SNOBBERY REBUKED
Social standing is not always a sign of moral worth, as the following story suggests:
“The late Francis Murphy,” said a Pittsburg man, “perhaps the greatest temperance reformer our country has ever seen, hated snobbishness hardly less than drunkenness. At a dinner in Pittsburg I once heard him rebuke, with a little anecdote, a snobbish millionaire.
“He said there was a rich and snobbish English woman living in the country. Her husband put himself up for a political place, and in order to help his campaign along the woman gave a garden party to which every voter for miles around was invited.
“Among the humble guests was a very independent grocer. The grocer made himself quite at home. No duke’s manner could have been easier and freer. Indeed, the man’s total lack of subservience angered his hostess extremely, so that in the end, thinking to take him down a peg, she said to him significantly:
“‘You know, Mr. Greens, in London, shopkeepers don’t go into the best society.’
“The grocer looked at her, and nodded and smiled.
“They don’t here, either, ma’am,’ he said.” (Text.)
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SOCIAL CHRISTIANITY