, 1875-08-22
YOUNG WOMEN AND YOUNG E2l

1Q0 despair OF modern society IL nuW to
live. TIQe is no problem in domet tic ecou-
omy more complicated or aggravating. 1t is
puzzling the heads Of two classes Of people,
in two different ways, and these two classes
comprise the whole community, viz: the
married and the unmarried. The married ars
struggling over the problem how to reduce
expenses SO that they can harmonize bread
and butter and clothes with the ke ,ping up
Of appearances-t Is, live in style cor
responding with that Of their neighoors, and
ot the same time meet the bills OF thq NIL
liner, the butcher, the baker, and tho candle
stick maker; how they can educ.te their
daughters up to the standard Of po-
lite culture which is now essential
to an entree into good society,
cloths them in the latest modes, and other.
wise obey the imperious behests OF fashion,
and at the same time not overlap the narrow
margin Of the weekly stipend; how to 60 to
Saratoga or Long Branch month or two in
the height Of the season, wearing purple and
fine linen, and living in elegant ease, md at
the same time make the family books balance.
This troubles one class Of married people.
The larger class, however, is puzzled how to
get along at all, without any aspiration to-
wards luxury It never even dreams Of going
to watering-places It makes no effort to
keep up with the extremes Of fashion.
1t lives in comparative plainness. Is
daughters never see the inside OF q
fashionable boarding school, it does not
:, %kah hor al
OF the opera than the gallery. And yet it is
Just as much harassed in its attempted solu-
ton of the financial aspects Of matrimony.
The other class--the unmarried-is still
larger, and its woes arc still more painful. II
shrinks from the married state because il
cannot afford to enter it. The average young
man of common sense, enjoying his single
b1essedness, and able to support himself
comfortably upon his salary snd hare
something over for pleasure, is appalled,
at the expenses Of marriage, and shrinss from
that condition Of so called double-blessed~
ness which only doubles responsibilities,
cares, and expenses, and viii leave him every
year with balance On the wrong side Of the
ledger. He wants to get married. There Is
no greater fascination for him than the
orange-blossoms aud honeymoon Of Hymen;
but how can he afford them? The orange-
blossoms smell sweetly, but their fragzrnee
is costly. The wedding outfit is rs1y
beautiful, especially upon beautiful
figure; but low is it to be paid torf
The honeymoon shines with = soft and
dreamy light which is very enticing, but It IL
an a1pensiva moon, and when it sets The ez-
penses do not set with it, but 90 On increas~
ing fastar and faster with each new moon
that comea. It is all ve-y well to cal tha
young man a coward; to charge him With
playing billiards, and smoking cigars, md
drinking "snhahes, and foohng away mons5
upon unnecessary 1uxuries, but this does 1os
prove anything. The fact still remains tas1
hundreds and thoueands OF young nan
arc afraid to venture into marriage
because it costs so much, and thu
OF course involves the sequitur thas
there must be hundreds and thoo-
eanda Of young women doomed to wasts ths19
sweetness on the desert air, and pass thef
lives in the loneliness Of virgin solitude,
either wasting their lives in vain regret q
wearing them away in the hard dzudgs1J q
female occupations.
AL this il sad, and ought not to Be. ME-.
rage Is the summum bonun, and hspY
home is the 1ofhest, noh1est, and sweetest ~
,ult that any man can achieve. For sva13
nan there is woman waiting souexhar@
md it only requires careful and perss7s1tnS
Iearch to find har. When the tvo oou's
ogother, they wara never knosa
o 4ail in mutual recognition II .