THE YOUNG MEN OF THE DAY.
It is the way of young men, observes the Saturday Review, to hold themselves in high estimation, and think themselves of vast importance, their estimation of themselves being possibly higher than other poople's. This self-appreciation has, perhaps, been increased in the present day by the valuo that has been placed upon them as dancing machines, it being as much a necessity to have plenty of dancing men at a ball as it is to have a good supper and an nmplo supply of waitorg. In their anxiety to secure a sufficiency of the male sex to adorn their entertainments, many ladies in society have, like gardeners, produced a forced exotic that has arrived at a premature growth; and young men, as they call themselves, are nothing more than boys. These beardless youths, on finding that they are sought after, attribute it to their own peculiar merits, and not to the fact that they are usofnl for dancing purpose*, and accordingly begin to put on a "lot of side," and try to make the world believe that they are extremely rcpandus and valuable ; and after two or three years of this kind of life they think it right to give out that they are biases of the innooent amusements that society is willing to provide them with. Many young men got their heads completely turned when they first appear in London society by being taken up and petted by pretty women because they are goodlooking, smart and amusing ; and they then get the idea that their life is to be one long career of successes, and that any pretty women on whom they may care to lavish that valuable article which they are pleased to call their affections must neoessarily fall a victim to the impassioned devotions of sacli magnificent and perfect creatures as themselves. As these men grow older, so does their selfishness and egotism increase, and they soon come to that «tate of mind in which they think it is the right and proper thing to try to lead from the straight path any pretty young married women whom they admire, and who, they think, would add to the digaity and importance of their own valuable selves by having their names coupled. Many of them have not the tact to know where to stop, and, finding a pleasant, agreeable, and pretty woman who is fond of harmless fan, think that there is an opening for taking liberties, and lay themselves open to a most severe snubbing, which ihould crush them for some time, and give them a wholesome lesson as to the proper respect that should be shown to ladies. But, we are sorry to have to admit it, the pachydermatous condition of such as these enables their overweening self-appreciation and vanity to overcome their mortification, and they soon resume their former course, taking extreme care to hide their discomfiture. Our young men would be much worthier and pleaaantier members of society if they could travel into distant countries while young, instead of entering London life a* mere boys, with, perhaps, but little money and without the moral courage to say, "No ; I cannot afford it," the waut of which courage often leads them to disappear from the race of life, as they find it impossible, as earthenware, to float down the same river with the iron pots without getting " smashed up " in the attempt.
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Waikato Times, Volume 2611, Issue 2611, 6 April 1889, Page 2 (Supplement)
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572THE YOUNG MEN OF THE DAY. Waikato Times, Volume 2611, Issue 2611, 6 April 1889, Page 2 (Supplement)
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