WHY IS FLIRTING WRONG ?

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVI, Issue 2901, 17 February 1891, Page 4

WHY IS FLIRTING WRONG ?

The thinking cmimunity. let us suppose (says ;t writer in AVoman), aro divided into llii-co classes as regards tin; pastime nl' flirting-. b'irst, tho serious jic-ople. who I'egard it with si-orii : second, tliebeliolders, whojj.'i.ss it witij i-oiiti'jiipi. ; and third, the indiltei'i'iil. who \i'W it as they do anv mania, whiuli neither interests nor

A child is eharaiiii"; Ih'cmiim , of its a i-| less uiieoiisei»nisness : go soon as it bee-ins In pi.i---e:ind rull for attention, its charm fades. As with the uliild, so the iiiiiii! i her charm lies in her freshness, her unspoiled youth ; like the lily ere it i* l.ireathed upon, her pniity should at oiieealJure us. and, like the rose, her sweetness and biillinney enchain our scum , of deli»-ht. After her lii-st Ilirtatioii, these, if not lost, an: at least greatly impaired. iSho knows just, what ba'it to hold out : shej thinks she knows just bow far to go ; soineti:ii- s. like (lie silly slimmer moth, b ■!■ v. iue's :"et shiiri-d. but she consoles I, :.■■ \i willi " il is iu the way of y • |i.'l ii'uue. and -]ir plins what, she call., ••lone," lni'L';el!iu- Ihat her delicate bloom is sul'i -d.' We hear of the de.,iraliilityofold]i"nplei.-me!nber-ini;, what is suit a hie In their years ; let the yijimn , ",".iaid v.ilh jealous discreti mi ; heir μ-lorina- of youth and freshness, for, once goni , , no art ran replace them. I have alluded In tie- harm aen-iiiii".-to niie\ phy-ical liea.uty in uiii \,n!;hy ::ame: bid surely there are higher One cannot ].ass through a Iliitatioii. cither man or woman, -without Inwcriujr the tone nf o;i"'s mind. I know that 1 seem to talis (Hit mind belore the tilr'eetinns; bul iu this prosaic nineteenth century l:ear!~ seem out of fashion. Cupid has rakeii a holiday and lct't us to our i.-.vji d'.vlee-i; lit- lovus iu ayv wLou

[pound-; and pence play a less conspicuous [.art forlove laughs at calculation. So our mental development becomes our hidi'-sl. consideration, audit must filler in a. game where only the sly trick-t.-r holds the trump curd. If inn' is more det -stable than tin other, it is the male flirt: for since custom ha-- given him the power of making the' advance, he can do the most harm: parti'-ularly. should he [iviM-lise his arts upon an unsophisti ca.te.l ;rjrl. she may fall a rietini to his cruelty, for. Mi.ii'v, lipvi! i< i.f iiimm's life, ii tliintr apart ; "I'is woman's whole existence. If< mar i-eeovi i- from a. bitter encounter 'of 111 i-> sort a. sadder and a wiser man: his trust in woman may be terribly shaken ; but he does not succumb as does the womnn, whose In-art, once wiled from her keeping. irrows weary of the world. And, incredible as it may seem, women are quite as much to blame as men for the sin of flirtation.