, 1873-06-29

How tho Young Ladies Wait for Rim,
and Get Fooled When They Catch

say, marriage is the great object Of mosi
women's lives, their chief thought when they
are young, their greatest regret it missed,
when they are old. Almost ali women OF nor.
NAL, healthy development desire to be wives
and mothers, aud feel that the best OF life has
been forgone, II fate and circumstances have
forbidden it. It is truism to say that the world
would not go On else; and there is no reason to
! be ashamed ct the fact or its avowal. There ia
| more reason to be ashamed Of ita denial, repre-
sent;ng as it does the absence Of some OF the
| nob1est and tenderest qualities Of Womanhood,
which get have to be kept in hand till the fitting
moment las arrived. Negotiation ind control,
however, are different things. The question,
then, with those Who have what tho world calls
"chances," is not, save In rare, exceptional
cases, Shall I refuse them all? but Which
shall I take, It is a grave question, as every
woman Knows who has at the Same moment q
bona fdo lover OF a good kind and a potential
hanger-on Of better; aud it ls question in which
soul and seuso, prudence and passion, the lovely
| dreams OF romance, and the greatest chance of
| practical prosaic happiness, seldom unite. Many
! girls, chiefly family favorites and considered
pretty in their circle, in which opinion
they themselves na;+heo CONCUR but also
| Of fair-seeming offers out of the pure
unreason OF youth and for the sake OF the daz-
| zling possibilities Of the future. They do not
know how many golden balls. ever 80 much
bigger and richer than this may not be thrown
at their feet and they rojoct the actual and liy-
ing man who would really make them very
happy if they would only, think so, waiting for
! that apocryphal Prince Prettyman who never
comes. They are dimly conscious, too, that,
has lost her present form Of Intoxicating
supremacy, though by tact and temper
! she may gain another Of moro sober and dur
able kind. Tho counting time is her time Of
tering that fatal yes,' sho is mistress Of the
situation. as the QUO who has to decide for the
misery OF happiness Of both, and who can con-
fer favor and grant prayer. Naturally she is
anxious to prolong her sovereignty, knowing
that when size marfies she sinks from . queen
into slave, md that the lover who
fawned upon her as lun1bly as
q dog becomes her master, more or
less severe, as soon as the law makes him her
husband. All girls feel this aud those among
them who hayo most Of what is called mailenly
pride in their intuitivo knowledge OF what that
self-sur1ender means hai unconsciously, half
consciously, p-olong tina. moment of surrender
any one elsa would delay any action by which
power Was 1oet, though IN a seuse, secnr1ty
gained. This is one reason why girls with
chances hesitate, and why they arc sometimes
SO long in making up thoir minds that the
chances paEs them by, aud leave them stranded
for the remainder of their days.
Another reason for their delay is Prince
Prettyman. There are women who ere always
waiting for the coming Of tho Prnce like the
high-born maidens in the palace towers OF ro-
with nothing less than their ideal realized. No
body is good enough foc them aud their friends
stare at the infatuation which led them to re-
fuse such suitable, such excellent offers, for no
ono knows what reason. Smith is one Of the
aspirants. He is really very good fellow
With nice present income, fair prospects, and |
no hereditary disease that the world knows of.
To bo suro he is no Rothschilds and his sharp |
sisters and industrious brothers, do not take
rank among the localities Of the human race. |
But, 80 far lie himself goes, you might !
find many worHe man, If some better; and |
Clorinda would not do amiss If sho chose |
him, Clorinda rejects him. She is waiting
for Prince Prettyman-prince prettyman,
who has no sharp-feat1red old mother
with strict notions about Sundays and /
chignoos no busy maiden sisters who talk three
at time, and who would consider her house, |
her maids, and her babies as much theirs AZ her
own, no industrious brothers Of all sorts Of |
queer professions. and no amount Of Style"
Smiths income and prospects, and good condi-
ton generally are not sufficient for her, penni-
less as she ia She must have perfection all
round-Pr7nce Prottyman, and never flar in
his circumstances, personal OF relative. The
consequence of which is that at 40 she sub
eists on charitable contributions from her
AllELlb, auo u1b1C-ltHSouS, "QeQ 8Qe Cau get
pupils Brown comes to the front, and lays
seige to the fair Amanda's heart as Smith had
done to Clorlnda's. He gratifes her romantic
aspirations as little as In the other case. He ia
IS worthy fellow as ever stepped; and he too
has enough aud to spare for comfort. He
would be quiet, placable kind Of husband who
would use his latch-key with discretion, and not
make her temper bad by the sourneao OF lis
OVID: Ho would not philander after
pretty women abroad, nnd he would not
n ha at hmm 1Ja 5rv;,. /
aer 9 liberal allowance for pins and lonsekeep-
ng; and he would tako the boys off her hands ]
1t holiday times, and be generally willing to save
1er both trouble and annoyance. But with au
Prottyman; consequently ho is nowhere in the
unuing. His eyes are small, Ills nose composes
'aaly IN photograph, his voice is unmelodious,
md his hands arc uncomfortable about the
lose, and uncomfortably articulated hands,
United with good homo life and kind
leart, rupture in the honeymoon and repent :
nco ever aftez. fet Amanda, like her sister, |
ofuses honest, homcly Brown in favor Of the
eeutifu1 Prince over the seas; and tie
hances are so many IS to make Ger ]
ainty that the Prince will mover cross ]
hose seas ut all, md that Amanda too will go J
usbandiess through life, because Of tho tnsel
icture which romance had drawn on her young :
onl, and which thero wa5 not enough common
ense about her to rub oat; or, perchance, worse
till, she will end with marrying Browns clerk, !
'ho has every disadvantage Lis master had, and
othing Of his compenea.ions, 6
Prince Pretty1nau has many inpersonations-
9 many as there arc silly girls who wait for
i'm. With some it is absolutely necessary that s
I: should be in the army. The glitter of epau- {
'ts and the jingle of spurs are worth aay !
mount OF stupid, civilian, workaday vir- !
1es, and nothing but wel-set-up cav !
ry officer can get hearing from I I
10 garrison Of bellies who have learn | {
but ono Itany Of love- With others
an whose soul is devoted to dogs and horses is I
le only kind Of person who carries Prince Prot-
mans credentials. Talk Of d. ye1l-conditioned =
ty merchant, with sprinkling of gray hairs /
I'd suspicious tracts OF shining scalp, or of 3
siug) young professional who could as soon I
cunt 3 camel horse, to those sweet crea- 9
res whose fancy paints the gallant hussar or y
.ruesa, truth and the Ike, without dash,
lthout peraonal beauty. without the glittering -
sigma Of Prince Prettyman-and you talk to
10 deaf. They have theI ideal man and their
cal conditions and n0tbfnr shorf of either will /