Dayton daily empire. [volume] (Dayton [Ohio]) 1850-1865, 1863-10-30
why the English Bachelors an d
Spinsters do not Marry--Curt-
GUS Statements.

The London AtheRaeum has the following
picture of English life:
In London aud in every part of this healthy
country there are hundreds upon hundreds of
persons Of both sexes who abstain from mar
riage because their means are narrow, and
from early life to extreme old age exist as
celibates on incomes slightly greater or less
than the f300 per annum which "sOciety"
deems insufficient for matrimonial comfort
and dignity. But the lives Of such persons
cannot be said to support the theory The
educated celibate, with "a comfortable in
come for bachelor who occupies chambers
and frequents Pail Mall club, is, as rule,
not less selfish and grasping than the poor
paterlamilias who, according to the author,
"be he lawyer, doctor, divine, or man of let
ters, must needs, in all his ways and works,
regard not the pure aim Of his profession, but
the pecuniarY interest involved therein"
Celibacy cannot be said to have raised Roman
Catholic Priesthood above the moral level of
our own clergy; nor can it be allowed that
the maiden lady with "genteel sufiiciency"
is in most cases better Christian than the
poor mother who, by anxiety for her own off
spring, is taught to feel for every orphan
child.
The proceedings in the Divorce Court have
shown that unexceptionable love matches are
by no means exempt from wretchedness, and
that women of fortune (who are under no ne
cessity to marry for maintenance,) make un-
happy marriages quite as often as girls with
out penny" Nor does experience encourage
belief that women are disinterested lust in
proportion as they are placed above want
The heress in West-end "set' is usually
quite as anxious to seek Advancement by mat
rimonial settlement as her penniless cousin,
who has nothing but marriage to look for
ward to-" lfpoyertY sometimes makes girl
say, "Tll answer yes to the first offer get,
the possession OF independence quite as ffe.
quently induces woman to think, II can af-
ford to wait, so ] will not marry till have a
really eligible proposal As a rule the poor
persons daughter, whose marriage portion is
q modest trousseau with twenty-pound note
in her purse, is not whit more calculating
than any Miss Violet who has twenty thousand
pounds at her command, and score of suitors
from whom to make selection. ~ as
Moreover women whose circumstances Sc
cure them from the necessity of marrying to
better themselves are especial objects Of de-
sire to men who, if not absolute fortune-hun-
ters, still desire not to marry without some ad
vantage more substantial than woman's love.
Thus, independence on the part of the fair rseN
would scarcely have the result anticipated II
it diminished their present inducements to
seek for advantageous alliances, it would, on
the other hand, increase the chances that they
would be sought out by selfish wordlings, and
Injured into unions where love would not be
the motive Of either Of the contracting parties
The sex might be less SHINING but it would
be more sinned against and marriages brought
about by base desire Of gain would, at least
| be as frenuentlY Us they are at present