"SOME" SMART YOUNG MEN.

Westport Times, Volume VI, Issue 1026, 29 November 1872, Page 3

"SOME" SMART YOUNG MEN.

[IiIBEEA.Ii BBTIEW.] Some smart young men, like pert /oung ladies, consider themselves above criticism. They would bo prepared, at a moments notiee, to dub the editor of a journal who ventured to tell them they were not quite perfect, a, " deuced impertinent fellow." And if the benighted journalist were reckless enough to point out their faults, they would go further and say that he deserved to bo "cut," and banished from decent society. But all the ridicule in the world would not iuduco them to mend their ways, for the very simple reason that, in their humble opinion, they are as near perfection as it is possible for them to be. Their eccentricities are virtues ; their delinquencies things of which they have reason to be extremely proud. Walker, "Webster, and Johnson compiled, at an enormous labor, words which, in their opinion, constituted the English language. The smart young men are not contented to accept the ruling of such " musty old duffers," as to what the English language shall and shall not consist of. So they set to work and coin new words. Eor instance, " cheek, " mizzle," " funk," and numerous other euphonious aud expressive nouns and adjectives are in daily use. They do not object to do a little round swearing, such as the proverbial trooper is wont to indulge in, when by themselves and in the company of kindred spirits ; hut when in society which imposes some restraint upon them they have to rest content with swear, ing by "gum," "jove," "gosh," aud "jingo." Everyone who is brought in contact with them is edified by their embellishment and enrichment —accordiog to their opinion—of the English language. Tbey do not like oldfashioned terms, and so their fathers are dubbed "governors," " old boys," and occasionally, by the more particularly smart follows, "old blokes." Of course, the smart young men know more upon every subject than their fathers, whose opinions are antiquated and whose convictions are crotchets. Naturally, then, they never seek adtico from that quarter, and never take

it when it is offered. They also know more about the science of politics than the statesman who may be guiding the destinies of the nation. This much will they imply under the most favorable circumstances. But wheu the statesman happens to be opposed to them ho is " a fool," "an ass," and " a consummate scoundrel." It is worthy of remark that although tho smart young man holds in supreme contempt the opinions and crotchets of his father, he generally, as a matter of course, subscribes to tho political programme which that father may happen to advocate. And though he has never taken the trouble to think the matter out for himself, he is fully persuaded that ho is right. This brings us to fresh evidence of his sharpness. What other men have to work hard to be able to do, he can do without any working at all. If he chose to take the trouble he could pen a better book than ever Charles Dickens or Sir Walter Scott wrote, or paint a better picture than ever Landseer or Etty limned. But unfortunately ho does not care to devote his time to such pursuits, and so the books remain unwritten and the pictures unpainted. The smart young man does not object to be amused, and so he goes to the dramas, which he declares to be failures, and reads the books which aro "awful dull." He will at times be good enough to be condescendingly critical, but he is not slow to make it evident that he considers the people whose work he is praising very slow in every respect but that for which he is commending them. He is tho last to speak a good word in favor of a new man, and if the new man had to wait till he kicked it, his ball of fame would never get motion at all.