The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1849-12-19
a BRIEF CHAPTER ON OLD
MAIDS.

| Inc utlc Oh VIA Nla,u, anu tHc Tlul'
culc once attached to the condition Of
elderly female singlchood, are rapidly
passing away together. The world is
becoming enlightened upon many sub
jccts 1t no longer toleratcs old evils;
and amongst others, the idea that VIC
men unless married; are useless and
neglected. quorulous fault-fnding busy
bodies; this idea is being swept away
with other dust and rubbish Of the past,
amid the general clearing for the ''good
time coming"
In society where good taste prevails,
VIC now seldom hear the term Of sold
maid," the mildcr appclation of "singlc
woman being substituted. This is as
it should be; for wherefore brand, by
what has, from association, become u
ridiculous nickname, a respectable class
Of females who are in no wise inferior to
their married sistcrs--nay. who arc in
many cases thousand times better; for
is not your old maid often one who has
had to deny thc dearest impulses Of her
nature, and to stific all her natural
ycarnings for love and homo of her
own, for the sake Of others, devoting
her life a living sacrifice to those who
may be perhaps all the while unpcrcipi-
cnt of, unyratcful for, her burdens and
her cares for them? Oh! if there wo-
men be happy, persist in being happy,
Notwithstanding their Remuneration Of
self and the lingering prejudice against
their condition, why rob them OF the
smallest portion Of their tranquility by
a silly jest or sueer?
1t is pitiablc fact that young NO
men, especially in the middle classes,
often marry without love, without even
esteem, for him with whom they we'd,
solely for the purpose Of escaping the
stigma attached by the ignorant and un-
thinking to the state of old maidenhood.
Are we far wrong in referring to this
dread Of remaining unmarried, the nu-
mcrous devices Of vanity, the flirting,
aud dressing, and visiting which retard
the growth Of many rational brain, and
cause the fathers of gay, expensive
daughters, to sigh over their rapidly ii-
minishing means. and half regret the
day when they rashly took upon
themselves !hc cares, and risk, and
burden Of a family !? We lsHa'E ll:sH as''E
we are not. When 0, maids shall
be invariably treated with the re-
spcct and consideration which are thei.,
ducwhcn the last joke at their expense
shall have vanished into the Lethe of
forgotten absurdities-.-thc will husband.
hunting be at its last gasp, and matri-
mony again be sacred thing.
Old maids pets have furnished occa-.
sion for many gracclcss sneer, for
much bitterness and affected disgust.
And wherefore? Surely those to whom
circumstances: of their own sense of
right, have denied the station of wife
and mother. may expcnd a portion of
the sti6ed love throbbing within their
woman'y hearts; and which, had they
married, would have formed an mex
haustible provision of tenderness for
some sweet infant, or may be, whole
rosy little troop of boys and girls, sure
ly they may at their pleasure testow
this obicctcss affection upon faithful
dog, intelligent parrot, or gentle, 20
mestic cat. Their friends are not
bound to like these pets, nor even to ap-
prove of them, but that is no reason
why our sisters should be ridiculedfor
loving objects, which, though others
may see nothing to admire in them,
tonch their. lone hearts, and are perhaps
the means of preserving in its living and
purifying flow, the we'll Of sweet waters
therein. And which in reality is the
worthicr Of disapprobation; the woman
who in the absence Of all legitimate cut
lets Of her overhowing affection, fond
less and carefully tend a favo,irl dog;
or, the man who ncglccts the Nic Of his
youth, and seeks the conyivial rcyc),
wasting his substance upon the smoke Of
cigars, the fumes of wine, and the sci.
fish indu|gences Of masculine dissira-
ton?
No! cold maids arc neither to be
pitied or dcspised. Of this we are in
a position to speak, for we have the
pleasure of knowing several excellent
specimens of the class; and we can as,
sure our readers that many an idle,
pleasure loving matron might benefit by
their example. Active. cultivated, en-,
crgetic, judicious, widcly-bcncvolent,
their scant home tics leave them at lihcr,
ty to diituse their words of wisdom, and
their deeds Of kindness and of mercy,
around a larger circle than can be un.
dertakcn by the strictly domestic wo-
man: and in the constant exercise Of
their faculties, and their untiring dcvo.
ton to the interests Of their fellow.bo.
inna they cxnerinncn q solid hnnninnca