Delaware State journal and statesman., 1867-11-15
fFrcm Every saiurday.l
PLAIN GIRLS.

- T.. hovond all question the tendency of
.a,orn socicty 10 regard marriage as the
orca end and justification oi woman
ne, THIS is perhaps the single point on
,.,,n practical and romantic people, who
,,,ror in so many things, invariably agree.
p,o,s noyelists, natural philosophers, FASH
i.nahie nnd questionable mothers, meet
ann anol,er on the broad common ground oil
snnrovng universal matrmony; and women
f,om their earliest years are dedicated 10 the
,nl,tvation of those feminine accomplish
,oeuis which are supposed either to DC most
,.,,ue,ivc before marriage in adrawing-room,
ar most valuable after marriage in the kltch-
am and bousekceper rs-room. 1t is admitted
,he n sort Of halt necessity IN Nny interest
inc work of fiction that its plots, It's aaVen-
mes and lis calaslrophcs should all lead up
,,ihe marriage OF the principal young lady'
e,me,imes AS In the cAse of the celebrated
rulv Dale, the public lolerales bold excep-
lion to the ordinary rule, ON account oi the
extreme piquancy of the thing; but no wise
novelist ventures habltually to disregard tne
nreyacnt opinion that tho heroine's mission
is 10 become wie before the end pl ihe
,hirl volume. The one ideal, accordingly,
which romance has 10 offer woman is mar
,iago. and most novels thus makc life end
with what really is only its threshold and
narnninr The Bible no doubt says that
his not good for man TO live alone. What
tle Bible says OF man, public opinion as un-
hesiatngly asserts Of womani and text
TINT il is not good for woman 10 live alone
either, though not eanOncal, is silently add
a1 Nv MI domestic commentators to the
4 serplural original. Those who pretend to
n he hest acquainted with the order OF nature
\ and the mysterious designs Of Providence
5 assure us with confidence TINT all this is as
i it should be; that woman is not meant 70
I grow and flourish singly, but 10 hang on man,
4 and to depend on him, like the vino upon
n tho elm. II We remember right, NJ. Comic
entertains opinions which really come 10
n pretty much the same thing. Woman Is 10
N be maintained in ease and luxury by the
\ uurher male animal, il being her duty in
return to keep his spiritual nature up TO the
I mark, to quicken and to purify his Affections
Il TO be Il sort of drawing-rOOm religion Ill the
A middle of everyday lile, to serve as an OBJ
jecl of devotion 10 Tie religious Comiis'' anu
# To lead him through love OF herself up 10
the love Of humanity In the abstract. One
difficulty presented by this matrimonial view
& Of woman's destiny is 10 know what, under
the present conditions in which society hnds
Itself placed, is 10 become OF plain glris'
Their mission is n subject which no philoso-
pher as vet las adequately handled II
marriage is the object OF nll feminine en-
deayors and ambitions il certainly seems
rather hard that Providence should have
condemned plain girls to start IN the race al
such obvious disadvantage. Even under
NJ Comte's system, which provides Tor al
most everything, and which, in its iar-siEht-
edness and thoughtlulness for our goou, ap
pears almost more benevolent than froVl
dence, il would seem us il hardly sullicleh
% proyislon had been made for them. II mus
VI be difficult for any one except really au
"a Mncel Comtst 10 give himself up 10 lh'
worship of II thoroughly plain glrl. Fllla
instinct might enable us TO worship her as
n mother, hui even then the noblest desire U
n serve humanity would scarcely be enougl
N to keep Il husband or n lover up TO his dail,
n deyotions in the case of a plain girl WI
M sandy hair and lreckled complexion IN
N noldest effort 10 rcctiiy the inequalities
III the position of plain girls has been inaue
a late years by courageous school oil lehla'
IL writer's of fiction. Everything mas pce
done that could be done to persuade mankih
that plain girls are in reality by far the mo
attractive Of the lot The clever aulhore
of "Jane Eyre" nearly succeeded in Il
forlorn attempt for few years. and pla'
Urls with volumes of intellect speakll
through their deep eyes and from their ma
siye lnreheads, seemed for while, on pap
al least, to be carrying everything beio
them.
The only difficulty was to get the ma
sex to follow out in practice what they
completely admired in Miss Bronte' lhr'
volume novels Unhapply, the male Sc
being very imperfect and irAil, could not
brought to don't. They recognize the beau
Of the conception about plain girls, til
were yery glad TO see them married OIL
scores to heroic village doctors, and til
quite admitted that occasional young moi
men might be represented in fiction as
coMng violently attached TO young creatu
with inky fingers and remarkable MN
81 But no real change was brought about
ordinary life. Man, sinful man, read
pleasure about the triumphs of the san
q haired girls but still kept on dancing "
Is and proposing to the pretty ones Ahu
last authoresses were driven bnck ON the
standard of beauty. At present, in the
duclions both of masculine and iemii
workmanship, the former view OF p
girls has been resumed They are alloy
if thoroughly excellent in other way
pair OIL with country curaies and wllll
voted missionaries; but the prizes OF hcl
as well as the prizes of reality, fall to til
of their mirer and more fortunate sister
Champions of PLAN girls are not, howe
wanting who boldly take the difficulty
The horns, and deny IN toto the fact lh
mairmony and love the race is usual
the beautiful. Look about you, they te
in the world and you will as often as
find beauties fading ON their stalks, ana
girls marrying on every side Of them.
no doubt plain girls do marry very freq
ly Nobody, for Instance, with hall al
can fai to be familiar with the phenom'
IN his own circle, of astonshingly
married women II does not, how
follow that plain girls are moi terribly WI
ed in the race.