Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1861-10-14
WHEELING VA. MONDAY MORNING. OCTOBER d, 1861

renee Of mnstaches, and turned out some
friends of mine-her tenants-because the
husband, in a weak moment, allowed the
hair to grow on his upper lip. Then, too,
she has as vehement an objection to mar
riage as Mr. MalthUs himself ;sand when
her bailiG yielded to the destinations of
her housekeeper, she paid them both IL
quarters wages and insisted that they
should leave the same evening. There is
aicarriage road on her estate which was
of great convenience to the neighbors, till
one day aparty of young men, all wearing
mustaches, happened to ride along it, as
she was driving in her donkey-chair. The
next day she had a gate put up, padlocked,
and well secured, and no eutreaties or sup
plications of the neighbOrs could induce
her to allow them TO pass through it. She
is said to entertain a belief that she is en-
gagged to gentleman whom she has not
seen for 20 years aud it Is. perphaps, this
which has converted her to a Malthusian.
Among the class of poorer gentry aud
the so-called amiddle-classes," old maids
are, fear, eUeH m0rs numerous than married
tDomea. The faultfs not with them but
with the men. Professionalism and busf-
ness men cannot afford to marry early; aud
when they do SO they make the Ghest
match"they can, which, to your consola.
ton, dear old maids, is often the worst
This is vile age of cheap articles. Cheap
ness and goodness rarely go together unless
the demand is enormous. Now, the demand
for wives is not as great as it might be. A
wife is luxury, and man may give him
self up to self-indulgence-may ruin him
self with brandy and gin, or expensive fur
niture, or dogs and horses, or what not, be-
tore he thinks OF indulging in that last and
greatest of luxuries-a loving wife, A
man may certainly marry on very little;
bnt before he can resist nurses and doc
tors bills, that little must be certain
ty. Then, too, be his fortune what it
may, that little must be clear of debt. A
good man will not marry to bring his wife
into anxiety, nnd the fear of the bailiff
The follies of his youth must have been
paid for, and even his tailor dismissed for
a ready money trndesman. II a man mar
ry on two hundred, three hundred, four
or five hundred pounds a year,
he must be sure that he has sufficient COM
mand over himself to make that sum
enough for n wife and baby, rs well as No.
l (; he must be ready to give up his club,
his cigar merchant, his male society, and to
take instead to that ample substitute-a
good, dear, little wife. Do not be surpris-
Gu ~ al Olu IuuS. L
have long cursed my fate-but my day is
gone. The old bachelor is miserable be-
ing; and give any old maid, who pleases,
leave to attack us fiercely.
Old maids are more or Tess 6Eighted. All
have loved, and all, in consequence, in
vain. But how many blighted themselves,
and how many were blighted by the false
ness of man, is calculation which must
eave to the Statistical Society. But the
real blighted being is one who deserves
our deepest sympathy. l am now engaged
in collecting subscriptions in postage
stamps for an Asylum for the Blighted,
md am convinced that we cannot call
Christian and civilized ma
lion till such an institution exists among
Us. The 6lighted demand sympathy, aud
hey can only find it among fellow-blight
eds. Their case is hard one, and it is the
duty of every man, still more of every
to contribute to their comfort.