Milford chronicle. [volume] (Milford, Del.) 1878-1974, 1889-08-16

MY motner used 10 talk about my beaux
and perhaps for her sake am fond Of tn
quaint, old fashioned word But let me sa,
in the beginning that it has distinct meau
ing Of its own, and should not be misapplied
Hood SAYS
remember remember,
When my little lovers came
With posy or q cherry,
OFsome new invented game
Well, be does not mean lovers at all, be
means beaux.
One may have a beau, a lover, an admirer
an adorer or a comrade, but seldom may com.
bine two of these in one individual, and never
all five in any one epoch Of her life. For the
beau is a special attribute Of girlhood, and
seldom develops the exacting tenderness OF
the lover, the blind delusions of the admirer,
the infatuation Of the adorer or the honest
sympathy and helpfulness Of the comrade,
who, however, does often develop camerad-
erie into neutrality-suspicious. after all the
most satisfying relationship between man and
woman.
WHAT Is A BEAUl
But the beaul The beaul What Is hef Who
is hei What is his origin, habitat, sphere of
actioni
let us describe him first by negatives. He
need not be young-in fact, ian old beau" is
a well known character in fiction, drama and
real life.
He need not be handsome, although he in
variably thinks he is
He need not be intellectual or learned-in
fact, never knew beau who was either
although ] have known some men of whom
other men said; "He isn't half such fool as
be looks"
He need not be brave, for nobody expects
courage or leadership from him. Nor need
he be a business man, for he is usually found
spending the money his father or somebody
else has accumulated for him In fact, the
beau reduced to poverty and real work is the
most forlorn of objects reminding one of a
performing canary bird or an industrious flea,
or poor, little trained poodle or any other
helpless and harmless little animal coerced
into unnatural labor and foreign pursuits.
Not that l mean to speak severely Of the
beau, for don't; in fact, like him and value
him and should be really sorry to miss him
out Of tho world, but he has his limitations,
poor dear, like the rest of us, and one hates
to see him pushed up to the wall that defines
those limits.
Moreover, there is a positive as well as a
negative formula in the recipe for beau. He
must be good natured, and always ready, if
not with smile at. least with a shipper; he
must be quick at repartee, even though a
mild ono; he must have a good memory and
a certain adhesiveness of touch which viii
enable him to pick up the floating gossamer
threads Of society talk and carry them to
just the right quarter for repetition. Hemust |
never forget anybody's connections, relation |
ships, friendships and enmities, and never bv |
any chance step upon anybody's toes or any
body remotest frills. He must discover and |
keep the narrow path between harmless Cos
sip and perilous scandal and while ALWAYS 4
having something interesting TO say never /
say anything that could be repeated to his /
own or anybody else's detriment. He must |
be sentimental to the extent Of remeui bering
the favorite flowers, colors and perfumes Of /
the lady to whom he is for the moment at
tentive, and making graceful little offerings
in harmony with those tastes He must have |
sufficient tact to be always where he is want
ed, and TO skillfully efface himself in the
presence Of lover or a favored admirer or
adorer; for one Of the peculiarities Of the
beau is that he has his season, like the mush-
room, and is not at all acceptable out of it.
THE ADoRER AND THE BEAU.
But, even as one will sometimes caprici
ously prefer salted, dried or picked mush-
rooms to fresh and tender vegetables. there
viii be intervals in life-perhaps to its very
end-wheh one turns from grande passion,
from the pedestal wherein ones adorer places
one, even from the solid satisfaction Of a
comrades honest sympathy, and finds a
whimsical pleasure in the conversation, the
compliments, the chit chat of a beau, and
finds the same rest and refreshment in his
society as in that Of the last fashionable
novel or the lightest Of society comedies.
We have spoken Of the beau as an adjunct
Of early girlhood, because it is only an in
genue who can be long content in the society
of a beau or who expects anything serious of
him or digniies him into an ideal Young
girls never classify the men who surround |
them on their entrance into society; they are
all heroes Of romance; they all are possible
lovers and husbands, and the beau, being the
most obvious and the most denonstrative
figure in this new world is often pitched
upon by the debutante as her ideal, and she
is sometimes a good deal disappointed in find
ing how wofully too small he is for the
'giant's robe" she fain would fit upon his
shoulders.
Occasionally the girl is herself a female
beau not belle, for that is quite another
thing, but tritier, butterfly, an epheme-
roma personality answering precisely to
that of the beau In such a case the two be-
come, not friends, for to be friend requires
neither of them possess but
familiar acquaintance, even comrades in a
certain sense, and they spend great many
Idle hours together in just the way one sees
q couple Of butterflies lowering and dancing
over sunny pool or a bed of mignonette O
happy while the fine weather lasts, beaten /
down and lost in the first wind Of adversely. |
Let me implore all my female friends to be {
more precise in their classification of their
male acquaintance, for it is really a grief to
hear a tender, romantic, Browningesuue
ldorer spoken Of as the "beaun Of her idol. or {
10 have ones solid, practical, congenial com J
'ade dubbed by so trihing name, or to in c
iult the sweet illusions and lofty ideals Of !
pair Of lovers by calling Romeo the beau Of I
Juliet Mercutio was beau, If you please, \
md died with jest upon his lips, but one n
'annot imagine him in Romeos place No,
ny dear girls, don't be slipshod in your no
nenclature; and although you may be sur
'ounded with beaus, don't fancy them lovers.
II even sincere admirers, for your true beau r
ldmiPes nobody very much except himself :
although a part of his profession is TO assume :
he part Of an admirer, not to you only but i
o the other dear five hundred toward whom
10 viii hutter in the course Of an evening. I,
Don't tell hun that you don't believe a word !,
10 says, and don't try to get upon solid 4
round with him and find out how far he Is :;
eally sincere for he does not know himself,
nd it is bad taste and bad policy to force %
ny man to confession Of ignorance, even -
0 himself Nor eau we break butterflies on Z,
he wheel, or build houses of soap bubbles; so q
e content to take the beau as a beau, and a,
alue him for his real uses and merits, which :,
re not to be dsspised. Mrs. Frank Leslie In =.
lew York Herald =