The Arkansaw traveler., 1888-03-10

dlsllKed literary people and perse- cuted and mystified Mime. de Stael, Lewis, Horace, Twiss and the like. The truth is that, though I gave up the business early, I had a tinge of dandyism in my minority and proba- ply retained enough of it to conciliate the great ones at four-twenty." The dandies, however, received a severe handling from Carlyle some years later. "Touching dandies," says he, ill "Sartor Resartus," "let us consider, with some scientific strictness, what 8 dandy specially is. A dandy is a clothes wearing mana man whose trade, office and existence consist in the wearing of clothes. Every fac- ulty of his soul, spirit, purse and per- son is heroically concentrated to this one object-the wearing of clothes wisely and well; 80 that as others dress to live, he lives to dress. The all importance of clothes has sprung up in the intellect of the dandy with out effort, like an instinct of genius i; he is inspired with cloth, a poet of cloth. A divine idea of cloth is born with him."
 After the dandies came the exquis- ties and the loungers, who did every thing in a style of their own and whose motto was, "Look, and die" These fools fancied themselves great lady killers. The exquisites and the loungers were succeeded by the Cor inthians, who were fops of a more adventurous and rough and ready kink. The word is derived from Corinth, whose immortality was prov erbial both in Greece and Rome. A Corinthian, according to Dr. Brewer, was the "fast man" of Shakespeare's period ; hence the reference in "Henry IV."; "I am no proud Jack like Falstaf; but a Corinthian, lad of mettle, good boy" "Snobs" was the designation by which the fops of the next generation were known Thackeray who has made us familiar with the word, gives the etymology of it as pseudo nods-that is, false or Brummagem nobles.
 Two or three years ago, the Daily Nesos, in notice of "Punch's Alma nac," observed "Those who are cu- rious in the matter of 'neology' should note that in this number the word 'masher' has finally usurped the place of 'swelP just as 'swelP superseded dandy which itself was the successor of 'buck,' 'blood,' 'Corinthian,' sexqui- site,' 'macaroni,' 'beau,' and numerous other kindred designations" Partly in consequence of this and similar paragraphs in other periodicals, the origin of the word "masher"-the term by which another generation of fOps were known-was attributed to our old friend Punch. But pr. Charles Mackay says the word, which came to us from the United States, is of Gaelic origin and was intro duced into the country by Irish immigration. It is derived from the Gaelic matSe pronounced 'masher" and signifies fine, elegant, handsome and was originally applied in derision to dandy. This derivation cannot, however, be regarded as final, as the French mdrcheur and other words have been claimed as the origin of masher
 "Dude" and "chappie" seem to be the latest synonyms for flop, but the words do not appear likely to come into general use.
 The foppery of great men has al- ways been source of amusement- something of disgust-to their con- temporaries. The curled and scented ringlets of Disraeli were laughed at by his political friends and it is very probable that Julius Cesar was also laughed at because he set the fashion of wearing earrings, which before that had been confined to women and slaves. Disraeli's letters, however, prove that he could laugh at his own toibles in dress. Like Byron, the great duke of Marlborough was a dandy when young, but he lived to see the folly of his ways.
 Whether the present generation is wiser than its ancestors is perhaps open to question but there can be no doubt that foppery as an institution is dying out, although mild specimens of the genus may probably exist until the end of time.