Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1880-02-20
Leap Year-A Chance for the Girls.

II Is certainly n rather singular condition
of affairs that while the chief ambition of the
average young lady conceded to be a " de-
sirable F." marriage, the customs of polite So
ciety should sternly prohibit her from max
ing the first advances 1t is true that socie-
tvs mandate is often evaded through the in
strumentality Of managing mamma, or
some cunnngly devised trap, which, while
it preserves the letter of the law, is undoubt-
eddy violation Of the spirit The Balt-
more Gazette, on this subject, says; But
who does not sympathize with the young
lady who, having no mamma to manage for
her, and being herself unskilled in the art
of feminine diplomacy, is forced, like Viola,
to let concealment feed on her damask cheek,
and hide the love which, had she been u
man, she might have fastened to disclose ?
1t was doubtless TO compensate for this ar
bitrary and unjust law Of society that leap
year was originally instituted, and the an
tiquity Of the custom is the best proof that
from the earliest times young men have
iOubhb nh1 VI tilt ulhlliliiO1lhl HDOst, anu
young ladies have been put 10 their wits
ends to bring the tardy youth to terms
Caesar, who is credited with the invention of
leap year, is entitled by this act to be CON
sidorcd the first champion of womans
rights, and we are little surprised at the
fact that thus far the female suffragists have
never referred to the great statesman and
warrior "a the originator of their "idee. u
But perhaps that is because Caesar was a
man. According to a code of manners il.
sued in England nearly three centuries ago
II woman has the privilege every bis-sextile
year" Of making love unto the men either
by words or looks as to her seemcth proper y
The same writer declares that any man who
receives her proposition with slight or con-
tumely shall be deprived of all benefit Of
clergy" Some such provision would seem
to be necessary in our day even for the
clergy themselves, for well-known Boston
minister is said TO have replied to lear
year proposal from wealthy lady to bestow
her hand, her heart, and her fortune upor
| him by advising her TO give her fortune "a
/ the poor, her heart TO God, and her hand To
/ the man who asked her for it. There ar,
many young ladies who have .difIldent OF
/ bungling admirers TO deal with-possibl,
husbands, who, IA II were, are hanging by
the cyelids." 70 these young ladies 1881
will afford many opportunities for bringing
/ the reluctant SWANS TO terms, and, indeed
even for those who may find II necessary l.
adopt extreme measures for catching tn,
coveted matrimonial prize, the traditona
privilege Of leap year may be utilized in
thousand delicate ways. For instance, /
young lady may exercise her leap year RICH
in the way Of joke leaving il with tn
| young gentleman TO treat the proposition 80
riously or not, as he chooses or, as Is offer
done, she may elect to play the gentleman
her male friends, thus creating, in the re.
versed order Of things, the most ombarrass
/ ing situations Tor the reluctant or diffldent
individual lie must be an adroit and de-
termined bachelor, indeed, who can resist q
man@uvre Of this sort, when executed with
ordinary tact and discretion. But some Of
our lady friends may object that we are as.
Stunning too much, and that assertion that
tho ladies generally are anxious to avail
themselves Of their leap year privileges is a
libel upon the sex. On the other hand, do
not the sages and poets Of both sexes and
all countries unite In proclaiming that the
ambition to be a good mans wife is the
brightest jewel in II woman's CROWN II Is
not n be supposed for one moment that a
selfrespecting young lady will ask n gentle
man 10 marry her; but there are many ways
Of limiting that such contamination would
not be altogether disagreeablc. II is hardly
necessary for VA 10 describe these devices ut
length indeed, unless we are very much
mistaken, there is not young lady Of our
acquaintance who couldn't describe them
much more accurately than we could ever
hone 10 do"