Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1886-03-03
ABOUT.BOYS AND GIRLS.
How They are Brought up and Brought
Out, in England.


The boys begin outdoor sports al
most when they begin to walk. The
governess is expected to take the chill
dren for regular and long walks daily.
The boys have cricket, "hares" and
hounds, lawn tennis, riding, swimming
and boating, and keep up those out
much all through life. Gentlemen Of
all ages engage in these sports, and
when too old to play the more vigor-
GUS games take q hand at bowls. Ev-
cry Englishman knows how to play,
and to the last enjoys the play. The
Englishman is a Spartan. He is hard
and hardy. He suppresses his feelings.
He has feelings, but they are SO deep
down that he seldom gets at them.
They never come to the surface. 1t is
deemed unmanly to show feeling. He
plays as boy at football.
1t is cruel, almost brutal game.
He runs his risk. I have seen a boy
taken Off the field unconscious; when
he came to himself he said: ooh, it's
nothing" These boys are manly fell
lows; honest, truthful, trusty, gener-
GUS and stout-hearted. [ never had
an English boy tell me lie. In the
upper classes few would In any way
act dishonorably. Only through SER
Witty would the boys of the lower
classes consent to be sneaks. English
boys look upon German boys as ped
ants, upon French boys as "babies,"
and upon American boys as ''elderly
gentlemen"
The American boy is the mystery.
An English boy stops in his short
breeeches just as long as can be. He
has no fancy for parties and balls and
evenings in drawing-rooms. He calls
such things CHORES" He prefers foot
ball-and cricket; he chooses rather to
roam the fields with gun and dog; he
counts it gain when he has been in the
saddle for the day. He is tacitu1n.
He uses slang. This is the vernacular.
A green grocer's son who puts on airs
he calls "cad;;' an awkward boy who
is inapt and bit cowardly he says is
q 'duffer;" a hiding and deceitful boy
is known as a 'smuff." When the
schoolmaster is angry he is "waxy."
He always uses negatives. A fellow Is
gushing when he emarks that a thing
isgood; Rugby or an Elton boy never
ventures far beyond saying, "It's not
bad, or cit g not half bad" Henever
would dream of saying "That's i'm
mense;" when he meant the same
thing he would say, "It'srather jolly"
A sixpence is O. "tanner," and shilling
is bob" His father is the gown
or" and his mother is the mater"
His companion is his "pal' and his
dog is his "brute." He never has a
"picnic" or q "circus," but only q
clark" So universal is the use of
slang among English boys that they
have no notion that their vernacular
is slang. To talk in any other tongue
would not only be affectation but
cheeky" Girls as well as boys use
nasty for disagreeable, and 'beast-
ly" for offensive.
English boys are never efeminate,
and they are very ''taking'' because
they are such splendid boys. They
dress like boys till they are eighteen
years old. They obey like boys; they
study and play; they feel and think;
they feed and sleep; they disport
themselves in all ways like boys till
they become men, and then they put
away childish things. All foreigners in
America ask where the children are.
The absence of boys and girls is alto
gether the most striking feature Of
American society," 1t is deliciously re
freshing to meet in America q boyish
boy or q girlish girl. Manish boys and
womanish girls are the rule in Ameri-
can life, so foreigners think and say.
English girls are suppressed, but
they do not know it. Ii seen they are
not heard, and they are not often seen.
They are never put on exhibition.
Their manners are quiet, and their
dress is always very simple. The rich
er and higher OF rank the palmer they
are dressed as rule. Children never
wear jewelry. 1t is not often that an
unmarried lady wears jewelry at all,
and if so, very modest pieces, such as
a pin or O. ring. Children are never
put into finery. They are kept in the
nursery until they have acquired quiet
and unobtrusive manners They do
not dine with the family till such age
as guarantees good table manners.
The brilliant compilations of the chill
dren-somewhat due to the soft and
humid climates O. result of careful
diet and regular hours of work, recre-
alton and sleep. The girls are with
their mothers much less than are
French girls, and are with their nurses
and governesses much more. They
ara very shy and modest. Their read
ing is religiously looked after, and few
read sensational or fashy fiction.
Solid reading is the rule. Indeed, they
read but little and know but little out
side of their text books. The girls,
and for that matter the women, have
no genius for conversation. They sell
dom prattle inter estingly as the
French ladies do, and take no great
delight in whispering scandal as the
German ladies do. They embroider
and sew, and all have Clancy work"
on hand. They never sit idly. Even
in the drawing-room, in the evening,
they will converse while doing some
sort of needlework. The girls ride,
take long walks, play tennis and roam
the gardens and fields. Among the
wealthy classes they have their horses
and dogs, and spendno inconsiderable