The Shasta courier., 1868-05-30
SHASTA COURIER.
should Married Women Dance .

,hor IGNORANCE nor thoughtlcSsness can be
nIeaded in excuse Women thoroughly
Enow women, whatever else they know; and
there is not one of them that is not vividly
conscious of what heartburuing it causes 10
n poor girl TO hear the music and watch the
mary twinkling feet of "a ballroom and play
the almost ignominious part of a passive
spectator. Grown-up women clutchng at
nil the TOYS or sweet meets off Christmas
tree at a juvenile party, would not be a
more unnatural spectacle. Grown up men
eager to win the stakes at round game got
up for lads home for holiday, would not be
more cruel or inhu;i ;ian. We are constrain.
ed to plead for tenderness and consideration
on the part of young women who are mar
ried towards young women who are not
Might n9t Sidney's words, as he handed the
draught of water to the dying soldier at
Lutzcn, be proftably remembered? Thy
need is greater than mine" Sidney had
need of it too. What nee4 has married
woman of dancing partners at all? Women
sometimes complain that they have no mis-.
siou aud that the field of action is sel6shly
closed against them. married woman
ought to have no grounds for such complaint
But if she insists on it that she has, we are
ready with reply. Her mission among
other things, is to be kind and good to girls
who are not as fortunate as herself She
ought to fancy them pcrpetually sa9ing to
her, "Such as am, you once were" We do
not want young married women to turn
matchmakers. But we do want them to for
ward the cause that they themselves once
thought so good, as their present condition
testifes They should regard themselves as
positively retained for the prosecution of the
chief happiness and destiny of their sex
4 4 = IL
will. Unfortunately, they can do much to
oppose or retard it; and they do it, by in
Testing ball rooms. and walking off with
partners under the very eyes of girls who,
of course, are in the very secret need of
them.
This is the chivalrous view of the question,
it may be said, though we think it requires
no great stretch of female chivalry to act up
to it. Rather should we be inclined to call
it the social aspect of the question. But it
has its selfregarding one as well. For few
years-Ordinarily, for few-the married
woman may, if she will, indulge and exult
in her comparative superiority. 1t she does
So, however, it is at her peril. Before the
game is over, she will s.ffer us much morti-
ficaton as ever she inflicted. Sooner or later
the time comes when she is no longer re
garded as the desirable partner she once was;
and by and by the plainest unmarried girl
in the room will be preferred to her. For
time, old friends will continue to ask her to
dance-say once, each of them, in an even
ing. MeL are unusually delicate and con-
siderate in such matters, and for 'auld lang
syne," and not to wound her, they will make
what they regard sacrifice. But even
masculine delcacy and consideration have
their limits. and the period at length arrives
when they ask her no more. She has long
perceived that the tide Of admiration is eb-
bing away from her, and she finally finds
herself landed, high and dry. on that dreary
bit of ground where wallfowers most do con
gregate. Had she but renounced. in time
what is now renouncing her But it is too
late. She cannot plead that she does not
dance, for nobody asks. She hopes and
thinks that to night at least, some of her
old admirers will find her out, and give back
her youth. by whiring her round in good
gallop. In vain She has manufactured
for herself sort of beauty-dial an accurate
measurment of of the radiance OF her own
charms; and she sees convincingly demon
straed that her sun has set forever. We
have hurried over her decline. which is in
reality a somewhat slow one-we find it so
exceedingly painful. Her belief in the con-
tinued existence of her charms dies a lnger-
ing death, every fresh step towards its di.so-
luton being more and more narrowing St.
Evremond says that the last sighs of a hand
some woman are rather for the loss of her
beauty than for the loss of her life But
why should she ever have to heave them? >
Why should she ever know that her beauty
is dying? She need not, unless she goes out
OF the way to provide herself with such
pittiess register as we have described A
time must inevitably come when she will be
Obliged to give up dancing Would she not
do well to give 1t up at the particular juno
ture when she can offer the best reasons for
doing so. and can plead her new dignity as
her sufficient excuse Men will still press
her to dance. and she cannot fail to be slight
ly gratifed by their importantly But If
she is steady in gracious refusal, they will
cease asking her, and long before ANYBODY
could possibly suppose that they would not
be pleased aud fattered by her assent. They
will be little disappointed at her frrnness,
but in their hearts they will esteem her all
the more for it. This might lead us on to
another argument in favor Of the conduct VIC
have been advocating; indeed. there are sew
eral other considerations which we have for
borne to urge. We have preferred to re-
strict ourselves to the consideration of two
motives, one of which appeals to charity,
and the other to selfinterest In pressing
both, we have found fresh illustration OF
that profound truth, well expressed in
Pope's line. that ''trre self-love and socia
are the same" The married woman who
abstalns nom dancing shows exquisit con
sideration for the feelings OF others and. il
the long run, perhaps in a still greater de
gree, spares her own Imperial Rerie,c
An incident occurred recently at Yal,
which goes very far to establish as a fac
that the q world moves" A Yale alumnu
OF twenty years standing, recently returned
after a long absence, to visit his alma mater
and was very courteously received an,
shown round'' BY Professor T. Afte
having exhibited to his guest all the moderr
improvements. the Professor said to him
+" You have now seen, believe, all that i
new in the institution, except the gymna
sium. Come. let's go up there. and ] viii
roll a string Of ten pins with YOU" "What
sir" exclaimed the guest, starting back il
real or simulated astonishmennt. "Whv.
exclaimed the Professor, 1--WE have a fin,
alley IN our gymnasium, and would like t,
go there and roll string of ten pins will
you" Ten. pins r. cried the alumnus
with gleam of malicious fun in his eve
why, SIR, was expelled from the colleg,
for rolling ten-pins I"
A GEOReIAN, from an upper county, Will,