8 CRITIQUES AND ADDRESSES. [i. 



even been able to understand why pigeon-shooting at 

 Hurlingham should be refined and polite, while a rat- 

 killing match in Whitcchapel is low ; or why " What a 

 lark " should be coarse, when one hears " How awfully 

 jolly" drop from the most refined lips twenty times in 



an evening. 



Thoughtfulness for others, generosity, modesty, and 

 self-respect, are the qualities which make a real gentle- 

 man, or lady, as distinguished from the veneered article 

 which commonly goes by that name. I by no means 

 wish to express any sentimental preference for Lazarus 

 against Dives, but, on the face of the matter, one does 

 not see why the practice of these virtues should be more 

 difficult in one state of life than another ; and any one 

 who has had a wide experience among all sorts and con- 

 ditions of men, will, I think, agree with me that they are 

 as common in the lower ranks of life as in the higher. 



Leaving the caste argument aside then, as inconsist- 

 ent with the practice of those who employ it, as devoid 

 of any justification in theory, and as utterly mischievous 

 if its logical consequences were carried out, let us turn 

 to the other class of objectors. To these opponents, the 

 Education Act is only one of a number of pieces of 

 legislation to which they object on principle ; and they 

 include under like condemnation the Vaccination Act, 

 the Contagious Diseases Act, and all other sanitary Acts ; 

 all attempts on the part of the State to prevent adultera- 

 tion, or to regulate injurious trades ; all legislative 

 interference with anything that bears directly or in- 

 directly on commerce, such as shipping, harbours, rail- 

 ways, roads, cab-fares, and the carriage of letters ; and 

 all attempts to promote the spread of knowledge by the 

 establishment of teaching bodies, examining bodies, 

 libraries, or museums, or by the sending out of scientific 

 expeditions ; all endeavours to advance art by the 



