The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1882-07-12
The Popular Woman.



If the popular woman be not very high
type Of woman, her virtues and her faults it
must be admitted are of an amiable sort. She
is of all beings, the most social; deligh'iDg
10 her kind and dependent upon it for her
pleasures. Society is absolutely necessary to
her. We do not mean by sosiety that which is
represented by the highest circles In rank,
wealth. or intellect, but simply the constant
friction with her fellow beings. Solitude to
her means deselaton; in it her sp rits lam
guish, her temper sours. The dread concen-
trated natures experience OF enlarging the
number of their acquaintance, lest they be dis
tracted from their purpose in life; the shrink
ing within themselves of the shy before stran-
gers; the depression of the over-sensitiye
weighed down by sense of incompleteness in
the presence of varied interests and aims
these are sensations unknown to the popular
woman.
The popular woman is seldom domestic: the
narrow circle of home duties seems too
limited to absorb her superabundant energy
and its routine Is distasteful to her. Those
sudden calls that upset the even tenor of exis-
tenee, and prove so flurrying and distracting to
groove-loviDg individuals, have an exhilarating
effect upon her spirits Sad or joyous, trif1ng
or important, whatever appeal brings TO her
the sense of the hustle of life is welcome; her
activities rise to it, as fiat champagne fixes 1T
the touch of crust. She is, certainly, vastly
good-natured, cheerily fulfilling any number of
commissions for her friends, with whom she is
| usually in constant correspondence, and in
whose most trif1ing concerns she displays
| steady interest The home circle may suffer
| from this wide extension OF herself and feel
the lack of that concentrated sympathy of a
| woman's heart which makes the atmosphere
| benign; but it, on the other hand, shares her
zest in life; there is q contagion in her incom-
parable enjoyment of the business or pleasure
| Of the present. Animal spirits are the talisman
| BY which the popular woman maintains her
| sway. All feel the pleasantness as of cheer
| ing heat that they diffuse around her. Beauty,
| wit, charm of manner fail to attract near their
| magnetic influence. The popular woman may
| allow her spirits occasionally to run away with
her, but it is noteworthy that for all this spice
of Bohemianism she always keeps to the con-
| ventionalities of life. Society, therefore, is
| tolerant of her bosterousness; the languid are
| grateful for the entrGin she brings; they are
| tempted TO envy the genius she possesses OF in
| vesting trihes with interest and giving them
| Importance: what had seemed stale and dull
| acquires freshness and becomes worth doing
| under the CLEAN of her brightness. The old
| feel revived by the cheer of her OVERLOOKING
| heartiness, while the yonng hail her as boon
/ companion. The popular woman has the in
stinct that her power lies in her animal spirits,
| aud she preserves them at any cost; she will
| not let herself be weighed down or depressed;
| she keeps on the sunny side of life. II her
| sympathies be superficial, they ares ready aud
cordial but her charities do not take the form
| of obscure and silent ministrations. She pre-
| fers to make merry for the sake OF the affict-
| ed, she is ready TO lend a helping hand to get
| ting up o ball, private theatrcals, or o bazaar
| for their benefit. She becomes the moving
! spirit of any form of amusement devised for
| the profit of the needy.
| The popular woman is very easy-goirg and
| largely tolerant Next to her animal spirits
| this indulgent temper is her greatest charm.
| We feel at ease in her presence; there is no
necessity to put ones best foot forward; intel
| lectually and morally we can keep on our slip
| peIs and relax the backbone of our principles
| Her indulgence does not spring from the chart
| ty that "knoweth no evil, /" nor from the cyni-
| cism that believes in evil only, but from her
| knowledge of man and womankind. 1t is a
| knowledge not profound or subtle, but such as
| it is, it is varied and true. 1t has the advan-
| tage of being taken from nature; it is not Sec
| ond-hand not derived from books or hearsay.
| This knowledge of human nature, skin-deep
| though it may be, gives her the inestimable
| talent of hattery. Hers is not obvious hattery,
| but she guesses surely what the ears are long
ing to hear. the heart to be assured of, and she
| serves up the pleasant morsel with sufficient
| tormenting dispraise to give it a certaia blunt
flavor of truth.
| The talk of the popular woman is character
| istic of herself. 1t is more copiouS aud brill
| liant in the larger company. She does not con-
| tribute any flashes of wit TO the conversation,
| any number of facts to the store of learning,
but there is the crispness of originality in her
| remarks certain raeiness OF expression that
| gives piquancy to her phrases A gift pecu-
| liar to her is rapid appreciation OF the wit Of
| others; power of selling it, and throwing a
| CLEAN upon it that makes it evident to duller
| brains. She is not sarcastic, and never on the
heights. Sow-witted and commonplace folk
| do not fear her. She will not soar above the
| level of their comprehension, and she will not
dart those shafts of irony they have an uncom-
Portable feeling their clever sisters occasionally
| level at them. Intel ectual folk take pleasure
| in companionship that is easy and not dull. 1t
is an ncontestable fact that people of intellect
| find relaxation in the society of those who do
| not require them to be always pumping their
| brains. They like gossip, and the popular
| woman is fond of gossip, She knows how TO
| tell story well, with appreciation of its
| points, and with certain dramatic, instinct,
| enlarged by her knowledge of human nature.
| 1t is seldom, however, that the origin of an
| ill-natured story can be traced to her. Ii she
| retails scandal, it is amusing aud not bitter;
and she usually relates it in tone that con-
| veys an excuse for the sinner. Her hearers
| feel that, should their defects or weaknesses be
handled by her, she will not deal unkindly
| with them She admits that she likes second
| rates in everything second-rate intellects,
1 secoRd-rate books second-rate Wines" One
| of her pleasantest attributes is that she knows
| how to laugh at herself and is in such excel.
| lent humor with her own faults that tbs diff