JOLLY GOOD FELLOWS

Waikato Times, Volume VI, Issue 310, 9 May 1874, Page 2

JOLLY GOOD FELLOWS

Tiirrcn arc a great many jolly good fellows moving about in our midst. It might tie us well if the number were not so great. As n matti'/- of f.ict, mcxtof these jolly good fellows are not so jolly a* they make themselves out to be, and they are very fau from being s-o good as they would huve you believe them. Their* jollity is, like many a man's best clothos, only donned on special occasions, and, as a natural consequence, it does not always sit vrell on tiie wearers. At home tney are ofteii the reverse of companionable. Indeed, they display such an amount of irritation, and of selfishness, and of general unsocinbleness, that it would be strange if those who ore nearest and should be de.irest to them did not occasionally arrive at the conclusion that it would be a blessing rather than otherwise if they were removed to another sphere. They are not much concerned aa to how their wives and children fare,- but if they themselves are subject to any real or imagined discomfort, they forthwith proceed to raise cries of grief and indignation of the most startling character. No one could fairly bring it against them that they are addicted to ruinous extravagance as far as tbeir own households are concerned. On the contrary, in this direction they display an amount of prudence which is, perhaps* commendanle, but which is just a trifle excessive. It is, no doubt, a good thing for wives to have it impressed upon them that economy is an excellent thing, and Where limited incomes are in question, is nothing less than an absolute necessity ; but even upon this point a woman can be lectured too olten and with excess of Tigor. It is, perhaps, also well that people ghould bo occasionally left alone, in order that self-reliance and habits of cam meditaiim may be cultivated ; but oven too much solitude is injurious to most members of the human family. This is also rendered evident by the jolly good fellows, who, in working to this end, proves that he is just a trifle inconsistent. At any rate, whilst everlastingly showing that he considers quietness and privacy of the most pronounced kind necessary to the well-being of his wife, he is never tired of declaring that he was born for society, and that he cannot continue to exist without it. When he emerges from the retirement of his domestic circle, and appears in what he is pleased to call ' society,' he certainly undergoes ft marked change. An apparently habitual scowl is replaced by a sweet and captivating smile : a hn rah voice becomes mellifluous ; and> instead of putting people out of the way to serve him, he puts himself to a tremendous amount of trouble in order to minister to the pleasure of those with whom he is brought in contact. The chances are ten to one that when he meets you ho slaps your back in a manner which, though unomfor able, is decidedly friendly, and that, in his excess of joy at encountering you, lie squeeees your fingers until you are inclined to writhe tnd cry out in your agony. Further than this, you will discover that he is most solicitous as to your welfare. Are you hungry, he will feed you ; are you thir-ty, he will give you drink ; do you hank«r after I hat modern abomination, yclept nicotine, he will thankfully satisfy your craving. As ft matter of fact, he is ever asking his friends to smoke, to eat. and to.drink ; and he is reaty to do the latter with them at almost any time and to almost any extent. If he goes to a theatre, you will find him many times during the evening lurking about the ' bar,' surrounded by kindly spirits, and laughing and joking to a rare extent. When he visits an hotel, he never fails to find his way to the same intellectual and refined region. The capacity to drink is, in his opinion, one of the surest signs of good fellowship ; the man who will never consent even to cry to do so is, he thinks, a, contemptible being, whom it would be simple flattery to cull a disagreeable muff. It may be said that the greater portion of his spare time is spent where the jingle of glasses constantly strikes upon hij ear, and where it does not require a keen observer to detect the presence of tobacco. He does not care a pin about money, judging by the manner in which he dashes it about when in public. At the same time, there is reason to believe that if you stood in need of a five pound note, and went to him and stated, in a friendly and confidential way, that such was the ca«e, and that he would confer a gveat favour upon you by letting you have a lonn to the value thereof, you would discover that he cared about it a pood deal more," and about you considerably les«, than you had been in the- habit of thinking. You may generally be excused for feeling a trifle mortified on learning this, for, as a rule, be has given you many grounds for thinking that you were very dear to him. He has made a point of confiding secrets to your ear, and of swearing that so long as he lives you shall never stand in need of a friend. But he acts upon the principle that to him that wants not it shall bo given, and that to him that is really needy everything shall be steadily denied. When in that half-muddled state, which seems to be his usual condition, he will not only drain his pocket but yours also, if you w ill let him, in his endeavours to show that he is n 'jolly good fellow.' Further than this, ho will run into debt in a hundred different directions in his efforts to hold his own against, and stand well in the opinion of, those jovial souls in whose company he delights to mingle. Ho is utterly mdfferent as to whether those with whom he has proMiic business transactions are ever paid by him what is flue to them; indeed, lie is rntimr pleaded than otherwise if he can, by a smart dodge, diddle hU butcher, his baker, his tailor, or his landlord. It is somewhat surpiiMng that a few innocent people are loud in their piaises of the jolly good fellow. They are addicted to declaring that the greatest sin which can be urged ngninst him is thsthe is imprudent. This is a most egregious error. He is imprudent, it is true, but he is alco something a great deal worse. Apart from his recklessness — in which there is iilso a considerable amount of cunning — ho is utterly selfish and ]«x in his principles. HorcoTcr, he ia something very near akin to a fool. None but a noodle would forsake his own fireside, ond let his intellectual qualities run to seed, for the suke of moving in the vitiated atmosphere in which he moved, and of mixing with tho tribe of heartless, dissipated fellows, who are nlwajs to bo found herding together in places of a ' ia3t ' tendency.