Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1855-07-25
9tpmtnsnt.-
Ass WIDOWS.

n Drgsa. ~ NHH ~ vi ~ LiH Ml9-
sion@.R reported for The Olipe Branch
\ "V., here be many grass widows in the
rssnd, 81 people mourn by reason thereoE.-4>
RAFh my spbjecti is suscsptiBN eSa%
IsNnSto as many parts.as thae Verdi
neaaNn0bornson The most terrible of the
RioPnec Nd npocalyptic beasts, which
ave ban nristically and p~larinply dis.
played in lMillerite exhibitions Of the
past lew ye5 Iishall limit nv discourse
own !y Inret having learned from nv
~ ministraons, and personal observa-
E,.1 niS trutl-the fewer the heads. the
fas.Ll1ne ood,of the discourse. Without
ans~" Preilmaries, l shall proceed to
sne Ioh@ing interrogations:-
term nnnas lsto be understood by the
. WY are hey SO numerous
ing5 H'y occasion 80 much mourn
widor wide difference between a Grass
IN wSan SAu : widow indeed. and a widow
To-. as her %toars2e can look sDDaqqq utA Ssas-
~ kSwma we'd Companion, without
having IN s bathies deeply excited
But hers isl ural, aholy sorrow, which
makes the heER of a mourner better, and
sheds a hallowed influence on all around.
The widows who are made so by the ordi-
nary dispensations Of Divine Providence,
do not cause the kind Of mourning allu-
dcd to in my text. With tue prayer
that many hearts may beat warmly for
them, and generous hands be freely extern
ded to comfort and assist the afflicted pill
grims in their lone journey to a better land,
Lleaye them and proceed to answer afhr-
matively, the first interrogatory which a
proper discussion on ny subject involves.
A Grass Widow is one who, either has,
or has pretended to have a husband, or a
man, with whom she has lived, and
from whom is now separated. She may
be the one who first vacated the bed
and board or it may be that the man
himself took it into his head sometimes
between two days, to make himself scarce.
The causes which have led to this unhappy
result, are so numerous. ard so dependent
upon everyarying conditions and peculiar
tiles Of the parties, that it would be idle to
attempt to investigate them, and utterly
impracticable to array them in the limited
space allotted to this discourse. Suffice it
TO say that husband and wife are husband
and wife no longer. They have gone their
individual ways, filed with bitter reflections
over the past, and painful forebodings fol
the future.
OF the character and fortunes Of the re
creant husband, l shall say but little. IL,
is carefully overlooked by the author o
.-.at.z- - I'D Sc H. (,
the context, probably, because he is no
worthy Of notice. AS a general thing, h
is a lazy, shiftless, drunken AID dissolut
fellow, Of the baser Sort One, of whor
the answer is invariably given, VIXEN il
.quiries are made as TO his whereabouts
20 he's gone to Grass a vague an
indefinite locality to besure, but ideas al
associated with il, which impart to it,
loathsome materiality4 Most fortunate wi
pla f-ariLGnS4qu5 81, like the BabYRod.
ken after seven tim9xI-t passed owe
his unshorn, and storm .pelted head.
1t was from this sayIng-'he's gone t
Grass that was derived the term designat
ing the widows mentioned in the text
Grass, as a prefix to widow, pre.suppose
that the bereaved lady has q husband Twin
someyhere, but she cannot find him, an
in nine cases out of ten, she don't want t.
Now that she is away from him, she faneie
herself a girl again, She tries to put 0
the dress and airs Of maidenhood, thong
they set with as bad a grace as a child
p~inafore on an old grandmother. NotwitI
standing, the legal barriers in the way
getting agother husband Immediately, sh
has no intention of being as "a light hi
under a bushel, and if ribbons and lace
smirks and smiles, and bold advances ava
anything, she will, undoubtedly, succee
in her anticipated conquests. There
something so peculiar in the general appea
ance ard address of Grass widows, tn,
there is no mistaking them among the ho
of females with whom they mingle. The
arc identified at oncc-hence the emphat
declaration of my text Verify, there |
many Grass widows in the land J. Tn
naturally directs to the consideration of, an
reply to, ~ second interrogatory-sWt
arc they so Numerous 2 1t is because pc
sons rush~int0 matrimony as the unthin
ing horse rusheth into the battle. Wit
out a proper knowledge Of the weigh
responsibility OF the arrangement, there
y constant foeking to the hymenial alta
sof parties who have no real similarity
Stastes, and who are as unsuitable to becor
he constant companions of each other.
ley are unfit by habit, or want of exp,
zee, for the discharge of the various duti
d obligations incumbent on the imp,
10 relation, upon which they are enterir
"A short acquaintance, or next to no
auaintance at all, %sufices for the IN
" young man, and the Fnnsophisticated gi
n to fall in love- as thsy call it, and und
the influence of this Oft-ristaken sentime
N7hev haste TO be married ,uexar ,lLi
80 here, or how, they shall live after
sct has been c~onsumlnpted, Blinded
fae ephemeral hnPpifss of the present, t
stern realitieso of thefture are put far avs
AT length tie brat vision tanishes, a
they awake 10 aperce Jon Of the cares viii
%Oerplex, aud the triad o be endured in /
fierce struggle 70 secua a respectable, a
comfortable position pong the famil
around them VarOr plans are propose
and various expediem tried TO keep
appearances, but too or without succe
Dis~appoipanents dampA their energiC
nriyatiors Sispel hope, ekust patience,
duce coldless, provokerecrt limitations viii