I suppose there is no place on the
earth where people have run into such gorgeous nonsense as here--turning
home into a Parisian toy-shop, absorbing the price of a good farm in the
ornaments of a parlor, and hanging up a judge's salary in a single
chandelier. Not that I accept the standard of absolute necessity, or
agree with those who cry out--"Have nothing but what is absolutely
_useful_!" For, if the universe had been cast after their type, there
would have been no embroidery on the wings of the butterfly, and the
awful summit of Mont Blanc would have yielded fire-wood. There is an
instinct of beauty and grace implanted in our nature, which demands
elegance and even luxury, and the bare necessaries of life do _not_
answer every purpose. And, to say nothing of the employment which these
accessories of refinement afford for thousands--for I have spoken of
this in the previous series--the most sturdy utilitarian is not
consistent with his theory. He defers to the social condition around him
to such an extent that he sleeps on a bed instead of a bench, and wears
broadcloth instead of untanned sheepskin. And, therefore, others might
say, and say truly, that a good deal that is actually superfluous is the
fruit of certain social proprieties which cannot, with any consistency,
be violated. Our style of living may lawfully run from the bare
necessaries of existence, through the stages of comfort and convenience,
even into luxury, according to our condition and means. But in some of
the style of living in this very city, there is neither good taste,
social propriety, nor common sense. It is an apoplectic splendor; a
melo-dramatic glitter; in one word, a vulgar spirit of social rivalry
blossoming in lace, brocade, gilding, and fresco. It is one way of
getting a head taller than another upon this democratic level. It is a
carpet contest for the mastery in what is called "society." And if one
mourns over the exuberant selfishness that lifts its pinnacles out of
this dreary sea of hunger and despair, and wonders that so many live
wrapped in the idea that they were created merely to be gratified; he
can hardly help being amused, on the other hand, at this fashionable
strife for precedence, and the methods which it developes.

But enough has been said to illustrate the false element in the great
struggle for Human Precedence. This vicious principle is most
comprehensively stated in the proposition, that there is no substantial
grou