The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1868-01-30

vanity, or ruthlessly sweeps away some dar-
ling fancy of our souls, that the unit be-
comes rather aggravated at the practical
working of this fine plan, and betakes him.
self to vicious unreasoning kicking against
the pricks which does not on the whole act
as sedative to his wounded spirit.
If he is wise, however, he suffers in 81
lence. When Silverskin, who has an awk-
ward habit of treading on his primers
toes, and whose dancing MissF lutters de-
scribes in the mildly satirical tone which
she adopts with her intimate friends, as
s.cavorting," petitions that young lady for
"the next waltz" she violates no law Of
propriety or conventional morality when,
with the most angelic smile which ever
smoothed over an unwelcome reply, she
breathes out her SORROW that she is "en-
gagged" though the fair surface OF her
tablets is as yet uninscribed. But Silver
skin ha; been snubbed, and he knows it
knows it as well as he does the fact that
Glissonel Gld".rell who, two minutes later,
is plotting her with Palinurus-like skill
through those wayy mazes, Is laughing with
her at his discontinue. But his smile is
not one whit less serene nor his brow less
smooth for the knowledge. The one crime
which society will not pardon is bad taste,
and ia the long run he who keeps his tenn
per best will triumph.
Not that any one is decived by these
harmless shams. Mademoiselle Malmaison
whom the ill-advised and mal-apropos death
of some crusty old curmudgeon of fathers
uncle compels to seclude her sweet self for
the orthodox thirty days from the pomps
and vanities, knows very well that the in
nocent conventionality imposes upon no
one; and she is quite ready to be condoled
with on her enforced exile from the world.
She has sucoumbed to a popular prejudice
she has "stsyed in" the orthodox time, and
no one expects any more of her. OF course
she does not like the role of the Pelican in
the wilderness, and she may bewail her
condition as such to her sympathizing
friends. All that is required of her is that
she should abstain from telling it in Gath or
publishing it in the streets Of Askalon. II
she refrains from this she may be quite sure
of the whispered sympathy of her intimates.
The author of the famous aphorism "My
SON thou little knowest with how little wis
dom the world is governed" might we'll
have added, 'sand with how little honesty"
Much Of this artificial state Of things is
doubtless owing to the relations of the sexes.
Women are the true Ishmaelites of the
world. Every woman's hand has been
against every other woman, from the days
whom the daughters of HETH made Re-
BEKAH weary Of her life;-most probably
indeed long before that, up to EVE herself,
the only woman who had no possible rival.
Some one has drawn the contrast between
men and women very skilfully, when he
says that with men the difficulty is to con-
ceal their real feelings, but with women the
difficulty is to express them. Brought up
in an atmosphere of dissimulation large
portion of the shams of the world owe their
origin to their necessities, and are the direct
product of their views Of life. Of course
there are larger necessities interviewer with
these pettier ones, and perhaps one of the
largest lessons to learn in life is the fact of
our individual insigni6cancy, fact which
human vanity is rarely sufficiently con-
quered to perceive. The reflection of the
Country Parson, however, is very sugges-
tive one, from whatever view Of the case.
What q veil it would strip from human de-
formity, the decease of that good old lady
of whom he speaks How the selfish man,
the froward man, the mean man would stand
revealed in their true colors! What disa-
greeable candor would affront US How our
humps and bumps and wrinkled fronts would
be cast in our teeth What an unpleasant
world altogether it would bel We shudder
at the prospect. Have we seemed to reflect
on Mrs. Grundy in some Of our remarks ?
We most humbly beg her pardon. Heaven
send her long life!