The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1856-04-03
HIS EBAA a III R0WS
Miss Prim's Soliloquy.
BY IVY STARR.
Deari denrl I would not be
Such oil ancient thing as she!


"That's the old maid, Miss Prm."-
Such were the words lh,t greeted me, rs
passed the W dow B.nt's yesterday, evi
dently addressed to II respectable locking
stranger. who sat at the window watching
the passers-hy.
te!t little hurt at the words, and tone
in which they were spoken. though the
remarks WAS far from being intended f,l
my ears; hut when I remembered that
was five-an.l-f"rlv, with hair slightly inchn
ed to he gray. and still single, concluded
if any one c"ul.l lie called an old maid,
that I WAS one myself But do not see
the necessity Of thus designating II person
merely because she happens to be i"
state Of single hlessc'lness. and especially
of giving it the peculiar accent Of contenp;
with which it is usually spoken.
Now am IN old maid; yet why am I not
OF as much good in The world rs any one
else. 1t was only last winter that spent
a month with Mrs. Bent. helping take
care Of her little Alice, during her severe
illness of typhus fever. I would not lie
paid, because considered WAS only doing
q neighh"r's duty; yet she has told all
round that Miss Plim is so odd and fpn,
of cats there's no living with her" This
is the way generally get rewarded how
ever, l must do my duty, let other pe"ple
do AS they will.
Folks ask me, sometimes, why was
never married. Well, tell them pre-
ferrci living single, and so did =; but. of
course, they 'lo not believe me; "As if a
woman wouIln't get married if SIZE could :"
let them enjoy their own opinions. Of
course; AMI if cannot get mp silly,
romantic story af eruc f.iic." III t,Iuikci,
VOWS or LlishteI iopes," it's just as
well.
III own never WAS engagrl, for was
the eldest Of ten, and always staid ut home
to mend aud darn f'r Younger brothers and
sisters; and when Mr.. Smith, or Brown,
callel ITO see the young ladies'" l sat in
The nursery and rocked the youngest to
sleep.
never had "a strong arm clasp+d around
me-" nor loving lips pressed to my fore
head;" no indeed, not I :; but whether, i'll
the soft conner of sonieh"dy's heart. there
ever beat tender thrill for me, shall not
say. There might. and then again there
I Ill .,
from what it is now. anl not quite so conf
mon. Men di'ln't pop the question once
a week, to different fair one, then.
Now, if my friends would only believe
that drinking sage tea anil having Il pc,
cat were not such dire "lful things, would
be quite happy. for l think these are the
greatest complaints against The old maid.
/ should not appr"ve Of all young girls
making up their minds TO be old maids,
but l think one, here and there through
the world, reM benefit. For instance.
who is SO ready to leave home and 60 forth
to minister to the wants Of othersa There
is nothing to bind them t" any particular
spot, and so when their services are re-
quiretl. they can 60 without negl citing any
one. Now l can put out the fire, bundle
up puss. or lend her, and go off for II
month. to keep house for a sick mother.
or tend IN aiing child and if there's
quilting bee, or sewing party, who can
help, when hanIs are scarce, hetter than I :;
30 that. after all, if am an old mail,
can he as mu,h good as If I were the help
eat of an imduLysni husband. and the
mother Of ten or twelve overgr"wn boys
Having thought thus much in favor of
my respectable position, I'll wind tile
clock, drunk my pint of sage tea and retire
to my solitary matrass, there t" dream of
times that wasn't."-Cume puss = va
Srrley Koyozine.
One Of the Speeches.-Joa Kolik was
one of 'em on the stump. A double bar
relied throat and lungs rs large as two bush
el baskets, enabled him to electrify his
constituents up to fighting point in less
time than it would take for q Susquehanna
raft to GO over Niagara Falls. His great
speech, delivered in Bob Sluhs' ten acre
lot, WAS "crusher." For the sake of pos
terity, we give an extract: F.lIer-ci.izens,
you might just as well try to dry up the
Atlantic ocean with broom straw, or draw
this ere stump from under my feet with a
harnessed gad f1y, as to convince ma that