Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1847-09-22
Old Bachelors.

The advantage of being an old baebelo
is very happily described in the following
extract from the writings Of 4 modern au
-As DR.. Johnson said, that wherever he
might dine,. he would wish to breakfast in
Scotland,' so, wherever 1 may pass nv
youth, let my days of old bachelorship, if
to such am doomed, be spent in country
town. There the genteel male population
torsake their birthplace. at an early age,
the Importance of a single man, however
small his attractions, however advanced his
age, is considerable; while a tolerablv a.
greeable bachelor under sixty is the object
OF UNIVERSAL attention, the cynosure of every
lady's eye. In the cathedral city where |
visited friend some years since, there
were forty-five single women from sixteen
to fifty, and only three marriageable men.
Let any one imagine the delight of receiv-
ing the most flattering attentions from ff-
teen women at once, some of them extreme
ly pretty and agreeable; or,I should rather
say from fortyfive, since the three bache-
lors, politically avoiding all appearances of
preference, were courted equally by near
ly the whole phalanx of the sisterhood.-
one of the enviable men, being only just Of
age, was indeed too young to excite hopes
in the more elderly ladies, but another more
fortunate, if he knew his happiness, ('sua
50 bona norit,' was exposed to the attacks,
more OF less open, Of every unmarried wo-
man. Alas! he was insensible to his priv.
ileges; steady man of fifty-fve, adignta-
ry OF the church, devoted to study and shy
in his habits, he seemed to shrink from the
KIND attentions he received, and to wish for
less glorious state Of existence. His de-
sires seemed limited to reading the Fathers.
writing =, sermons, and doing his duty as a
divine; and he apeared of opinion that no
helpmate was required to fulfil them. But
still the indefatigible phalanx of forty-fve
with three or four widows as auxiliaries,
continued their attacks, and his age, as
before observed, was fatally encouraging to
the hopes of each. The youngest looked
IN their glasses and remembered the power
OF youth and beauty; the middIe-aged CAL
culated on the good sense and propriety of
character of their object, and were sure he
would never marry a girl;' and the most
elderly exaggerated his gravity, thought of
MS shovel hat, and seemed to suppose that
every woman under fifty must be too giddv
for its wearer. Meanwhile, what life he
ted!-his opinions, law; his wishes. gospel;
the cathedral crowded when he preached:
churches attended; schools visited; waltzes
calumniated; novels concealed; shoulders
covered; petticoats heightened all to gain
his approving eye. The fact is, his sphere
OF useful influence was much enlarged bv
his single state; as married man, he could
only have reformed his wife; as a bache-
lor, he exercised undisputed power over
every spinster in his neighborhood."
REGIMENT OF WoMEN.--A letter from
berne to Paris paper, gives a description
OF the corps Of Swiss Amazons, who are
enrolled in a regiment of seven hundred
and seventy. They form three battalions,
officered by men, and with their short pet,
tlcoats stout limbs and picturesque uni
forms and helmets, they present really a
superb spectacle. Their flags, drums, raj
lying cry, maneuvers, SC, are all pecu-
liar, and their stirring motto and war-cry
is "Country, Liberty and Religion. -
They parade for drill and exercise every
morning and evening, and they have sworn
on the cross to conquer or die.