KISSING.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5130, 1 September 1877, Page 1 (Supplement)

KISSING.

(Liberal Review.) The present is not supposed to be a sentimental age, but a great deal of kissing goes ou in it. This is largely, but not entirely, attributable to the female portion of the population. They have brought the art of kissing t a high state of perfection, and the probability is that they will not allow it to decline, so useful do they find it. Kissing is of many kinds. With that which is privately indulged in, poets of the fleshly school and novelists of a certain order have made the world, perhaps, too familiar. Pedpie have read over and over again of the mad, (?) clinging, burning, passionate kisses, which ardent lovers have showered down upon the ripe red lips, the sweet faces, and the delicate hands of their mistresses. It is nothing uncommon, aecording to the dictum of certain authors, for a hero and a heroine to become tightly clasped in each others's arms, 'and, while they are so delightfully circumstanced, for their lips to become absolutely glued together, for their four lips to form one mouth, and so on. With the kissing which some authors love to describe, and which presumably some people like to read about, if not to indulge in, it is, however, scarcely for a prosaic journalist to deal. The kissing which is practised in public, and which is not always the result of affection, comes more within his province. Now, amongst the greatest adepts in the art of kissing are young ladies of a certain 1 order. When they meet, they at once fly into each other's arms and kiss any number of times. Their ardour is increased rather than lessened by the presence of males, especially if there is ground for the supposition that the said males would like to do a little kissing on their own account. It is supposed that reckless young men are occasionally egged on to make offers of marrige by the kissing demonstrations which they are called upon to witness ; but whether the supposition is correct we cannot say, as young men are addicted to keeping their own counsel upon this point. Nor can we vouch for the .affection which the kissing maidens entertain for each other. It is said, indeed, that the amount of love which is at the bottom of the kissing is sometimes very small, and that it is a mistake to estimate it according to the quantity, of kisses which are given and taken. This may be an unjustifiable calumny upon the army of kissers, but it is undoubtedly true that a grand kissing performance is often the precursor of a brilliant display of backbiting. We have known sweet little creatures in pink say very bitter thing 3 of sweet little creatures in blue, whom they have been enthusiastically kissing, and we have known the sweet little creatures in blue warmly reciprocate the smart things vvhich have been stated of them by the sweet little creatures in pink. Then we are assured that many a gushing creature will warmly kiss a rival whom she would like to consign to Central Africa, and that many an ardent lady will at a moment's notice ardently salute the lips of a women to whom it would take a good deal of persuasion to induce her to lend a sovereign. As a matter of fact it has come to be as much the fashion for women to kiss each other upon nearly every available opportunity as it is for men to wear tall hats when they go to church.. Elderly women are in the habit of kissing, perhaps, as much as young ones are. They are almost unable to meet without kissing ; and it is as difficult for them to part without kissing ; the only difference in them being that some are such adepts at humbug that they kiss more heartily than others. Lovers, husbands, and brothers, have come to regard the kissing performances of their female belongings with callousness. The delays which the kissing performance occasion may be aggravating, but they are borne with comparative calmness, which is sufficent proof that man is not the tyrannical being which he is sometimes represented. We have said nothing of the kisses which are lavished upon babies by those who have no love for the babies, and regard a baby's generally wet mouth as a rather objectional thing, we have said nothing of these, though hapless men are required to bestow them as well as willing ladies. .Nor have we referred to those kisses which recognised lovers semi-publicly favor each other with when they meet and part, and which are preceded by many manoeuvres in the shape of sneaking into corners, behind doors, out of rooms, and up passages, which manoeuvres, however do not prevent the lovers from being the observed of all observers. We do not at present intend to go more fully into the subject, vast though it is. It may, however, be suggested by us, that.it would be just as as wall if kissing were less rife in the world. To advance such a view as this may, in the eyes of persons of the ultra-sentimental order, appear positively barbarous. But it should be pointed out that a kiss ought to be a mark of honest affection, not a weapon of hypocrisy. It is well enough for a man to kiss his wife, a lover his mistress, a mother her children, and a brother his sister, but it is another thing for a person to kiss anybody and everybody. It is a question whether all public kissing is not objectionable ; it is certainly not a very beautiful thing to look at. It should, therefore, be only necessary to prove that it has ceased to be a reliable symbol of affection in order to persuade the great majority of sensible persons to do their best to bring general kissing into disfavor. At present the few people who are not kissed, when kisses are being lavishly distributed amongst a company, are naturally apt to feel jealous and hurt, and this is a fact which should be'borne in mind. Altogether, we feel bound to assert that it would promoto the credit of humanity, and tend to foster a better feeling than exist 3 among people, if women—and men—made up their minds to kiss those only whom they love, and not to kiss these when those whom they do not wish to similarly favor are present.