 | THE LORGNETTE. The lorgnette, or, Studies of the town |  |
A LADY REVELATION.
`Amare eâ ætate si occiperint, multo insaniunt acrius.'
As you have taken upon yourself to be the censor
of modes and proprieties, which office I must
say, you have filled quite respectably so far, I want
to draw your attention to the developments in a
of the book, and not the lady)—Truth Stranger than
Fiction. Such barbarity as is disclosed in this
book, and such extraordinary defence as is made
of these barbarities, by the officers of a time-honored
Institution, ought to meet with a strong rebuke
from every humane person (as I think you
are) and to make every woman of maidenly
sentiments quiver with indignation and horror.
Trusting you will do the matter justice,
expectingly,
If I remember rightly, there was an intimation
dropped in my first number, Fritz, to the effect
that tarts would be preferred to books. I meant
to use the words in their literal sense, and not to
express any special fondness for tart pamphlets.
It would seem that my meaning has been mistaken.
Truth stranger than Fiction, has been lying on
my table for some days; its revelations are extraordinary
enough to be sure; but with a little selfish
discretion, I have hardly ventured to join forces
with the authoress, in an attack upon what seemed
to me a substantial, old institution, that might
as the Spanish Windmills. I have even foreborne
to express my regrets, that the reverend Doctors,
who preside over its destinies, should have so far
forgotten their sense of decorum, as to throw obloquy
(as the book alleges) upon defenceless maiden
ladies.
The truth is, I have entertained heretofore a very
respectable opinion of our literary institution of
New Haven, and a very pitiable regard for the
young gentlemen in long-tailed, black coats, who
are annually disgorged at that popular college.
This feeling has struggled with my gallantry—
more especially, since I fear the ladies will have a
hard task to upset that venerable foundation.
Upon the whole, I am inclined to think that
such heartless swains as are mentioned in the book
of Miss Beecher, should be left to the stings of conscience.
Youth and innocence, it is true, are not
matters to be trampled down ignominiously; and
it is very natural that in affairs of the tender passion,
all woman's nature should be roused, to plead
the cause of violated affections. But, it must be
remembered that a warm and passionate heart
sometimes misleads the judgment; and it seems
to me far better to let the tenderness of such womanly
lament, exhale silently, like the dew from
pages of seventy-five cent books.
Youthful exuberance is prone to rashness—as
well in women as in men, and when the parties
shall have reached my maturity of years, they will
doubtless regard this publication—whatever duplicity
it may expose—as the careless offshoot of a
deplorable, girlish extravagance.
| THE LORGNETTE. The lorgnette, or, Studies of the town | |