The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-11-09
SOCIAL NOMADS.
From the Saturday RevIew.l

The nomadic widow Is by some odd fatality
generally the widow OF an officer, naval or mill
tary, to whose rank she attaches an almost super
stItlous value. thinking that when she can an
nounce herself as the relict OF major or an ad.
miral she has given an unanswerable guarantee,
and smoothed away all difficulties. Sne may nave
many daughters. but more PROBABLY sne mas Only
one; for where olive branches abound, nomadism
is more expensive than housekeeping, and to i've
In her own house is less costly than boarding
house. But Of this one she makes mucA to the
community and specially calls attention to her
familiar to the girls Of the present day; and she
looks as II she expects to be believed. Perhaps
eredence Is difficult; the voting lady In question
having been for 80 ne years considerably In pub:
lic where she has learnt to take care OF herself
with O skill which, how muchsoever 1t may be
deserving OF praise, cannot claim TO be called In.
genuous. She has need OF this Skill, for
apparently, she and her mother nave no % male re.
laClons belonging 10 them, and II firtatlons are
common with the nomsdic tribe, marriages are
rare. Poor souls, one cannot but pity them lor
all their labor In vain, all their abortVe hopes:
For though there is more society IN tne mode OF
life they have chosen than they would have had
II they had lived quietly down In the village Wnere
they were known aRd respected, and where, who
knows the fairy prince might one day nave
are y aaa xnar
swallows. The men who live IN these places.
whether as nomadic or permanent guests, never
have money enough to marry on; anu Inc nlrta-
tions always budding and blossoming oy tne
piano or about the billiard table never by any
chance fructify in marriage. But In spite OF their
infertie experienc. you see the same mother and
the same daughter, year AFTER year, season altef
season, returning to the charge with renewed
vigor, and hope that is the one indestructible
thing about them. Let Us deal tenderly with
them, poor impecuni0us nomads, drifting Like 80
much sea-wreck along the restless current OF their
lives, and wish them some safe resting place be-
fore it Is too late.
A lady nomad Of this kind, especially one with
o daughter, is strictly orthodox, and cultivates
with praiseworthy perseverance the society OF any
Clergyman who may have wandered into the com.
muniry OF which she s member. She Is pune.
tual In church.g0ing, and the minister OF the
chapel where she attends is 1attered by her evil
dent appreciation Of his sermons, and the readi-
ness with which she can remember certain points
OF last sundays discourse As ruiz sne ~ ~
Romanism on the one hand as OF Ratlonalism On
the other she has seen the evils OF both, she says,
and quotes the state Of Rome anG u OF ns
orthodoxy, and no woman who has got herself
talked about, however innocently, need nope 1or
much mercy at her hands; but her Rhodaman-
exercise, for her repertoire Of scandalous
chronicles is extensive and if she Is to be be-
lIeved, she and her daughter are almost the sole
examples Of pure and untalnteu Womannoed
nected with her social status, and brings up her
daughter in the samewsy OF thinking BY virtue
of the admiral or the major, at peace in his grave,
they are emphatically ladies, and, though noma.
die snd az anu ~ a ne Sc pga
and despise those whose rank Is OF the uncove.
nanted Kind. and who are gentry, may be, by the
grace of God only, without any Act OF Parliament
to help.
necesaarIly passee though obviously she cannot
be In her first youth; still she may be young
enough to be attractive, and adventurous
nf 10 ff1d
Unmarried, nomadc, and still young, work them.
selves into every movement afoot; and even face
the perils and discomforis OF war time, and tell
their friends at home that they are going out as
turess OF which we have spoken before, runs
through all this section Of the social nomads; and
one wonders why some uncle or cousin, some
aunt or family friend, does not catch them up IN
nomadic i n spinsters are sure to be exceedingly odd
Constant friction with society In It's most selnsh
form, the absence OF home duties, the want OF the
sweetness and sincerity Of nome loye la. and tae aa
them, and kill all that is best. They have moth
ing to hope for from society," and less to lose 1t Is
Wearisome to look amiable and sWeet-fempered
SH fs the 81 D
light So the nomadic spinster who has lived so
long in this rootless way that she has ceased even
anords-has ceased even to wear the transparent
mark OF such thin politeness as Is requi:ed-oe-
comes g character" notorious In proportion to
her candor. She never stays long in one establish.
ment. and generally leaves abruptly because OF
misunderstanding with some other lady, or may.
be because some gentleman has unwttlngiy az
fronted her. She and the oficer's widow are al.
WAYS on peculiarly unfriendy terms, for she re.
sents the pretensions OF the ocer's daughter, and
calls her "bold minx' or "sly-puss' almost
within hearing; while she throws grave doubts
on the widow herself, and drops hints which the
rest of the community gather up like mama, and
keep by them to much the same result. But the
pouladIc spIuster soon wander5 away TO another
temporary restlng.place, and before hall her life
Ia done she becomes well.known to the heads OF
the various establishments in her line as the tax
gatherer himself and dreaded almost as much.
Nomads are generally remarkable for not leaV.
ing tracks behind them. You see them here and
there, and they are sure to turn up at Baden-Ba-
den or at Vichy, at Scarborough or at Dieppe,
when You least expect them; but yon know moth.
ing about them In the interim. They are Ike
those birds which by bernate at some place OF re-
treat no one yet ever found; or like those which
migrate, who can tell wheref They come anu
they 20, and you meet and part and meet again
in ali manner OF unlikely places; and 1t seems to
YOU that they have been over half the world since
YOU last met. you meanwhile having settled quiet
" to your work, save for your summer holiday
which you are now taking, and which you are
enjoying as the nomad cannot enjoy any cnange
that fails to his lot. lie ls sated with change,
wearied OF novelty, yet unable to fx himself now,
however much he may wish 1t. he has got into
the habit Of change, and the habit clings even