, 1864-02-06
NUMBER ..
The Bagbfuls.

bles," l, in imitation of him, take up my
humble pen to discourse of those unhappy
people who might, by coming phrase, be
termed ''the Bashfuls"- individuals who
undergo more torture than any others on the
face of the earth. 1t makes no difference
whether the afflicted person be man. woman
Or child, long-limbed stripping or half
grown girl, sublimated agony is the doom Of
''the Bashful" under any and every circum-
stance-the more so that bashful people arc
very sensitive to Sights and insults, and are
always courting them by their peculiar man
ners. The boisterous, selfsufieient per-
son, who knows not what a blush is, and is
as much at home with the stranger known
but an hour as with the friend of a lifetime,
cannot understand why the specimen of the
BashfuP present at a social gathering sat IN
the corner all the evening with closed lips
and eyes fixed on vacancy, and said, "No,
thank you" when the refreshments were
handed round. He can never guess how
that Wretched "Bashful" wanted to talk and
laugh-and dared not-admired the pretty
girl who was the belle Of the assemblage,
and yet would no more have attempted to
address her than if she had been goddess
instead Of maid Of mortal mould. He
cannot know how tempting were the sand
wiches, the fruit, the nutty sherry, and the
cool ice cream, to him who refused them be-
cause he was afraid he might not drink or
eat with due elegance, or might by some fa-
tality be brought out his corner if he accept
ed plate or glass. Self-suficieney sets "the
Bashfu" down either as a fool or super
cillious coxcomb, and treats him scornfully
ever after.
See the bashful girl in society. She may.
be really pretty-may have brilliant ideas
and more than usual accomplishments buf
bashfulness makes her stiff and AWKWARD
She replies to remarks by brief monosylla
bes, and invariably refuses to dance orsing.
by and by she subsidies into the shadow Of
some portly matron, and remains there for
gotten. She may see with enyious ewes the
beau ideal of her dreams enthralled bv the
silly giggling and chat of some girl who has
not one tithe Of her own beauty or intellect,
but possesses an overdose of confidence. She
may know that if she only could overcome
the tenor that makes her voice faint and her
face flushed, she could make conquest
but of what use is the knowledge She
might meet him every night, for fraolse-
mOnJn ana never say more than eyes, sir"
and "No, sir" to him, and she knows that,
and so she cries little on her pillow that
night, and so settles down into an old maid
before she is fve-andtwenty Her case be-
ing worse than that Of any masculine bash
ful, for, be he ever so locked up within
himself some feminine eye will see through
him, and some feminine tongue talk him
into sociability: while no man takes trouble
to peep beneath the iron mask that covers
all the bashful girls attractions.
"The Bashful" never has good seat in
church, or a good place in a conveyance
At the Academy OF Music he is always be-
hind one of those pillars which must have
been suggested to the architect by some ma
licious fend. In crowd he is elbowed on
every side, requested to "shove up" by one,
and to 'move little" by the other. If he
is the applicant for any position, some one
else elbows him aside and takes his place
If he is in situation where perquisites
would fall to any one else's share, he never
gets them. If it is necessary for him to
ask for money owing to him, the debtor de-
parts unmolested before he has the courage
to utter the request.
In fact, in every position, private or pub
lie, the bashful man finds his own conscious
ness Of his own hands and feet of his own
voice, Of his own presence, in fact an in
surmountable barrier to success Stun
bling block over which he falls fiat. He ad-
mires bold, dashing people, who assert them
selves, but he-good gracious, how can
he initiate them If he were to talk, some
body would hear him. If he did anything
but remain a wall flower, he might be taken
notice Of
1t Is his disposition to retreat when he is
introduced to strangers, and only fear of
the worlds opinions prevents him from en-
sconcing himself behind door or under a
table, at party to which he had been drag
ged by officious relatives
AS a usual thing a man is never bashful
after the age of fifty, or a woman after she
has passed thirty. Sometimes, indeed, bash
fulness dies out with the teens, and leaves
the sufferer particularly intrusive and un-
blushing; but there are cases of chronic
bashfulness, masculine and feminine, which
follow the afflicted as long as life lasts,
prompts him to die without making a will,
in very fear of attracting attention, and
causes him to dread, in anticipation, the re-
cording of his name and age upon tomb
stone, subject to public gaze Such unhappy
creatures, "Les Miserables" of society, come
fairly under the heading of "The Bashfuls."