TEMPTATION.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2503, 13 January 1877, Page 4

TEMPTATION.

(KKOJf 'i«R. WOKLD.)

Temptation is a purely physical iuanifestation; and though the cry.of intellectual enlightenment bas gone up from oin- midst, never was there a time when materialism of conduct, if not of opinion, was more rampant than'- 'the present. The majority of human minds have no high heroic ideal, but are well contented with puny^ pleasures, small aims, and poor results; to such u« these temptation, though it may be petty, is yery real indeed. It comes in a hundred w^ytignd

shape 3 ; in the facility lor altering measures ; for dealing out false weight; for slandering ar other man, and perhaps depriving; him of his bread ; for sitting.still and doing ncihint; —-almost the greatest temptation of all—while around us our fellow-creatures work ad toil, or starve for lack of that affluence jor which we cannot find any use. But while temptation irresistibly assails the steadiest and most honest of men, it presses even more hardly on women. It is: hotly asserted and constantly believed that guarded at d sheltered in happy and cultivated homes, with no cares of importance to annoy them, aud none of the grinding troubles of men to weigh them down, the weaker sex ought to be entirely safe from the remotest possibility of temptation. This is a* fallacy. Ihe temptations of poor women who have to earn their living at a considerable disadvantage compared with men are- sufficiently obvi'.us ; we are now more concerned with that class who, as they are raised above the sordid cares of moneygetting, are more free to indulge in the relaxations of pleasure or the satisfaction of the intellect. Unfortunately, the tendency of modern society is to split up into sections, not to economise foree i by centralisation. Such multitudes of diverse interests flood the world, that each person is apt to seek his diversion where he chooses. A man may belong to the literary coterie, to the scientific body, tothe sporting club,ortothehauntsof vice. Young men, as a rule, prefer amusement to instruction. Thus science pursues its lofty aims silently and calmly, consorting with kindred, spirits, while pleasure or the butterflies of fashion know nothing better than themselves. A girl must not be a bas bleu, nor an adept at scientific problems, no* a good classical scholar, if she would, please in the " best" society. Women do not originate, but men lead, and women nimbly follow. It has pleased the stronger sex to crave luxuries which were formerly undreamt of; to require sybaritic indulgenc s which twenty years ago would haTe been despised as effeminate. Naturally-a wife becomes indoctrinated with her husband's views and fancies, and educates her daughters in the same train of thought. As the stone, carelessly thrown into the middle of a silent lake, break its placidity, the troubled surface spreading itself out and widening into ever larger circles, so the example of a man. his 'nought, fancies,or fccentrici{ties, influences for good or evil the moral J health of a whole generation.

1 here has been such a demand for luxurious accompaniments to existence that fashion has become to the majority a welcome habit, and the girls who have reached maturity in the meantime an imperative necessity. Their whole existence is one protracted act of worship of a certain kind of sensuality. Not the Oriental sensuality of the Empress I Joppaßi, nor the unbridled license and coarseness of Christina of Sweden ; yet for all that a life which, enervating and weakening healthy aspirations and powers, and removing all necessity for exertion and the discipline of the passions, must needs reduce its votaries farther and farther below the level of a good woman. While modern prudery points at the coarseness of Mrs Behn's novels, in what way are they more immoral or more subversive of principle than the famous French novels of the period, or the notorious and not more innocuous imitations of the Ouida and Miss Broughton; type, which are the ordinary reading of maidens in their tpens ? Women used to be laughed at for thinking'life but a synonym for love; yetsurely a true and constant love, founded on something romantic, and suspectible of the noble and the generous feelings of the mind, was better than the passionate pleadings of unprincipled heroines, and the perpetual dwelling on their fleshy charms, the crimson of their lips, the whiteness of their limbs, and the varied and rapturous warmth of the true lover's kisses. :

The freedom of intercourse between the sexes, which has been triumphantly quoted by some as a proof of the innocence of English girls, has in itself a great temptation. Ihe average young man is not particular in his talk ; and, so long as he finds a'willing listener, will rattle on about himself, and his concerns, perhaps enlarging on topics which ought to startle modest ears. The bloom of reserve is, however, pretty well brushed off' the debutant after a couple of seasons, and with that adaptability which is the special appanage of woman shp soon accustoms h rself to anything. Mie sor>n learns that any%fi'ort ot the brain is displeasing to men, and that vapidity and a lively interest in trifles are the qualities she is expected to cultivate. She only lives for the Ikur when, borne along in the arms of an admirer possibly more foolish than fond, intoxicated with the heavy perfume of the sweet-scPnfed flowers with which the ball-' room is/filled, the strains of music making her head whirl 'and her heart beat madlyt. she deems herself the happiest of mortals. ' Lights, wine, music, arid and dancing have not lost their potent charm sinco the days of Herodias's daughter. . Ordinary home life has its ecstacies of subtle enjoyment too. The. repose-inviting couches, the roseateshaded windows, the artistic decorations, the silks arid satins and beautiful china, all tend to the satisfaction of the senses and the dreamy indulgence of dissipated thoughts'. A modern house is the embodiment of Thompson's "^Dastle of Indolence,*' the atmosphere is redolent of* ; vo'uptuou%ease. Husbands have their and get their brain-fancies brushed away by the friction of everyday life; but their wives, highly stiunir, nervous, unreal in their tastes, enervated in their health, sit at home shrouded in mystic darkness, .indulging in that idleness which may be the preparation lor things infinitely more terrible.

To say that the great of woman are virtuousis indeed to confer an immense meed of praise. Women have sometimes violent passions,'and the life ..of a fashionable woman is about the most dangerous possible, both for her moral aud physical health—she has absolutely nothing to do.but to consume her life away in idle and morbid fantasies. All mun can make love iv a fashion, and will probably to a certain extent in impressing a woman favorably; for such intricate study of the tender passion as prevailed in the i: llotel Bambouillet lifts long since passed away, and the famous carle dv pays duiendre would now have no moro value than a last year's Bradshaw, To love is an obsolete word, to mate love is a natural and easy accomplishment. Silly women are quite as often taken in by the counterfeit as by the real coin.