1 ,,march #be1 #ahig3 ,mr4 ,cecil is a born fighter4 ,he attacks with courage and cunning and resource1 having at command a never-failing artillery of invective to complete the havoc he works by means of his sapping and mining4 ,this latter plan of campaign he mercilessly pursues by quotation after quotation from previous essays and pamphlets of his irrationalist trio1 preparing his reader for the overthrow of the citadel by showing how hollow and unsubstantial are the outworks4 ,so savagely complete1 indeed is the attack that as one gazes upon the ruins of ,kidd1 ,drummond1 and ,balfour1 a feeling of sympathy with the fallen philosophers must take the place of joy in the whizzing of the rationalist shells4 ,the method of attack adopted by this new and puissant slogger shows1 perhaps1 a little too much contempt for the enemy1 a little too much confidence in the impregnability of the attacking party's position4 ,but1 although the book may enrage the philosophic doubters1 it is bound to make a glorious show for the robuster members of the rationalist party4 ,the author's advice to the former is to feed on the religious novel of ,mrs4 ,humphry ,ward1 the geology of ,sir ,j4 ,w4 ,dawson1 the apologetics of ,mr4 ,gladstone1 and the biographies of ,jesus that are said to be in preparation by ,mr4 ,hall ,caine1 ,mr4 ,ian ,maclaren1 and ,mr4 ,crockett--three gentlemen whose capacity for sentimental fiction is the best guarantee of their fitness for such a task4 ,language of this kind is distinctly provocative1 but it may be found bracing enough to the energetic rejector of scientific compromise4 ,whatever ,pseudo-,philosophy may lack in urbanity and serenity1 no charge can be brought against it on the score of dulness or stupidity4 ,the book is at once a brilliant and pitiless exposure of loose thinking1 and a literary entertainment of the richest kind4 ---------------------------------------- ------------------------- ,transcriber's ,note3 ,minor typographical errors have been corrected without note4 ,ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained4 ,italicized words are surrounded by underline characters1 like this4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------