The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1874-01-15
THE SEXsoN -@---I siis ths ssasonfF 81

tions. .Is is the senson Of ftrouss and
balls. Il is the season of operas, thes..
tres and concerts. IT is the season when i
young womeh's fanoies lightly turn. to
thoughts OF marriage, and young men
are looking out for remunerotivA eitna-
|tions OF domestic kind. In word.
it is the season Of "engagoments.p OF,
these, there are, OF course, all sorts,
long and short, for love aud for money.
confessed and clandes.ine. Unfortu-
nately here in the South, there is less
publicity given to affairs Of the kind
than at the North. where they are All
nonnced IS soon as they are made, aid
"hero they may run for years without
=ns danger OF q breach or collapse. The,
reverse is generally true among us. ,aA1
)clandestine engagement does not usually
last very long; but, happily, they rarely
end in the distress and ruin which ara
regarded in Europe as their sure attend
ants. AS the life Of young giri Is
much moro domestic than that OF
young man, the burden of concealment
oresses much M. % heavily upon her
than upon her lover. On this acconnt.i
and also because Of the greater FENDER
ness of girls conscience, the almost
invariable end ci clandestine engage.
mont is, that after lasting few week..
it is announced by the girl to q sister OF
mother. and passes either into the reRti.
lar or tho forbidden phase. Most iofSa
tunately for the authority OF parents.
there arc few girls who wonld not rather
run the risk of sacrificing lover than
Keep such secret six weeks with abso-
lutte integrity. Any one who has mo-
iced the amazing rapidity with which
tho news OF an engagement spreedS
among the host of female friends, reIa-
tions and acquaintance, will feel how :
keen pleasure must be taken by them
IL circulating suoh tit-bit OF gossip;
and, conversely, what severe denriva-
ton 1t would be to them not to be per-
mltted to announce it. Parents, some
times, from reasons Of mortified pride
or mental indecision. desire that the
news OF an engagement. though sane
TONED. should be confined to as few
persons as possible. But this is always
found to be an untenable position. The
eagerness of each last recipient of the
iseoret to communicate it to specially
privileged friend, soon puts an end to
the parents fond hope Of q limited lis
bility to congratulations, aud convincea
them that an engagement, like libel.
cannot be published for private circuls-
tion only. It is, in fact, one of those
confidential communications which are-
sometimes called shouting secrets."
The classification of engagements ac-
-cording to their duration gives us seve-
raj interesting types. Some engage
ments are of short but rapturous Kind,
iothers arc Of protraoted and Platonio
character. Some are contracted for q
liked term OF years, as the engagement
OF q minor to marry when he attains his
majority, or OF widow to we'd after two !.
years inconsolnbility. Others are ter
minsble after an indefinite period, az
where poor clerk engages to marry as
soon as he can make o living, or where
a young lady promises to make her lover
happy when he can show that he is abla /
ITO maintain her in the style 10 which.
she has always been accustomed, and to
supply her with the comforts and re- !,
tinemunts which she has a right from
her position in society to expect
Other engagements may be considered
us terminable at pleasure, such az those
projected between students OF small
means and the notorious tiirts of o col
lego town. which, it is pretty we'll un-
derstood. arc only designed to last until
Providence provides the fair couuette
with more handsome or more aubstan-
tial lover. These, with many others
which it is unnecessary to enumerste,
are various species OF engagements diff
ferentiated according to the nature of
their duration.
OF course, in this city. there is little
or no flirting, little or no concsalment,
little or no improprioty. Our girls have
nm eye 10 tho ma: chance certainly:
but, the prettiost in the country, they
are also the most marrying and mar
riaSeablc. Young men from distance
eau come hero with the assurance that.
as wife-market, it is ;rpassed. No
shar1s are put on unsusl.c, ing strangers.
1t is true that our girls dress we'll. and
require certainty in this regard before
band. But. this arranged, they are as
practicable as they are pretty. Not
more than half of them between tho
ages of fourteen and twenty one, as we
have ascertained by a careful investiga-
ton, are ct present engaged, aud, of
this half, Mt least third are only condi-
tionally engaged. So. it will be seen
Ia