Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1868-08-20
FAST CHRIS.

Prom the Round Table.
There il suggested 30 ~ distinction be-
tween the East girl aud the wild girl, who
are often, bat most nniustly, Gonionnded;
for though the latter in her behavior often
times rather too closely initiates the for
mer, il il with a very different motive and
a very different effect The fast girls main
game in life H. the attainment Of notoriety
This gives us the key Of all the curiOsities
Of her conduct. But the singularities of
the wild girl spring from the thoughtless-
ness Of youth, from its headiong insOuci-
dace and mischievOus ardor, from sheer eK-
cess Of animal spirits, the babbling over Of
unusual vitality. The Wild girl will con
duct a vigorous handkerchief Irritation
with a stranger at distEnce, blt she flies
in dismay at his approach she will answer
n maj rimonial advertisement Just for the
fun ~ the thing, apd be precipitated into
the sorest distress and terror II the pros
pectiye benedict should find her out dis
regarding every conventional propriety,
she vet knows how TO blush at every un-
worthy deed or word that gives instinoliye
alarm TO her Innocence But the fast girl
has lost the art Of blushing, or rather she
has educated herself out Of it along with
the other weaknesses Of childhood. As for
innocence, she scons and derides Il she
has eaten Of the forbidden fruit Of fatal
knowledge, and she Is boaslfui of her en-
lightenment. In Ewes place che would
have screened the serpent, for the sake Of
monopolizing the credit Of the sin.
The fast girl il easily to be distinguished
by the eKaggeration Of dress and manner.
Ii crinoline be in vogue, she rivals the
dome OF 50. Peters IL paniers, she aspires
30 personals Che Bactrian. The very small.
est Of microscopic hats and the heelieat Of
high-heeled boots adorn her extremites;
and il the prevailing mode allows the
slightest resemblance 20 masculine attire,
she pushes tue fashion 10 lis utmost. Any
particularly reprehensible masculine habit
has 10 her au irresistible attraction; she
talks slang with volubilhy and ease that
wonld aslonish an uptown butchers boy,
aud she is never no happy as when she can
combine the delight Of inspiring sherry
cobblers through a straw with the bliss of
smoking the surreptitious cigarette. I(
rich enough, Ahe runs 10 pony pheatons
and stunning tigers, and she is usually an
accomplished whip. Al the races she is,
Of course, IN her element, and gives and
takes The odds on the lavorite with all the
case and familiarity OF the most veteran
turtle, while displaying capacity for cham
paign that would DO honor 10 a Presidential
candidate She doesn't care greatly for
dancing, except for fashions sake and
masked balls, where che gives loose rein 10
all her ingenuity OF intrigue and she is IA
tailed with delighi il she can oOntriye 10 be
the cause Of quarrel. OF all women that
loved, that Helen seems to her the most
enviable about whom all the heroes OF
earth sirove for ten yearsto cut each others
ihroals, and all the poets of earth have
been singing for centuries of decades Only
TO be talked about; that is the aim and end
of her aspirations IL ehe is married, she
would prefer 10 preface the wedding by an
elopement, and epilogue IL with divorce
not 10 be immoral, bat only 90 be notorious.
II she can't be divorced, at least she can
run away, which she commonly does with
the faithless father Of some large and inter
asting family. The larger and abe more
Interesting the better, because the more
opprobrium and consequently the more
comment Sometimes, bat rarely, she set
ties down 10 3 course Of quiet domestic e.
liciiy, slarFiea some retired grocer or tai
low chandler of fabulous wealth and is
sung 10y enraptured Jenkinses at every
watering place she honors with her startling
presence. Her diamonds are always more
costly, her costumes more recherche and nu-
merous, her liveries more gorgeous, her.
horses more bloOded her hotel bills more
appalling, than any one else'a. Her name
is always in the mouths Of men the daily
papers chronicle her outgoings and her in
comings she is tirst among lady directors
of every hail and church aud sewing soci-
ETY.; her fame lilies abroad, gathering
strength "A il goes, and she is happy. As
for the grocer, il he is not happy, every
body straightway reviles him, and cries
shame on him, and tells him what a brute
he il. which ought 20 make him very
cheerful indeed. And for her children
she never has any, .er...a
So the fast girl, married and provided
for, goes down TO peaceful and notorious
old age, revored By at who don't know her,
happy in the consciousness Of gratiiiied sm-
bition. Perhaps she ia no worse han her
slower neighbors, after all. She is the
product OF Imperfect civilization acting on
an undeyeioped moral sense and a keen
perception OF the beauty and desirability
of elf-aggrandizement and ia some re-
spects may I've held 10 typify the spirit Of
the age She does no great harm 10 any
one bat herself, and II, ON the contrary, of
immense service 10 pieus maiden aunts
and proper old fathers Of families as a
horrible example 10 ingenious female |
youth. ..rI
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CzImATIU CURE0sITIEs