LES BEAUX ARTS.

Observer, Volume 4, Issue 85, 29 April 1882, Page 105

LES BEAUX ARTS.

No. 3. — Respectability : Consedebed as One op the Fine Abts.

" It is positively awful to reflect on the contrast between people as they seem and peoplo as they are;" and— "lt is wonderful to reflect, literally and metaphorically, how very much the best of us are made up of clothes after all." — Whyte— Melville.

The art of commanding respect has from time immemorial, amongst all nations and under all climes, been alike the study of savans and the aim of the 6i polloi ; inasmuch as it is so ordained that public opiiion — whether of Indian wigwams or gilded palaces —so impregnates the social atmosphere as to render it impossible for the large majority of mankind to pursue the common goal — happiness — ■with indifference to its voice. What bespectability is considered to be, one need scarcely say, therefore depends entirely on the prevailing public opinion of the locus quo. Thus, what is deemed its acme amongst certain communities — such as one man. having many wives or one woman having many husbands — is deemed equally disgraceful amongst others ; ' so that no common standard of intrinsic virtue can be erected with the motto, " Void la decence." Moreover, not only has Respectability no common platform in all communities alike, but it also differs (in public estimation) from time to time in the same .community as public opinion therein from time^to. time changes. Thus — to use a very mild illustration, because perhaps the most recent one— twenty years ago, for divines to advocate the opening of places of public recreation and amusement on Sundays, would indeed have been deemed anything but reputable ; or, twenty years ago, to entertain the question of divorces in English-speaking society on the ground of incompatibility of temper, would have been thought simply shocking and impious. But let Repeatability differ as it may, its creators — the f ormators of public opinion (i.e., of what Respectability consists or does not consist) — are, always have been, and always must be, the same in all communities and under all circumstances. .They must be Illustrissimi, whose ideas — sometimes whose will — permeate the flock ; the nature moutonniere of Tvlaoni readily ■ yields the homage which must nevitably — although frequently unconsciously — be paid to superior intellect and education. With us here — with our artificiality and brummagem veneer — success in les convenances de societe, and therefore in Respectability, seems generally to require two conditions precedent : Bankruptcy — to supply the means ; and Piety — to contribute the unction and inspire the confidence. But given the means — never mind whether obtained per fas aut per nefas — and the requisite amount of pious unction (the more Chadbandlike the better for the purpose), what external respect may not be commanded, and, indeed, what toadyism. Then and then verily do we recognise the full force of the Spartan-like aphorism so applicable to modern civilised society also, " that a faux pas does not consist in the wrong, per se, but in its exposure." ( It has been cleverly said — " Pew of us are close observers, or how disagreeable society would become." And so it is. Observe the proprieties, backed with money, and sanctimonious display, and no unpleasant contretemps need be feared. Thus : Fine clothes and carriages, popular entertainments or receptions, liberal public donations, ostentatious observance of public religious duties, and expression of high-flown ideas on public morality as occasion requires — and not necessarily intellect, education, or real manly or womanly virtues — are the passports to what is popularly known with us as respectability. JtTNIITS.