The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1874-06-18

met with 81 a vacant stare :" and there
fore We are not quite satisfied that it
was the Irritation alone that induced the
/ youth to put an end to what, under
more favorable circumstances, might
| have been a useful career. And so tie
moral of the tale is lost in obscurity. or
/ at least is doubtful. For If "young
Laurence, after all, as is quite posi-
! bic, only sought Lady Clara for her
wealth, we cannot but feel that the
. simple yoeman, who took upon him
| self to rebake her ladyship so scorn-
fully, indulged in undeserved iDyec-
tive. Besides, might not this same
- simple yoeman" have been somewhat
! conceited, or at least hasty, IN presum-
/ ing that Lady Clara was en- n1eavoring to
/ get up Irritation with him e? Even the
Poet Laureate has not succeeded in
clearing away the nebuIosity that sur
rounds the nature of the hirt
DIR. Johnson defines a firt 90 pert
hussy," and very likely this is the defin-
/ ition which would be selected by Mrs.
/ Proper, and middle-aged ladies of her
/ way of thinking, as correctly describing
/ young ladies whose conduct they chose
to qualify as "fOrward," :" and who in
the result have the advantage over the
| Misses Proper In the matter of matri-
| very different notion of a hirt. and
| frequently the girl who is called a f1irt
in the smOking-roOm would never be
suspected of any such propensities by
matronly gossips at five o'clock tea.
No; the laughing, lively, talkative, and
perhaps somewhat bOisterous girl,
whose animal spirits and innocent be-
liefs and delights stir the bile of dowa-
ayers whose youth has gone fOrev0,,
and possibly pinch themselves for not
having enjoyed it more while it was
theirs to enlOy, are never regarded by
the males as dangerous characters"
1t is only the very, very young man
who does not know when girlish spirits
"a natural and when they are forced,
and who cannot distinguish between the
alluremers 3 of the experienced siren and
the natural fascinations of the light
hearted vestal-betweeR Venus ssand Di-
ana. The fatal hirt, who alone is to be
dreaded, does not attempt to assume
the artlessness of blossomipg girIhood.
On the contrary, she assumes the expe-
rieEce of a tried woman who krows
something of the sins and sOrrows Of
life. How much or how little she
knows she carefully veils in sighs and
mOurnful looks. Vanity she possesses
in an inordinate degree, but she hides
it unsUrupulously beneath an appearance
of astonishment when her victim first
gives her to understand that he likes
her rather better than her sisters.
What is there about her, she asks with
admirably feigned simplicity, that any
body should take such a fancy to her
Oh, no he must be mistaken or,
worse, he is endeavoring to deceive her,
and that is not kind. For she has suf-
fered-ah, yes 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 ex-
pressive eyes, she adds another fool to
her long list. She possesses more
worldly wisdom than Lady Clara, and
does not fix 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 especially careful
not to put herself in the wrong. She
plays the sad and disappointed role, and
tears are in her eyes as she gently says,
''I think it better for beth 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 in
nocence of the dove. Her heart is,
doubtless, a passionate one, but a very
little satisfies it, and she never lets it
get the better of her head. She has
quite made up her mind to marry COM
Portable, md she is very careful never
to go too far in the experiments she
makes. However checkered her ball
room career, she never loses sight of
the wedding breakfast and the marriage
settlements, The motives of her pre-
ndptial conduct are to be found in a
restless vanity. Her one great delight
is to believe 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 i'd
iotically stare at a bedroom window
which he thinks is hers. To draw men
away from other women is her great |
triumph, and she is 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 letters dictated by passion she
knows to be hopeless, and her replies
would excite the admiration Of a veteran
diplomatist. Occasionally she catches
a Tartar-a male fiirt as cunning as her
self, but her instinct and her tact are
quicker and superior, and she rarely
falls into the snare that she has laid for
Others. EVENTUALLY bu6 uldEIlCb well
and makes an excellent wife, though she
is apt to look uncommonly keen after
her husband. She denounces flirts with
an irrepressible energy, and her daugh-
ters grow up models of circumspect be-
havior. How far such a character is to
be congratulated on its success, or how
far it is to be pitied for its httleness or
condemned for its contemplate selfish
ness, I have no desire to say.
''But this won't do, =" 1 hear some
fair reader exclaim. ''The fault of
flirting does not rest with us alone
Don't gentlemen ever fiirt, if you
please?"
All ! Mademoiselle, that is just the
one point in which we find it impossible
to criticise one another. We can pass
our opinions freely upon our friends
horses, his tailor, his social qualities,
his style of living, his intellectual ca
pacities, his temper, his income, his
debts-and we can praise or blame
pretty generally as our inclination or
our reason may dictate but I assure
YOU we are giftel with extreme reti-
ceuce if any youngster amongst us ven
lures to remark upon Asterisk's sup
posed successes among women. Aste-
risk never mentions such things himself
in mems society, or if he does it is with
a sigh and respectful stroke of his
moustache. Nobody would think of
calling him a ladies' man, or chatting
him about any girl he thought fit to
dance with several times at same ball.
We have shrewd suspicious that Aste-
risks affectionate nature but rowing dis
position has caused more than one
bright eye to grow dim, and more than
one heart to palpitate in a disorderly
manner and we haveheard stern NAM
mas, who were very polite to him when
they first knew him-for our friend has
considerable expectations-speak stern
ly of him and call him a 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 a iirt. And If we
palmer and less interesting people envy
in a certain way his successes, we never
feel any malice towards him, for he has
a remarkable knack Of keeping clear OF
M rNrnaFz