There is another class of people, not fraudulent, but extravagant; though perhaps on the brink of becoming fraudulent.  They live up to their means, and often beyond them.  They desire to be considered “respectable people.”  They live according to the pernicious adage, “One must do as others do.”  They do not consider whether they can afford to live up to or beyond their means; but they think it necessary to secure the “respect” of others.  In doing so, they usually sacrifice their own self-respect.  They regard their dress, their establishments, their manner of living, and their observance of fashion, as the sole tests of respectability and rank.  They make an appearance in the eyes of the world; though it may be entirely hypocritical and false.

But they must not seem poor!  They must hide their poverty by every effort.  They spend their money before it is earned,—­run into debt at the grocer’s, the baker’s, the milliner’s, and the butcher’s.  They must entertain their fashionable “friends,” at the expense of the shopkeepers.  And yet, when misfortunes overtake them, and when their debts have become overwhelming, what becomes of the “friends”?  They fly away, and shun the man who is up to his ears in debt!

Yet poverty is more than half disarmed by those who have the moral courage to say.  “I can’t afford it.”  Fair-weather friends are of no use whatever, except as an indication of the depth of snobbery to which human beings can descend.  What is “a visiting connection”?  It is not at all calculated to elevate one in social, or even in business life.  Success mainly depends upon character, and the general esteem in which a person is held.  And if the attempt is made to snatch the reward of success before it is earned, the half-formed footing may at once give way, and the aspirant will fall, unlamented, into the open-mouthed dragon of debt.

“Mrs. Grundy,” in the play, is but an impersonation of the conventionalism of the world.  Custom, habit, fashion, use and wont, are all represented in her.  She may be a very vulgar and commonplace person, but her power is nevertheless prodigious.  We copy and imitate her in all things.  We are pinned to her apron-string.  We are obedient at her bidding.  We are indolent and complaisant, and fear to provoke her ill-word.  “What will Mrs. Grundy say?” quells many a noble impulse, hinders many a self-denying act.

There seems to be a general, though unconscious conspiracy existing, against each other’s individuality and manhood.  We discourage self-reliance, and demand conformity.  Each must see with others’ eyes, and think through others’ minds.  We are idolaters of customs and observances, looking behind, not forwards and upwards.  Pinned down and held back by ignorance and weakness, we are afraid of standing alone, or of thinking and acting for ourselves.  Conventionalism rules all.  We fear stepping out into the free air of independent thought and action.  We refuse to plant ourselves upon our instincts, and to vindicate our spiritual freedom.  We are content to bear others’ fruit, not our own.