THE LESSER " BARBARIA_NS."

MR. MATTHEW ARNOLD, in his essay " Barbarians, Philistines, Populace," says s—" When I want to dis- tinguish clearly the aristocratic class from the Philistines. roper, or middle-class, I name the former in my own mind the Bar- barians. And when I go through the country, and see this and that beautiful and imposing seat of theirs crowning the land- scape, There,' I say to myself, is a great fortified post of the Barbarians.' " But besides these great, fortified posts of the big Barbarians mentioned by Mr. Arnold, there are also many minor fortified posts, belonging to those who, since we have read the above, we, in our minds, call the lesser Barbarians, equally Barbarians in their instincts, in their appearance, in their manners, equally unable to understand the comparative value of ideas versus prejudices, equally absorbed in what are called "manly sports," suitable companions, from their habits, ways of life, and views of things generally, to consort with the 'bigger species, yet holding little or less land, and exercising little or loss influence over the lives of other classes. For one big, bouncing, fortified post of the great barbarian, there are, studded about the country, dozens of smaller, less imposing seats, belonging to or rented by those who are, in spirit, vassals to the great man, —seats bearing a like reference to the great places, that the houses in Park Street, Mount Street, and Green Street do to those in Grosvenor Square or Berkeley Square ; or those in Wilton Street, Chester Street, and Chapel Street do to the Belgravo Square or Eaton Square mansions. Now, the lesser barbarian is by no means of the same species as the country squire. He is, personally, a more refined being ; he has pro- bably been brought up in one of the imposing seats, has passed some of his youth in a good regiment, and may even be a better sportsman than his bigger neighbour. Ho and his wife are quite as good-looking as the big bar-

barian and his wife, and are distinguishable from these in a crowd only, if at all, by a greater precision in the correctness of their style, and by being more exclusive in recognising only as fellow-creatures those who, in general Barbarian language, are understood as " nice people." The purest examples of the species of lesser Barbarians abound chiefly in the good

hunting counties, and come to London only for the "height the season," where they are distinguishable in the ra°,.sionable, respectable society as that portion which, in

milliner's language, would be called the most " stylish." A duchess can afford to be a dowdy, she moves surrounded by an atmosphere which is unmistakable, and it is' her atmosphere which imposes on the populace, more than her individual presence. But the female lesser barbarian has to mark her distinction by her dress and appearance as an in- dividual. The real business in life of the lesser barbarians is to perfect all their pursuits into a distinguished science of pleasure.

This science is studied more successfully and earnestly by the lesser Barbarians than by any other of the rich idle classes. Though they are not assuredly what can be called a religious class, they are often '° Churchy," and most often rather "High- Churchy ;" but their real object of worship is good style. It is a standard of good style which directs the education of their children, which determines all their domestic arrangements and especially the stable department, their dress, their thoughts, their occupations, their acquaintances, their in-

timacies, their, religion. Personally, they are often very kind to dependents and the class poor enough to be re- moved sufficiently below them for their fortified posts not to be endangered by any inroad on a social ground, but they are quite inaccessible on principle to any outside the magic circle of " nice people," if such outsiders dare make an approach on the ground of common fellowship. Herds of these outsiders may be seen at the county gatherings of the big Barbarians, but at the select parties of the lesser, never one. They are mostly Conservative in politics, and the reverse of intellectual iu culture ; but they are efficient in action, though the aim of the action may not be high. They do well what they do at all ; what they attempt they achieve; but their attempts are nearly all in the lino of pleasure, and in their own line the good speci- mens are very complete and finished. They have " go," energy, decorum, good-taste from an external point of view, pleasantness in their lives, but no true beauty. As there is no spirituality, though a good deal of Churchiness in their religion, so there is no beauty, though plenty of "good style," in their lives.

Now, there is still a real and helpful idea in the existence of the bigger Barbarians. Their fortified posts have often a true splendour, which has its use. The best of these strongholds are like museums of the fine arts fitted into cases of beautiful architecture, and refined and finished with the beauty of a home. When the owners do their duty—and there are many whose aim it is to do it conscientiously, according to their lights—these fortified posts are acquisitions to all classes who inhabit the neighbourhood. Much of the time and mind of their owners are given up to the duties as well as the pleasures of their position, and, like the Bishops, though they have palaces to dwell in, they have little or no leisure to gloat over the luxury of their palaces. Unless absorbed in some indi- vidual passion or vice, the lives of the bigger Barbarians are not selfish in intention. The power of their position brings out whatever of generosity or kindness may be in their dis- positions as individuals, and their unquestioned rank and posi- tion tend. to their viewing social questions which do not en- danger that position of rank from an unbiassed, large, and considerate point of view ; and as any society they may choose to invite to their "fortified posts" cannot affect their own social status, provided it is within the pale of respectability—and even in tho question of respectability the world allows the bigger Barbarians a laxity which is almost without limits—there is no reason why they should not gratify their kindly instincts of hospitality. The theory of the great Barbarians, however far short the practice of individuals may fall, is to give to the classes below them in position a standard of beauty and grace in the external matters of life, and of the manner in which to hold intercourse with their fellow-creatures.

What it is good for their fellow-men to share with them, that, as a rule, they are ready to share. They mostly open their houses and their parks hospitably. Of their personal intimacy they are doubtless chary, but to the classes of society living under different conditions, such personal intimacy would not be of any very special use. Though the big Barbarians may appear to be a pleasure-loving class, as a rule they work hard in their own way, and are an element in

English life that tends to the happiness of society in general.

Many take, of course, a selfish, ignoble view of their position, but the theory of the class in general is noblesse oblige. But with these vassals in spirit of the great Barbarians, these good- looking, these well-dressed, these externally-refined, these ex• elusive, lesser Barbarians, the theory of life, though it is doubt- less unconsciously so, seems to be one of consistent selfishness. It is their idea of life, which is a mistaken one. They aim at living the life of a class, without the reality of that life. It is in- herited power which gives all the reality to the position of the big Barbarians, and with it come the responsibilities, the duties, the occupations of the inheritance. Whether they fulfil these or neglect them, the heads of the aristocracy have not to seek their first work in life ; it comes to them with their birthright ; and their high rank, •when justified by well-used power, has a splendour about it which spreads a genial influence on the classes socially below' them ; but rank, without power or in- fluence, beyond a certain external atmosphere of refinement, is rather a frothy concern, narrowing to those who tenaciously hold to it, and exasperating to those who are kept at arm's length by its exclusiveness. To aim at being like a big bar- barian is as futile as crying for the moon, for the one thing a man or woman cannot make themselves is a big barbarian. Men and women can easily cultivate themselves into beings superior to this species, but they can never become the actual thing ; so that they who adopt the manner of living, as far As they can, of those with whom they cannot share the only valuable possession—inherited power—are almost certain to confuse their lives with false ideals and vaporous aims. It is these, whom we call lesser Barbarians, and it is these who excite the Philistines to bitterness against the " upper classes," more than the genuine Barbarian himself.

The Philistines and Populace recognise, more or less con- sciously, that there is at the root of all worthy occupation an idea beyond making a livelihood, an idea that the work in hand does some good to the community at large, and pushes on the knowledge or civilisation of the world, besides giving material support to the individual, and they resent paying respect to any .class whose influence does not contain such an idea. This idea of common interest has a harmonising influence, and tends to ' bind classes together ; and it is the absence of any such har- monising influence between the Philistines and the pleasure- loving classes which leads to the exasperation of the former and the selfishness of the latter. The Philistine sees the lesser Barbarian leading a life of pleasure and refined luxury which he shares with no other class less fortunate, and not even pretending to live according to the principle of doing ..good in his generation. The theory of all the professions is that their followers, besides making an income whereon to live, should adopt the unselfish aim of doing their work so that every class is the better for it,—the clergy, by making .every one more religious ; lawyers, by forwarding the claims of justice ; soldiers, by protecting their country in peace and Against foreign aggression ; the politician, by legislating so that his country may be the happier and more prosperous ; the literary man, by so popularising truth and goodness that the people are imbued with both ; the poet and artist, by translating Nature into a form of Art which shall accentuate beauty, and ennoble and refine the impressions which all human nature, unless com- pletely degraded, is capable of receiving ; the business classes and manufacturers by forwarding the commerce of the country and the employment of the hand-worker. But the .,lesser Barbarians, who expect more respect and consideration than all these,—what higher view of duty, think the Philistines and the populace, can be got out of the theory of their lives and occupations P What they hold as distinctive of their class, they are not at all willing to share for the benefit of those who might be improved by it. Their influence, such as it is, is not derived from money or intellect, but from refine- ment in the external proceedings of life ; and this refinement they wrap round their whole manner of living, and it adds much to the pleasure of their lives,—and what is really good and sound in it would add, doubtless, to the pleasure of the lives of other classes ; but the theory of the lesser Barbarians is to use such refinement for their own pleasure and their own pride exclu- sively. In so missing any higher idea of duty arising from the possession of their special treasure, this treasure of external refinement becomes, by its tendency to selfishness, morally ignoble.

The root of all exclusiveness lies not only in pride, but in fear. It is a sign not only of selfishness, but of weak- ness and insecurity, and in the tenacity with which the lesser Barbarian holds to his exclusiveness, there may be a latent misgiving as to the strength of his position. This position he might make more respectable, if he frankly realised to himself in what the advantages of it consist. Probably, if the subject were faced honestly, and from a view of life which included moral and spiritual elements, much which is ,cultivated as refinement would drop off as baneful self-

indulgence, a spurious and not a healthy outcome of civilisa- tion ; still, after such a clearing, there would yet remain a good side to the refinement of the lesser Barbarian, which it would be well for all classes to acknowledge and adopt. Personal refinement, extending to finish, care, and precision, and a certain deliberation and thought in relation to the details of the manner of living, gives a personal dignity which is absent in the usual rush and tear of modern life. Mr. Ruskin expatiates somewhere on the unutterable vulgarity of being in a hurry, and assuredly nothing that is worth doing is the better done for being unaccompanied by the personal dignity which results from such refinement of habit. It may be noticed that those who do great things, who work the hardest in the highest lines, are mostly very dependent on such refinement for a relaxation of strain which real mental effort always causes, especially when joined to the delicacy and sensitiveness which finely organised natures possess. Now, though the

modern good-style and good-taste of the lesser Barbarians are not at all synonymous with beauty or the best fitness of things, there is about them a balance and poise which are the reverse of exaggeration and extravagance. The moderation resulting from a feeling of balance and deliberation, and which is one necessary element in beauty, is a salient merit in all so-called well-bred people. It is the element which saves them from making themselves personally ridiculous, the unfortunate fate of so many Philistines. It is an element which adds essentially to the grace of life, and corresponds in external matters with the grace which culture adds to genius. Now, with true culture the Barbarians have nothing to do, for they cease to be Barbarians when they have ; their mental vision does not pierce through the prejudices of class and habit. The atti- tude of their minds is, so to speak, provincial. But in external material and matters they do excel up to a certain point, and though they could not influence any class by ideas, they might be missionaries among the Philistines in the matter of personal order and refinement, were they to apply the obvious truth of the Christian principle, that what is worth having is worth sharing. The theory of all Barbarians is to treat the refinement of what they call "nice people" as a direct gift of Nature to the " upper classes " alone, and they assume that it is as useless as it is unnecessary to endeavour to imbue the Philis- tines with any flavour of it. It is a gift beyond price, beyond everything, in their eyes, and they treat it with that reverence with which the more spiritual-minded treat religion, only that they have no such impulse to share it ; and Barbarians will they remain, as long as they do so monopolise it. But with the lesser species this refinement is apt to become almost its own travestie, by becoming an aim in itself, and not the outcome of natural conditions. It is an effort to grace something the reality of which does not exist ; it is a striving after the flavour without the substance. It results in something like the effect of an artificial scent, compared to the whiff you get from the flowers themselves. Pleasure is laboured-at till it ceases to be a grace- ful and pretty addition to the work of the world, and becomes the dreariest of all occupations, by being pursued as au aim in itself.

Barbarians, great and small, are not having "so good a time of it" as they used to have, and probably a still worse time is in prospect for them. The bigger species, having still much to give in the way of pleasure, will still be tolerated, as long as their great possessions cling to them ; but the lesser species must change their habits of mind, or expect to lose all influence. The inevitable fate of all those classes who contract their sym- pathies, and are selfish on principle, is to be left out of the movement of the true life of the world, and to be gradually more and more ignored as objects of interest. The instinct of justice in nations will always return sooner or later to the princi- ples found in the great speech Sarpedon made to Glaucus, written thousands of years ago, " Why boast we, Glaucus, our extended reign unless great acts superior merit provb?" " Great acts," on the part of the governing classes, and those who wish to be respected as holding a superior position in society, would entail, under the present conditions of modern life, a rising above class prejudices, an extension of sympathy to all who are honestly working in all occupations. The prettier mode of living in external and material matters, which is understood so well by the Barbarians, if extended into the region of mind and feeling, would cause a gentleness and nobility of thought and consideration for others, and so quickly emanci- pate the Barbarians into " children of light,"—and " children of light" of the pleasantest description, for there is an inherited oharm of atmosphere about them which, if only they could rise out of their own special class-vulgarisms, would add to their " light " a mellowness and beauty much needed in the organi- sation of life. The practical result in society of this emancipa- tion of the Barbarians would be that the good-style and good-taste which they now so tenaciously appropriate to themselves alone, they would try and diffuse among other classes. These are, when good of their kind, very pleasant elements in the intercourse of the world. But only, if at all, by personal contact and personal sympathy can the trick be learnt. This is well recognised now-a-clays between the poor and the rich, in the giving of material help, but it is still utterly ignored when it is a matter of infusing other classes with the blessings of refinement. The Philistines recognise, as a rule, well enough that there is a difference between their own more slovenly way of living, however costly it may be, and the finish and pleasant- ness of the habits of the Barbarians ; but as the latter keep them socially at arm's-length, the Philistines have not the opportunity of acquiring the advantages possessed by the so- called "upper classes."

To cultivate the Philistines personally would involve a great deal of distasteful work, particularly for the women of the emancipated Barbarians, because difference in matters of taste produce almost a greater jar in personal intercourse than difference in matters of feeling ; and the taste of the Philis- tines is their weak side. Doubtless, the ei-devant Barbarian woman would find it a bore to talk on a level of real sympathy and equality to a Philistine woman who "puts on" her manners, is wanting in simplicity, meanders round a subject with obvious little affectations in the course of conversation, and who is proud of the wrong things, and brags about possessions she does not know how to use. Still, both are women, and the more true womanly feelings they have, the easier will it bo for them to find a common ground. The Barbarians must expand, and the Philistines must restrain themselves, if members of each class wish to emancipate themselves into " children of light ;" but the lesser Barbarians, as a power in society, will probably not exist much longer. The Philistines are more likely to win, for though their taste may be faulty, though they may be too eager and exaggerated in their attitudes of mind and body, they have within them more power of growth, they have not the same brutal confidence in themselves, and, therefore, have more susceptibility to ideas, a susceptibility which Barbarians have not. As Mr. Matthew Arnold says :—" It is because aristocracies almost inevitably fail to appreciate justly, or oven to take into their mind, the instinct pushing the masses towards expansion and fuller life, that they lose their hold over them. It is the old story of the incapacity of aristocracies for ideas,—the secret of their want of success in modern epochs ;" and we may add, that the influence of the pleasure-loving lesser Barbarians will lessen more and more, as advanced ideas enforce more and more a certain amount of mental and moral culture. But before they become quite extinguished as a power, wo would fain see them leave an inheritance behind them among the Philistines of greater good-taste in the material things of life, and of reticence, dignity and pleasantness of manner in social intercourse ; for, to conclude with the re- mainder of the above quotation,—" The people treats them [the aristocracies] with flagrant injustice, when it denies all obliga- tion to them. They can and often do impart a high spirit, a fine ideal of grandeur, to the people ; thus they lay the founda- tion of a great nation."