8
THE BATTALION.
Does the occasional use of poison by the murderer prevent
the physician from using noxious herbs in healing his pa
tients? Do the almost daily destructive explosions of steam
engines arising from unpardonable mismanagement drive the
manufacturer from his spindle or sweep the crowds of pleas
ure-seekers from the decks of our majestic steamboats? No
sir! And such it is with flirtation, a harmless custom, a
source of pleaasure to the young, consequently beneficial, and
as a natural result, justifiable. But this custom is not only
harmless and conducive to innocent pleasure, but is in many
cases highly beneficial. Passing through a season of flirta
tion will often prevent the susceptible and unsuspecting from
passing through a season of distress or falling under the
blasts of disgrace. The young lady or gentleman untutored
by observation and uninstructed in the various intrigues and
deceptions practiced by mankind will invariably give implicit
credence to anything told them in an earnest and engaging
manner. They are thus subject to the capricious attentions
of heartless flirts whose only object is to crush the hearts of
lovely woman, that their indignant tears and humiliating
sorrow may add lustre to their triumphant carreer as the
conquerors ot the fair and the admired of the beautiful.
How is a young lady, ignorant of man, confiding in every
polished beau of gentlemanly bearing, to be protected from
the insidious attacks of polished heart destroyers, when, by
the banishment of innocent, every-day flirtation from society
she is necessarily led to attach candor to every earnest ex
pression? It is utterly impossible. The only way to foil
the attempts of these flirts is to allow our young ladies and
gentlemen to engage in flirtations and thereby cultivate their
shrewdness, increase their knowledge of their race and to
shield them from a too ready beleif in the truthfulness of
words and earnestness of attention intended as mere pastime.
Some men will deceive ladies whether flirtation is general
ly countenanced or not, and if the admisson of all to engage
in its merriment will lender otherwise unsuspecting ladies
suspicious of such characters, the doors of flirtation