The Portland daily press., 1874-06-15
jolly Good Fellows.


great many jolly good fellows moving about
in our midst. Itmight be as we'll if the num-
ber were not so great. As matter of fact,
most of these jolly good fellows are not so jol-
ly as they make themselves out to be, and
they are very far from being so good as they
would have you believe them. Their jollity
is, like many mans best clothes, only dom
ned on special occasions, and, as natural
consequence, it does not always sit well on
its wearers At home they are often the re-
verse OF companionabe. Indeed they display
such an amount of irritation and of selfish
ness, and of general unsociableness, that 1t
would be strange if those who are nearest and
should be dearest to them did not occasional
ly arrive at the conclusion that 1t would be
blessing rather than otherwise II they were
removed to another sphere. They are not
much concerned as to how their wives and
children fare, but if they themselves are sub
jected to any real or imagined discomfort,
they forthwith proceed to raise cries OF grief
and Indignation of the most startling charac-
ter. No one could fairly bring it against
them that they are addicted to ruinous ex-
travagance as tar as their own households are
concerned. On the contrary, in this direc-
| ton they display an amount OF prudence
| which is, perhaps, commendable, but which
| is just trife excessive. 1t is, no doubt,
| good thing for wives to have it impressed up
| on them that economy is an excellent thing,
| and where limited incomes are In question,
| is nothing less than an absolute necessity;
but even upon this point woman can be lee
/ tured too often and with excess OF vigor.
| This our friend, the jolly good fellow is con-
stantly demonstrating 1t is, perhaps, also
well that people should be occasionally left
| alone, in order that selfreliance and habits OF
calm meditation may be cultivated /; but even
too much solitude is Injurious to most mem
bers of the human family. This is also rem
Inro1 LIANT hv n tu ryl,a
in working to this end, proves that he is just
a trile inconsistent At any rate, while ev-
erlastingly showing that he considers quiet
ness and privacy of the most pronounced
kind necessary to the well-being of his wife,
he is never tired of declaring that he was born
for society, and that he cannot continue to
exist without If. a8 a.a. sr.tt..-
When he emerges from the retirement of
bis domestic circle, and appears in what he
is pleased to call society" he certainly un-
dergoes marked change. An apparently
habitual scowl is replaced by sweet and cap
tivating smile; a harsh voice becomes mel
lifuous; and, instead of putting people out
of the way to serve him, he puts himself to
tremendous amount of trouble in order to
minister to the pleasure of those with whom
he is brought in contact. The chances are
ten to one that when he meets you he slaps
your back in manner which, though un-
comfortable, is decidedly friendly, and that,
in his excess of joy at encountering you, he
squeezes your fingers until you are inclined
to writhe and cry out in your agony. Fur
ther than this, you will discover that he is
most solicitous as to your welfare. Are you
hungry, he will feed you; are you athirst, he
will give you drink; do you banker after that
modern abomination, ysleped nicotine, he
will thankfully satisfy your craving. As q
matter of fact, he is ever asking his friends to
smoke, to eat, and to drink and he is ready
- l. a L. la =
time and to almost any extent. Ifhe goes to
theater, you will find him many times dur
ing the evening lurking about the ''bar," sur
rounded by kindred spirits, and laughing and
joking to rare extent. When he visits a
hotel, he never fails to find his way to the
same intellectual and refined region. The
capacity to drink is, in his opinion, one of
the surest signs of good fellowship; the
man who will never consent even
contemplate thing, whom it would
be simple fattery to call dsagreeable muff.
1t may be said that the greater portion Of his
spare time is spent where the jingle of glasses
constantly strikes upon his ear, and where it
does not require keen observer
to detect the presence of tobacco.
He does not care pin about money,
judging by the manner in which he dashes it
about in public. At the same time, there is
reason to believe that if you stood in need of
five pound note, and went to him and
stated, in a friendly and confidential
way, that such was the case, and
that he would confer great favor upon
you by letting you have loan to the value
thereof, you would discover that he cared
about it good deal more, and about you con-
siderably less, than you had been in the habit
of thinking. You may generally be excused
for feeling trife mortified on learning thi.,
for, asia rule, he has given you many grounds
for thinking that you were very dear to him.
He has made point of con6ding secrets to
your ear, and Of swearing that SO long as he
lives you shall never never stand in need OF a
friend. But he acts upon the principle that
to him that wants not shall be given, aud
| that to him that is really NEEDY everything
shall be steadily denied When in that half
| muddled state, which seems to be his usual
| condition, he will not only drain his pocket
| but yours also, if you will let him, in his ers
| deavors to show that he is 'jolly good fel-
| low." Further than this, he will run into
| debt in hundred different directions in his
| efforts to hold his own against, and stand
| well in in the opinion of,fthose jovial souls in
| whose company he delights to mingle. He is
utterly Indifferent as to whether those with
| whom he has prosaic business transactions
are ever paid by him what is due to them; in
deed, he is rather pleased than otherwise il
he can, by smart dodge, di Idle his butcher,
his baker, his tailor, or his landlord.
| 1t is somewhat surprising that few inno-
| cent people are loud in their praises OF the
| jolly good fellow. They are addicted to de-
claring that the greatest sin which can be
urged against him is that he is imprudent
This is most egregious error. He is impru-
dent, it is true, but he is also something
great deal worse. Apart from his reckless-
ness-in which there is also copsiGerApe
amount of cunning--he is utterly seiish and
lax in his principles: - aoreopI' : sooi None but a
noodle would Sorsake his own fireside, and
let his Intellectual mU qualities run to seed, for
the .ake of moving in the vitiated atmos-
nhors r1o san" ;n which he moves, and of mixing with
puetr; tr;he OF heartless, dissipated fellows, who
sre sre siways to be found herding together In
,,iaces of a ''fast' tendency. ...lt