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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