Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1879-02-06

] Iancifal and illogical are sometime
nefe tellinx thar others in which u
criticism c0uId lind q naw. For in
stance. the curious and rather aukwarl
! tsase. Sfne lie cold shoulder" ha
u ussef force which cousI
n - n eqaalNed by The most fault
- <le3 "a rot pretend T. aceoun
az az j. ~ Il IBIS islion. whiel "a
= 90 = = - sks13s
q sienk = ~ responsibility of conven
lional EnFiIsb. II may be more inter
esting 10 consider the uses and abuse,
Of the thing than to speculate on III.
history Of the word. Precedents o
great antiquity may be found Tor thu
use OF the cold shoulder, but il is new
eEtheless special characteristic Of the
Day. In past times enemies had man,
rescurces-daels. horse-whipping, tour
naments. pluekings ofbeards, and smit
Ings under fifthsribs: but in these day,
their only choice lies between a dead
cut and the cold shoulder. The readi.
ness and portability Of this last weapon
renders its use but too common; and il
Is rarely that any social gathering takes
place without some very pretty fight.
ing with this instrument. Il has also
this advantage, that its use is not con-
fined % the male sex, for women can
WELD It on occasion with the fierceness
Of PetvoLeuses. The graceful use Of the
cold shoulder fairly deserves to be
ranked among the fine arts; while, on
the contrary. nothing can be more un-
calmly than its awkward application
When q tactless man meets the object
Of has detestation, he looks nervously
self-concious, and seems undecided
whether to cut, or merely slight his en-
emy. After blushing in a foolish man
ner, he gives an awkward bow, which,
intended to be graceful, is in reality
ludicrously clumsy. A casual observer
might impute his singular behavior to
shyness rather than hatred. The most
successful hand at cold-shouldering is
the heartless aud listless man, who can
put bis victim completely out of his
mind, and forget his presence, If not his
existence, as soon as he has accorded
him the coldest Of ofrecognitions. With
out insinuating that women are more
heartless and listless than men, we NAV
observe that they are far greater adopts in
this art than the opposite sex. Most
men are more or less III at case when
tbeE hnpw that they gre giving pain to
others, but this rs BY no means inva-
riably the case with women. We
might even 90 so far as to say that la
dies sometimes too evidently derive sat-
isiaction from the annoyance Of others
while retaining their own caIoric; but
men cannot obtain like result with
out FIRST becoming icicles themselves.
The lords Of creation, moreover, when
wishing TO appear digni6ed, are apt to
assume an air ofvacant stupidity. They
are, in fact, bad actors; and when q man
would like to knock another down, he
finds Il an effort to treat him with cold
politeness.
But If the art Of giving the cold shoul-
der Is worthy Of requirement, much
more 50 is that Of receiving it judicious-
y. 1t is quite possible to endure its
application with such becoming dignity
that the aggressor comes of decidedly
second-best in the encounter. PERHAPS
Indifference forms the most ef-
Eective armor against its thrusts, for
few things so discOncert an enemy as
10 find bis attacks alfording diversion to
his antagonist. The probability in
such case is that he will either lose
his temper, and thus put himself I'M
mediately in the wrong, or else surren-
der Internationally on percciving the
sbsuriity of the situation. IL is said
hat people who have an inordinate fear
1f Infectious diseases are more suscep-
able Of them than others; and, in the
same manner, those who are always
ireading the cold shoulder are most
vulnerable to that kind of attack. In
Iced, men who live in perpetual fear Of
sights from others become so con-
strained in their manner that il is ex-
remely difficult for their friends to
reat them with geniality. The cold
people are frequently
hose who look Tor most warmth from
yshers; and when their expectations are
iot gratifed they forget that the cool
hess they meet with Is but a dim re-
lection Of their own. But miserable
il IL the stste of persons who suffer
rom oveT-sensItIveness, !: Is 10 be pre-
erred 10 that Of the hardened wretches
Who are impervious TO the sternest on
laughts Of the cold shoulder. There
'Fe beings who are 50 convinced Of
heir own sttractIveness that nothing
will persuade them that they are OBJ
ects Of special aversion. 1t they OBJ
erve that the manner OF an acquain-
ance Is unusually cold they attribute ii
o dyspepsia or to depreciation in the
falue Of his investments.
Il may be doubted whether any hu-
nan being has ever lived 10 the age Of
hirty without experiencing the cold
boulder in some form or other. Who
Ioes not know what IL Is, when casual
! falling in with couple Of friends, TO
ee them smile significantly at each
'ther. and then accord him . colder
'reeting than he expecteds Or who
as not heard knot Of hIs aequaintances
:huckle With ilI-eoneeaIed miFth when
le left thems If any one has escaped
uch late, has he never found the con-
Iefsation OF afriend cold CT abrupt when
le bad hoped IT would be sympaihet-
c and familiar j. there q man 50
ucky that be has never been made 10
eel that be was in the way when pay
q calls Have not most of us occa.
ionally found that our most Interesting
.orn nnslnirafions have Eeen veenondad