Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-05-31
FLIRTS AND FILTRATION.
A Definition NOT TO be Found I'm sOcie-
tvs Lexicon Professional Heart
Breakers and Their Wiles.
l.,.i -.


DIR. johnson defines firt ga pert
hussy," and very likely this is the def
milton which would be selected by Mrs.
Proper, and middle-aged ladies of her
way of thinking, as correctly descr1b-
ing young ladies whose conduct they
choose to qualify as forward" and
who in the result have the advantage
over the Misses Proper in the matter
of matrimonial alliances. But men
generally have very different notion
Of firt, and frequently the girl who
is called fiirt in the smokingroom
would never be suspected of any such
propensitles by matronly gossips at
five O'Clock tea No; the laughing,
lively, talkative, and perhaps somewhat
boisterous girl, whose animal spirits
and innocent beliefs and delights stir
the bile of dowagers whose youth has
gone forever, and possibly pinch them
selves for not having enjoyed it more
while it was theirs to enjoy, are
never regarded by the males as
dangerous characters" 1t is only
the very, very young man who does not
know when girlish spirits are natural
and when they are forced, and who can
not distinguish between the allurements
of the experienced siren and the natu-
raj Vaccinations of the ight-Aearted
vestal-between Venus and Diana. The
fatal hirt, who alone is to be d,eaded,
does not attempt to assume the artless-
ness of blossoming girlhood. On the
contrary, she assumes the experience of
a tried woman, who knows something
of the sins and sorrows of life. How
much or how little she knows she care
fully walls in signs and mournful looks.
Vanity she possesses IN an inordnate
degree, but she hides it scrupulously
beneath an appearance of astonish-
ment when her victim first gives her to
understand that he likes her rather bet
ter than her sisters. What is there
about her, she asks with admirably
feigned simplicity, that anybody should
take such fancy to her? Oh, mol he
must be mistaken; or, worse, he is en-
deaYoring to deceive her, and that is
not kind For she has suffered-ah,
yesl she has suffered. She has
learned, to her cost, that man is
dreadfully selfish, and Is it possible
that any man can be an exception
to the rule? And so, with soft voice
and expressive eyes, she adds another
fool to her long list. She possesses
more worldly wisdom than Lady Clara
We're de We're, and does not fxa vacant
stare on the lover she wants to be off as
the new one is coming on. She is clever
at contriving quarrels, but she is espe-
cially careful not to put herself in the
wrong. She plays the sad and disap-
pointed role, and tears are in her eyes
as she gently says, Il think it better
for both that we should forget all that
has passed; but" she adds tenderly,
"let us part friends" She has certainly
the wisdom of the serpent, If nature
has denied her the innocence of the
dove. Her heart is, doubtless, a pas
passionate one, but very little salts
fes it, and she never lets it get the bet
ter of her head. She has quite made up
her mind tomarry comfortable, and she
is very careful never to 60 too far in
the experiments she makes. How
ever checkered her ballroom career,
she never loses sight of the wedding
breakfast and the the marriage settle
ments. The motives of her prenuptial
conduct are to be found in a restless
vanity. Her one great delight Is to be-
heve that somebody Is in love with her.
She is never so happy as when she has
reason to think that some man or other
is fool enough to prowl about the house
where she lives and idiotically stare at
a bedroom window which he thinks IS
hers. To draw men away from other
women Is her great triumph, and shels
In her glory when partners eagerly vie
with each other in claiming her for
waltz and gallop. She reads and re-
reads with swelling pride the warm let
tiers dictated by passion she knows to
be hopeless, and her replies would ex-
cite the admiration Of a veteran diplo-
matist. Occasionally she catches a
Tartar male fiirt as cunning as her.
self, but her instinct and her tact are
quicker and superior, and she rarely
falls into the snare she has laid for 9TH
ers. Eventually she marries well and
makes an excellent wife, though she is
apt to look uncommonly keen after her
husband. She denounces fiirts with an
irrepressible energy, and her daughters
grow up models of circumspect beha-
vior. How far such character is to
be congratulated on its success, or how
far it is to be pitied for its httleness
or condemned for its contemplate sell
fshness, l have no desire to say.
But this won't do" / hear some
fair reader exclaim. ''The fault of
flirting does not rest with US alone.
Don't gentlemen ever firt, if you
please?"
ALI Mademoiselle, that is just the
one point in which We find it impossi-
bic to criticise one another. We can
pass our opinions freely upon our
friends horses, his tailor, his social
qualities, his style of living, his intel
lectual capacities, his temper, his in
come, his debts-and we can praise or
blame pretty generally as our inclna-
ton or cur reason may dictate; but l
assure you we are gifted with extreme
reticence if any youngster amongst US
ventures to remark upon Asterisk's
supposed successes among women. As
terisk never mentions such things him
self in mems society, or if he
does it is with sigh and
respectable stroke of his moustache.
Nobody would think of calling him
ladies' man, or chatting him about
any girl he thought fit to dance with
several times at the same ball. We
have shrewd suspicious that Asterisk's
affectionate nature but rowing dispo-
sition has caused more than one bright
eye to grow dim, and more than one
heart to palpitate in disorderly man.
ner; and we have heard stern mammas,
who were very polite to him when they
first knew him-for our friend has con-
siderable expectations-speak sternly
of him and call him dangerous man,
and cluck to their chickens to come
under their wings when he is abroad in
the ballroom. But we never think of
calling him firt. And if we palmer
and less interesting people envy in a
certain way his success, we never feel
any malice towards him, for he
has a remarkable knack of keep
ing clear of jealousies, and is
scrupulous about poaching on
| other peoples preserves. At least, so