Ethical 239 



professional men — doctors, dentists, lawyers, dom- 

 inies, and parsons — are not snubbed by their more 

 prosperous fellow-citizens. Teachers and preachers 

 — as I have pointed out in another chapter — 

 are underpaid; they are not treated as penniless 

 curates and ushers in England — with supercilious 

 indifference. Poverty, indicating physical or intel- 

 lectual weakness, is pitied rather than despised. 

 An example will make clear the difference be- 

 tween the two countries. An English gentlewoman 

 of my acquaintance accepted a position as enter- 

 tainer at a large spa. It was her duty to sing and 

 play in the evening ; but the manager assured her 

 that if she were known to be upon the hotel staff, 

 the snobs stopping under the same roof would treat 

 her as a servant. The lady accepted the hint, 

 passed as one of the guests, and was overwhelmed 

 with gratitude and civility. In the West, the same 

 lady would have received more attention by pro- 

 claiming herself to be a professional working for 

 board and lodging. 



And yet if Thackeray's definition of the word 

 " snob " be accepted : " He who meanly admires 

 mean things," the people of the West cannot escape 

 criticism. Sharp practice, the meanest and most 

 detestable of social crimes, is almost universally 

 approved. Doubtless there is much sharp practice 

 in England, but the sharpers do not brag of it. An 

 English lawyer may fleece his client, a doctor may 

 overcharge his patient ; but these gentlemen do not 

 publish to an admiring world the amount of the 

 plunder. I know of one case (amongst many) where 

 a "shyster" lawyer built a ten-thousand-pound 



