The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1869-08-08
Ahout Fiirtntsol..,7

ole on tue eubject OF flirting. not inapt
propriate to tue season. We need no.
follow the writer into tiS pi6tarSsquede-
tails M the to1io, bhErsfer t8 the point
with h;whioh tho papsY closeS, that "airt-
hing With intena is q soruel, afalSe, and a
heartless ardnsemeht; and time was
when cruelty and falsehood were essen
TALLY sins that vitiated all claims to gen.
tlehood. We are quite disposed to'agree
with this sentiment. But in the same
breath the essayist says:T "Aud yet the
world would be very dull without that
innocent kind of honsense which goes
by the nama s6f (afhngA pleasant
something which is more than mere ac-
qusintsnoeships and less than. formal
loyerho ood-thatss Indefinite interest by
which the one man or the, ons woman
beoomesia kind spf microcosnf for the
tame, and epitome of ali thae is lovely"
1t is hard to get d glimpse in this way Of
undehnable interestS,r ahd of all that is
lovely. and to be informed that we should
on no account, without vitiatipg our
claim to gentlehood, Mt least grasp at the
pleasures within our reach. The fact is,
to call flirting can innocent kind of non
sense" is to talk lightly! Of every poi
sonous folly. It is too often the wicked
diversion of thoughtless women and silly
men, or OF women OF deaigning, temper,
and men OF disposition to match. The
shghted young women who have been
disappointed and thrown over by artists
In Irritation are not at al to be regarded
es suffering angels, but it is useful to
consider thst after their eyes have been
dried, little hardening of the heart will
set in, not OF all likely to make them
more angelic than they were born to be.
Men who consider women fair game for
attentions that mean nothing desire
particularly to exercise their cultivated
gifts of fascination upon frst-year bellies,
and the effect of the process upon these
Ladies is often of very injurious charac-
ter. A male hirt is stupid coward, as
rule, who leads woman into personal
compromises with him, and, although he
may not boast of his intimacy. the con.
seriousness that it is in his power to do so
ls torture enough to the victim of his at
tentlons. OF course, when there are
really two parties to tho sport it be-
comes different thing, although the
word innocent is not applicable to any
variety OF the amusement. There are
many women who are born hirts, who
are quite equal to every turn of the pur.
suit, and who will battle the oldest hands
at it. There are women, also, semi-de.
tached wives, who apparently exchange
license with their husbands in such INST.
ters, the gentleman giving leave to his
wife to walk and to ride with whom she
will. the wife, on her part, never trou-
bling herself about her husbands going
and coming. or with the genial notice he
may happen to bestow upon the good
looking girls Of their mutual acquaint-
ance. These people can take care OF
themselves. The Saturday Reuieu,
short time ago, pleaded for the eman-
olpation of the "bored" husband: when
the bored wife insists on the same lati.
tude we can scarce see how it can be rea-
sonably denied her. This system of en-
deavoring to escape marital, responsible
ty, and to shirk the duty of forbearanoe
incumbent npon married people, is dis
tinctly evil. and flirting is far too mild
an expression to apply to the commonest
and most seductive means of escape.
In dealing with this subject it is too
often forgotten that there lis class of
persons much concerned in it who NAV
suffer considerably from the notion that
flirting sis an innocent kind of amuse-
ment." It was only last month that a
London barrister read out in court the
letters OF an erratic bagman who had
Tilted dress-maker as brilliantly as q
guardsman might have Tilted the daugh-
ter OF rural squire. Whenever these
breach of promise cases turn up, we may
observe the grossness of the vice of firts-
ton with the gliding quite rubbed off it.
In too many examples the woman has
suffered the worst betrayal, she not hav-
ing as many things, probably. to distract
her M mind as her sister in higher circles
Here, indeed, the amusement is not of
an innocent kind, and the counsel for
the defendant has, as we know, con.
stantly to struggle for mitigation of
damages by throwing in observations as
to the conduct of the plaintiff, also in
consistent with the view that filtration is
a harmless recreation. But it NAV be
said that Irritation is the luxury of the
rich; poor people cannot afford the en-
tertainment, or when they go about it
blunder into unseemly catastrophes. It
is doubtful whether the well-to-do after
all are not worse off from tho custom
than those beneath them. What was
the meaning of the girl of the period
scandal? Why are women accused of
heartless sel6shness and extravaganza
lt may be, we suspect, that they have
sickened of honest love when SO often
disappointed of it, and have then taken