er, that gentility and respectability are
synonymous. No one in England is genteel or respectable that is 'looked
at,' who is the victim of oppression. He may be pitied for a time, but
when did not pity terminate in contempt? A poor, harmless young
officer!--but why enter into the details of the infamous case? They are
but too well known, and if ever, cruelty, pride, and cowardice, and
things much worse than even cruelty, cowardice, and pride, were brought
to light, and at the same time countenanced, they were in that case.
What availed the triumphant justification of the poor victim? There was
at first a roar of indignation against his oppressors, but how long did
it last? He had been turned out of the service, they remained in it with
their red coats and epaulets; he was merely the son of a man who had
rendered good service to his country, they were, for the most part,
highly connected; they were in the extremest degree genteel, he quite the
reverse. So the nation wavered, considered, thought the genteel side was
the safest after all, and then, with the cry of, 'Oh, there is nothing
like gentility,' ratted bodily. Newspaper and public turned against the
victim, scouted him, apologized for the--what should they be called?--who
were not only admitted into the most respectable society, but courted to
come, the spots, not merely of wine, on their military clothes giving
them a kind of poignancy. But there is a God in heaven; the British
glories are tarnished--Providence has never smiled on British arms since
that case--oh, Balaklava! thy name interpreted is net of fishes, and well
dost thou deserve that name. How many a scarlet golden fish has of late
perished in the mud amidst thee, cursing the genteel service and the
genteel leader which brought him to such a doom!

Whether the rage for gentility is most prevalent amongst the upper,
middle, or lower classes it is difficult to say; the priest, in the text,
seems to think that it is exhibited in the most decided manner in the
middle class; it is the writer's opinion, however, that in no class is it
more strongly developed than in the lower; what they call being well born
goes a great way amongst them, but the possession of money much farther,
whence Mr. Flamson's influence over them. Their rage against, and scorn
for, any person who by his courage and talents has advanced himself in
life, and still remains poor, are indescribable: 'He is no better than
ourselves