Abbeville press. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1860-1869, 1869-04-02
By w: A. LEE AND HUGH. WILSON.
TIE BOZ OF THE PERIOD.

IHE bO1 OF XhE PER1OU.
ss.H: ~. - ------ :, ..-. --.r
He Is sort of. asteroid in the So
cinl system. He and his kind move
in the widely elliptic orbits of large
inclination, cutting society at certain
modal points like those hundred and
odd vagrant Jumps of cosmic matter
that if put together would hardly
make up, the mass of o respectable
planet. Perhaps, equally like them,
he may serve to demonstrate some
yet-to-be-diseovered Bodean law ru,
ling the little universe of which he
forms so numerous yet so trivial q
part. Perhaps he may have a use, as
all things have but then the designs
of heaven are inscrntable and not to
be found out by searching. He is o
boy Of the period, but not tie boy of
the period, for, unlike tho periodic
girl, whose generic and specific types
have. been somewhat ungenerously
determined in the monograph of the
Saturday Review, the boy is protean
and belongs to class rather than a
species. The girl can hardly be look
ed upon as a mere makeweight, like q
printers leads that serve to space out
tho leading article more prominently,
that high distinction being reserved
for the society boy and unhesitatingly
accepted by him. The society make
weight is not always such by virtue
of brains, wealth or family, aweak
and inane gentility of dress and man.
ner being about all that is wanted to
separate him from the herd that lies
huddled together one grade lower.
He is manifestly q step above the
urbane shop,keeper, and, as things 60
with us, equally removed, contrary
wise, from tho fast young man who
inherits we'll crammcd .deed-box.
He is most frequently professional and
of professional ancestry. His college
course, by mixing him with young
mon of money, gives him that first
insight into that complex and unsocial
scheme misnamed society, although
Insignificant, in any orbital lacuna that
may be open to him. Ho dances, and
this enables him to fill up q "German;"
in fact, dancing we'll is about half his
social capital. He can talk, if not
brilliantly, at least intelligibly, and
this brings him into demand to help
dil . parlor and perhaps save from
walthowarship some poor thing
around whom the cold blasts that
hurtle in the zone the wrong side Of
thirty have blown yopghly. He is
not always fortunate enough to loll in
tho tropical luxurjapoe of society in
its teens; for he is generally under
stood not to be marrying man--his
means being limited. This keeps the
social makeweight out of tho two ex-
tremes of model domesticity and mod
ell viciousness in a fashionable way.
With him a cherry wife aud a fast
nag, q costly club aud chubby curly
pate to fondle on his knee, are equally
remote objects. of ambition. Ho
would bo dissipated If he could-but
how? Wanting the wherewithal to
do so, he makes a virtue of his fate,
limits himself to the billiards and ci.
gars, and Hicks up the crumbs. that fall
from the social table with uncommon
dable lack Otto use O humble word
spunk. And 80 he.drifts along, grad
ually developing cynical turn to-
ward the girl of the period and is no.
tably eloquent ON her extravaganza
and unfitness for wifehood, meaning,
of course, unatness,to be the mate of
such as himself Yet he sees tho girl
Of the period as her best, and she
charms him In DIRECT ratio to her 'ex~
travagance and wifely unfitneae. Her
parlors are open to him, hor dress and
jswsiry as eoquettishly worn for him
asfar nebler quarry, her mamma tol-
crates him more perhaps than II he
were young Van Dollah or Foozleoyle
the :whiakeyist, and hsr papa believes
in hie entire innoeponsness,s extends
tho pudgy grasp of ffiendship, and at
odd times patronises him by buying
his freshly dauhed aanyas, or sending
him 4 hopeless note TOR collection. he
6ndureS aai this without wincinp, for