Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1871-12-30

whom it We're best should never mar
ry. For instance, the slack, thriftles'
4 or the coarse, the gossip, the terma
9 CANT, or the scold. Those who hav
D the elements of unhappiness within
them, and who care not to eradicat
+ them, would then be discovered; 70
, such elements show themselves il
p time.
Another great cause of early mar
riage is the pernicious habit Of calling
a girl who happens to remain unmar
ried until twenty-five, an "old maid.
This is done by many well meaning
but thoughtless persons, who would
be sorry to think any expression OF
act of theirs had ever caused any one
an hour of misery yet this very dread
of being called AN old maid has driven
more women into marriage and life
long misery than any other thing, ex-
ceptlng perhaps poverty. A girl ls
young, sensitive, unused to the rough
ways Of the world, and she shrinks
from having any stigma cast upon her;
and when she first hears herself called
an old maid it is revelation, and she
falls under it as if it were a blow. -
She feels as if it were an imputation
upon her character in some way and
though she may try to laugh it off, the
wound is there, and testers and cor
rodes till the life that was once happy
and careless as a birds has now Il
skeleton in its closet, which she thinks
can only be removed by marriage 1t
is a mistaken idea that single life is
any less noble than matrimonv, eSpe
ciallv where the marriage is an un
suitable one, and where the spirit of
discord is enabled to inNict its horrors
upon Il whole family. instead of lying
asleep in its trust, forever unawaken-
ed
Let mothers treasure their laugh-
ters more seek to learn their inmost
feeling in kind and sympathetic
way; via their love and confidence
more, by showing that they themselves
have hearts, and not hy trying to force
the hidden thoughts from a girl ; in
most soul hy stern commaniS a Il
harsh cros--qurstioningS: and gi Is
would not he quite 50 willing to Leave
the warm shelter Of Ii ,me, to take
the lrap in the dark.
For what is it but leap in III"
dark but Il species Of slavery to on".
half the women who marry How
many of all the married Womrn in
our country can truly say, My mar
riagc has been all that expected, all
that hoped. have realized the
dream of my girIhooA, and my heart
is entirely satisfied. Probably not
one out Of one hundred bat on the
ontrarv they would say, "Wcll, we
must not expect too much in this life,
and with httlc sigh let the question
drop.
II it were not for this deluSion that
seems in.eparablr from the mind of
youth, there would probably be very
few marriages comparatively. If they
onl y saw ii as it is, with all the gla-
mpur Of romance brushed awav--Saw
it with rational eyes, saw ii in its ma
ked trulhlulneSS, many would be apt .
TO say, II would be worse off then
than am now. 1t is better to bear
my burden alone than to add another
to it, or add to another ).
\ very mischievouS writer once
said, AN offer Of marriage is the
highest compliment Il man can pay
a woman. 4 great many women
have learned to their sorrow that il
would have been nearer the truth had
he word ''conpIimcnt" been written
insult. Here is an instance A
;ouny man decides that he has reach
'l the age when it would be well for
ii Il to take IL wife and settle down. ,
He has just started ont in life and had ;
'nough to furnish u house plainly but
:omtortably. He him self, and all his
ricn,IS, think the best thing he can g.,
10 is to marry. He looks around for !
he best girl he can find. He sees :
beautiful young lady dclicatclv !
brought up; tasIlionabIv educated
nabIe, confdng, and beloved bv all
er friends He thinks she is the girl 5
e would like to love and marry - |
And there his reasoning stops. He !!
makes love Of course, and "colnpIi- t
lents her with the otter of his hand. $
But if he would look on the other +
lde for moment, and ask himself
'hy he wants that beautiful girl, t
raretul, intelligent, and lovely, he +
,ould be found to reply, 81 want her \
} cook, make my beds, clean my p
ollsc, darn my hose, watch longingIv c
n my return, always put up with my |;
| humors, economlze in every partl- 0
nIar for my benefit, to be the mother p
my children, and bring them up Il
ropcrly. And in return for this |
i'll support her, allow her to bear my
ame, and when she dies I'll give her p
Christian BURIAL *
Now, had he only looked at this a
de of the question, he would not be VI
kelly to feel that he was doing such G
very complimentary thing, nor 90 cr
bout his work % cvmploccutly. And =