THE FATE OF THE SHABBY GENTEEL

Grey River Argus, Volume XI, Issue 923, 12 July 1871, Page 2

THE FATE OF THE SHABBY GENTEEL

[NELSON EXAMINER.J No one can pass through the streets~6f a Colonial town without being struck with the disproportionately large number -of well-dressed young folk of both sexes tha_ he encounters, none of Whom have, appa_ rently, any definite object/or fixed occn" pation in life. On inquiry; he learns that these are the sons and daughters oorf r gonimercial or Government, clerks, of shiMl tradesmen, or of annuitants, who,, jby.'a painful struggle, continue to retain a place in the ranks of what, for want of a less offensive word that will fully convey our meaning, we must call the "shabby genteel." These unfortunate youngsters appear to have been taught no speciality, but have received just such an amount of preparatory training as, while it will allow them to .begin the task of qualifying themselves for almost any calling or profession, will assuredly not enable them to dispense with the final and inevitable ordeal enacted from all who aim at becoming professional men. What is to become of this alarmingly-numerous class when the bread-winners pass away — as, -in the course of Nature, soon pass they must — is a question that doubtless occurs, in the silent watches of the night, to many an anxious parent. .;,.'.• -. .. In England, fierce as is the competition for employment, several resources are open to the more energetic sons of the middle class, that do not appear to be very available to those in the Colony who are similarly circumstanced. India and China absorb annually their hundreds— the ocean has not yet lost all its charm for the islanders, whose ships swarm in every sea, aud crowds still issue forth each, year to seek their fortunes in the Far West. But to our Colonial youth India is a sealed beok ; the sea tempts but few of our lads ; and re-emigration is seldom attempted, or, indeed, so much as thought of. ~ Our banks and public offices absorb appall fraction only of the ever-gathering throng of applicants. A few become surveyors, some schoolmasters. , ; ,- But to the vast majority, every: avenue in life seems closed. Our clergy can be better trained at the old seats of learning than here, and consequently, are usually imported. The colonially-bred medical man, for similar reasons, is held in but slight esteem by his fellow-countrymen, while our indigenous lawyers find that it is almost hopeless for them to attempt to compete with men who have been trained, either wholly or ip part, at the British bar. And the novice is not long in finding out that, to succeed on a colonial farm or sheep-run, he must start with not much less capital than a Yorkshire farmer or grazier usually possesses. * ; Awkward as it may be, there seems to be no escape from the conclusion, that a large proportion of the well-dressed, and by no means ill-bred young men who haunt our street corners, must in a few years descend to the position of laborers or mechanics, and fight their way upwards, as, in many cases, their fathers did before them. A certain amount of education has now — f ortunately— become so common, that it must in future be considered as its own reward, and not, as it was half a century ago, a kind of passport to what what was then considered genteel employment. This state of things, which has long been prevalent in America, where it, is accepted as inevitable, has, after all, not a little to recommend it . The future of the girls of the genteel class that we refer to, suggests better grounds for gloomy forebodings than the probable fate of the lads. Many a wellnurtured boy of the middle ranks has left his native shores as a cabin-boy to return the captain of a tall ship. Many a ; stout fellow has become the bailiff— aye, or the owner of the farm on which he had formerly wrought as a hind. Actual life has had its Whittingtonß. But for the genteel poverty of the more helpless sex, what refuge is there in the colonial labor market ? A young lady can turn governess, schoolmistress, sempstress, or domestic servant. The field of choice is not wide, but it is practically still further narrowed by several limitations. - 1 - It is clear to every one, that the modest list of acquirements that has, until lately, been deemed sufficient for a governess, will not be permitted to pass muster much longer. A smattering of music ; a modioum of the " French of Stratford-atte-Bowe ;" " geography and the use of the globes;" will go but a little way towards furnishing the stock-in-trade of the lady teacher of the future. Nay, it is just possible that the dominant and aggressive sex may invade the domain of the poor governess, and that a real live professor, say of history or mathematics, may supersede in those, and in other departments, his gentle rivals who -have failed to advance with " the spirit of the age." A special training, in addition to special natural aptitude will as3uredly.be required, erelong, of every candidate/for the office of governess, or schoolmistreiss. The sewing-machine is slowly but surely undermining the occupation of the sempstress, while the hardy frame and practised deftness of the professional housemaid or cook, will render her only too formidable a competitor in the struggle ihat we clearly foresee for; even the lowlier kinds of employment. \ Yet another resource remains. To this our sex and our mature years fortunately enable us to allude without the least fear of being misunderstood. Our young ladies may marry, and thus in the most approved and satisfactory manner. It is painful to have to dispel so pleasing an illusion. A short anecdote told by a,n unimpeachable authority will show what we mean : — ; |

At a ball given in a New Zealand town (not Nelson), three score marriageable young ladies were present, the vast majority of whom our informant pronounced to be in every respect " eligible." Four gentlemen only could be picked, out of the temporary partners of this bevy of beauty who could be reckoned, under the most favorable construction, as being rich enough to take any four of the sixty as partners for life. And even the, favored four seemed afraid of. the " great expectations" of the assembled fair. The floating clouds of lace— the resplendent jewellery— the very carriages in waiting, appalled them. ■ | We dare not add another word. reooL looting the fate of Actoeon. - ■-•■••« -