American Aristocracy

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, Cal. · Dec 21, 1882

American Aristocracy.

The following from the Christian Evangelist of Oct. 12, 1882, shows how rapidly the people of our nation are drifting into the aristocracy and customs of the countries of Europe:—

“ As time rolls on and wealth increases, our country witnesses some changes that are not for the better. It was once believed that in a republic there should be mantained a republican simplicity, and that the castes and trappings of aristocracy were unsuited to American soil. Of late years, however, an astonishing wave of luxury and snobbery has swept over this country. Any one can see this by looking over the ‘society’ columns of our newspapers, or by a visit to any resort of fashion. We are gravely informed that Mr. Blank has employed a French cook at so many thousand dollars a year; great palaces are built at immense cost, in some cases reaching millions of dollars; families often keep a score of domestic servants, many of them men who wear luxury in the style of an old-world aristocrat; or coats of arms are quartered upon the panels of the carriages, and no possible pains are spared to imitate the ways of the upper classes in Europe. The history of every great nation describes a period of rugged simplicity during which it developed its greatness, followed by the growth of wealth, the increase of luxury, effeminacy and corruption, and these have gradually worked its decay. There are too many signs that our own country is following in the beaten course.”