National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-04-03
4 CHAPTER ON BLABBING.
ToRMENTISG PRACTICE OF THE Or
DIMARK WOMAN OBSOCIErT.


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HOW PEOPLE kRE MADE MISERABLE IN A
COMMONPLACE wAY-HABIT OF BLAB-
BING-wHEN THE BLAB IS IN HER
GLoRY-vARIoUs TYPES OF BLABs.
The poets and moraIists who have grown elo-
quent ever the sufferings caused in the world ~
women have generally been thinking rather OF
the tragic than Of the comic side OF life. Inc
Helens who have wasted ships, men and cities oy
their fatal loneliness; the ClytemneStras anu
Guineveres who have recklessly opened the MOOD
gates Of crime rather than st!he one guilty pas
sion; the Cleopatras who Rave enslafso thelt
1athsrland for the pleasure Of making men love
them, and those other celebrated women WHOSE
like has been the old tale OF
HBeauty and anguish, walking hand In hand
\ The downward slopes Of DEATH"
oocupy a much larger space in the world of imag-
suation than the GATHERINGS and other shrews
who, from circumstances, over which they had no
control, have been forced to content themselves
with the humber part Of making ordinary men
miserable in q commonplace sort Of . way. And
yet It seems probable that on the stage Of life at
least as much pain is caused by ....
THE woHxN OF ooxrpY
As by the tragedy queens. No doubt the great
Spartan elopement gave rise to more suffering
than is caused BY any one case which comes be-
fore Sir james HaRRe1s But then against this
we may CONSIDER how mueh more frequently the
case as deaet with BY Sir James Hammer occurs
thaRtAe case was handled by Homer. And also
wsmay remember that heroic suferIngs are not
such an unmixed evil as those of more Insignia
cant people. There is o large amount Of good to
be set of against the sutferIngs and pain caused
by the sack of Troy. But there really IS nothing,
or next to nothing, which we can set of against
the petty miseries caused by the commonplace
5tlts and shrews aud taIe-bearlng OF everyday
life. Paradoxical as It sounds there is q sense in
which 1.-The greater the suffering the less the
pain" Among the many
MODES OF ToRNENTISe PRACTICE
by tho ordinary woman of society, one Of her
worst is her habit of blabbIng, repeating to
ons dear friend the things that have been lately
said and done by another dear friend. Some
women are positively ill-natured, and blab from
malice Old maids, whose life has been soured
by disappointments or who, from want Of proper
education in their youth, have no satisfactory
means Of occupation, are sometimes found to be
tainted with the vice. Telling tales is to them
what torturing flies is to naughty children. The
emotion displayed by mother when they tell her
that her son at Oxford is constantly in the CON-
pany of such or such a Eell-known scape-xrace
the disquiet Of young girl when they hintto her
that her lover is generally believed to be deeply
in debt or when they repeat to her some remark
OF his which she is likely to think shocking -
the annoyance visible in the face Of 8 sensitive
man when they retail some careless and uncom.
plimentary remark made about him by some one
whose good opinion he valuss-all these tokens Of
suffering cause them positive pleasure.
The terror which these people inspire among
their neighoors gives them q sense Of power, and
affords them some compensation for the neglect
of men, the condescendIng airs of mothers and
wives, the slckentng frlVolity Of the young, the
mpudence of officials, the tyranny of eabmen, and
all the other real fancIed injuries OF society.
Every London coterIe and every country village
numbers at least one of these harpies; and q
man who cannot recken one Of them among his
own near kInswomea may think himself for
tuRate. AS muss auch solohe KauZe geben"
But these are not after all, the only women
who do harm and inflIct sutferin g by their
HABIT OF BLABBINe.
"To blab," as DR.. johnson says, usually i'm
plies rather thoughtlessness than treschery;
though 1t may be used in either sense" The ma
jority of women blab, not from malice, but, as
somebody is said to have whistled, for want Of
thought. And probably quite as much pain and
annoyance is caused by thoughtless as by treGch-
erous blabbIng. In this, the truest sense of the
word, every fifth or sixth woman in society is a
blsb. Two elementary principles OF social we'll
being are more or less systematically violated by
numbers Of women in society. One Of these prIn-
ciples is that there are many things which though
not In the strict sense Of the word Secrets should
not be repeated. The other is that there are some
persons to whom certain things not secrets should
not be repeated. Both these principles are com.
prised under the more general maxim that the
savings Of friends are not common property; ana
both of them are to the infinite misery and dis
comfort Of society, neglected by the blab.
THE coMMoS HLAR
that is to say every fifth woman in society, pro-
ceeds upon the principle that whatever has not
been communicated to her as . solemn secret"
she Is at perfect liberty to communicate to an
other. Not only does she think 1t perfectly law
ful to communicate to her friend of Tuesday what
ever happens to have been said or done by her
friend of Monday, but she looks upon this liberty
as kind of natural right, and rssonts the notion
of putting any restraint upon herself in such o
matter. allow sensitive you men are I" she cries,
whenever any one after q picnic, water party,
or my other day Of pleasure-When perhaps
many unguarded words have been spoken, and
some unprecedented deeds have been done-ven-
lures to suggest that it will not add to the days
enjoyment to be continually talking about It all
next week. At the close Of any successful day Of
this kind, when women have been Of the party,
and when the usual remark is made that 1--WE
have had perfect day" the reply that naturally
occurs is ayes, If We might never hear another
word about It," But such wish Is very seldom
expressed, for the simple reason that It would be
absolutely disregarded by almost every woman OF
the company. Every ono knows that the day
after the feast is the time
WIEN THE BLAB is IN HER GLORY
Part ofthe next morning she spends in writing of
afeW piquant details to her mother and sister and
most intimate friends; for the bIab is generally
quite as free with her pen as with her tongue Her
friends say Of her what O capital letter she
HrIIes?" and encourage her by their applause and
keen appreciation Of her funny stories. She has
acquired a reputation for being amusing, and she
knows how to maintain It. If the sayings and do
ings Of the preceding day fail to afford matter Of
sufficient amusement or interest," she is not thereby
bafied. There is always the imagination to draw
upon
THE cLEvEREsT BLABs-
those who are the most welcome to the women and
most dreaded by the men of their society-do not
rely on memory alone for their stock in trade.
There are few things so funny In fact but that
they may be made q little funnier by touch or
two Of fiction. And the woman who is good at re-
Peating is almost always good at inventfng. The
tales which the blab sends to her friends in her
letters are Of course freely used by those friends
for their own purposes Of talk and letter-wrtinR,
And the man who has taken one Of these ladies
down to dinner on Monday may have the satisl6c-
tion of feeling that is far from Improba BILE that
by "Wednesday some of lis remarks Will be circu-
lated In two or three of the remotest counties of
England and Wales.
But It is in talk, of course, and nearer home
that the blab is most effective. Most women
would be utterly at loss for sufficient Conversation
to
, FILL Up THE GAPS AFTER DINNER
at afternoon tea and on rainy days If they were
forbidden to repeat and discuss these sayings and
doings Of their friends. Dress is no doubt topic
which will fill up good deal Of time. But even
dress is not an inexhaustible subject, and It has
the great disadvantage Of not being available in
mixed company-that is, when there are men pres
emit. rides, interesting as the subject Of Gress
Is II yields In interest to the IIatters handled 5y
the elab. She is a kind of siren, exercising q
fatal fascination, from which mon, as well ss
womsn, when once they have allowed themselves
TO become used to listening to her ind 1t very DIFF
hcult to disengage themselves You try to escape
from the room. She arrests you with one Of her
usual formulas: "Oh, must tell you what Mrs.
A. eaid the other day. She was talking about
YOU" or, II want your opinion on Mr.. B. Do you
think him clever" 1t is of little use to weigh
your words in talking to her. For, however Inno-
Cent and judIcIous what you say may be, you
know that she will retail it In such o way as to