Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1862-11-14
M-1SCEIL AN Y.
Matrimonial Agency, London.

Ii will amuse cur readers to be made
aware what a great business is carried on,
in England, for the simple matter Of getting
married. Ii amounts to one of the largest
departments Of the adveytiSing of London
journals-the expression of the {" Wants "
for wife or husband. A clever writer, in
a popular London weekly" has made il
the subj, ct of an article, which we think
amusing enough TO give the whole Of
When the census returns exhibit an er
cess of half a million females 0oer peles IN
the United Kingdom, it is very obvious that
a great many eligible young spinsters are
destined to taste of that blessedness which
Miss Ray and other ladies' fnd in an un-
married life. All circumstances considered
the discovery that men are rather de rop
IN this world, and that they are totally un-
necessary 10 the comfort of the fair sex,
has been made at an exceedingly opportune
moment. 1t is rot indeed, in accordance
with ordinary commercial principles that
as ar article grows scarce, it should be less
valuable and less in demand; but wo-
men patriots are wiser than Adam Smith
and We are bound to believe them when
they tell US that they consider the dispro.
portion between the sexes an advantage
rather than the contrary. II might ind ed
be suggested that a certain ancient fable
would explain the indifference to matrimo
ny so suddenly acquired by the strong
minded Of their sex; but il is unfortunate
for the theory Of the uselessness of man.
kind that the great body of females refuse
20 accept the toaohing of their sisters. They
still think that ii is not only proper 10 get
married, but in every respect more com,
Portable than to be setting up type in print.
ing office, or earning their living BY de-
priving men of their occupations. Bu
those who will and those who will not ge
married are on perfect equality. We are
told that suitors do not come forward as they
used 10 do, and that genuine prize in thu
matrimonial market is extremely hard Il
find. The ordinary agencies for match
making have broken down. and the lowel
classes especially are driven 10 establish
fresh mode Of communication between eacl
other. While champions of their sex are
laboring to keep young women unmarried
the journals in which the poor take deligh
are doing their best (or worst) to find then
husbands. 1t is a curious fact, indeed, tha
one or two halfpenny papers, lately started
trust for popularity solely TO their matri
monial columns The editors of these pub
locations must be experienced in every phas,
of the grand passion, and they give then
judgments with Rhadamanthine severity OF
the numerous crowd who intercede witt
them for mates. Persons who casually fal
across ono of these journals may be inclined
to suppose that the Answers TO Cores
pondents are only continuation of thu
romance in the first page. This is an entire
mistake. Tie number of letters which arr
apparently sent TO any of the cheap week
ly especially to the London Jour
nal, and the Family Herald, the most pop
uiar of them all-can only be explained OF
the principle that there are more fools thar
wise men in the world. Morning afteI
morning, it seems, brings packets of letter
from all manner of persons and from al
parts of the country-some containing por
traits, others specimens of handwriting, ant
others locks OF hair, usually very red, in
deed, and saturated with rancid fat. So a
least we infer from the Answers to Cor
] ANS PphbChtSs MbiCH baNt an lne appear
snce of being genuine replies TO genuine
letters. 1t is not little curious to remark
the kind of condolences that are established
between the managers and readers of thest
cheap journals.
The chief portion of the letters relate tC
affairs Of love and marriage. One young
woman wishes the editor to tell her wheth
er it is proper for her to kiss lover II
whom she is engaged, before marriage. The
answer is, that the deed in question would
be very improper; but we very much doub
whether this decision satisfied the querist
and we have still stronger doubts whether
it guided her in her subsequent conduct. i
is odd enough that any girl should consider
a stranger more competent TO counsel hel
upon point of delicacy or propriety thar
her own mother or brother; but the expla
nation may be that the readers of thest
journals invest the Unknown who dispense
bis DEGREES on the last page, with almos
supt rnatural attributes. He understand
everything, from getting rid of corn o
supertiuous hairs to transferring an estate o
obtaining a divorce. In the matter of hair
we might, indeed, think him afflicted witt
color blindness; but it is no great failin;
after all to mistake red for auburn, or t.
call a greasy kind of tow golden locks
These things are matters of taste. BE
sides, it is not always easy to tell the trutl
without giving offence, especially when tn
inquirer is a woman. Happily, however
three-fourths of these correspondents ar
gifted with every personal grace; the othe
fourth are what in stable language, ar
known as screws The former want hus
bands or wives the latter have either ball
heads or bow-legs, and seek remedies fo
both. There is no remedy we lately read
for bow-legs on the part of person wh'
has passed childhood = and this WAS NJ