The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1882-05-18
Bl MARION 1fARLANb

letter upon my table; "Our daughter is
in her eighteenth year She has been
delicate until within few months but
seems at present quite strong. Her Ill
health has interfered seriously with heI
studies. OF course, at her age, it is i'm
possible to send her to school. Her mani
fest destiny is to marry early and make
some man a capital wife and house
keeper"
4 petted, sickly, ignorant child, who
has not resolution enough at seventeen tC
repair defects in her scholastic training
good for nothing but marriage, This is
the translation of the above.
Heaven help the men tonight y says
Lady Betty, smirking at her image in the
mirror, bedieht for the evening toray.
| take up the words solemnly and sadly.
Heaven help the men and the nation,
when of such MATERIAL and Of stuff even
more tiinsy, are TO be made the wives OF
the rising race-the mothers of the next
The proposition that she who IS best
able to live alone, to control herself and
mold circumstances to work together fol
her good, is also-other things being
equal best fitted for happy, benefcent
witeho0d, appears simple enough to be
grasped by the average intellect. 1t is
my conviction, founded upon years OF
critical observation, that she who thinks
Of love as the business Of girl-lfe, and OF
marriage as its aim and end whose inter
course with the other sex is cOlOred by
those views and expectations IS the last
woman any rational man should wed.
Join to this the belief that the prevalence
Of this habit Of thought and purpose de
bases the standard of both WomanhOod
and manhood in our country. From
honest intolerance with it are born the
eccentricities il the language and conduct
Of many pure. noble women stigmatiZeC
as strong minded" ," for the lack of more
apt classification.
II am aweer' my dear boy says Mag
witch to Pip i'll "Great Expectations,
''that on that occasion ! was tor .''
The coarse triumph OF vulgar nature
merited the epithet less decidedly than
does the attitude our girls and boys, Oul
young women, occupy with respect to one
another. We have not time now for the
anall teal consideration of the question
as to the part the impulse Of self -protec-
tion plays in inducing the "herding" treat
ed of in a former paper, Every sports
man knows that Oyer-much and untime-
N hunting makes game shy and wild.
"Who wants to make game of them !"
breaks in fresh, young voice at my elbow
Look now at me-persOnally and indi-
vidually y myself | am not a husband
hunter, DO moi care TO get married for
ages But ! do like to converse with
sensible men, and to have a good time
with the boys. 1t may sound frivolous,
but | relish innocent frolic Sleighing
and lawn tennis and boating parties and
the like. If | smile twice at the same
man he thinks | want to ''catch him y
The code of the parlor is no higher in this
respect than that of the kitchen. Bridget
does not behave in followers without they
name business
Accepting this very personal myself as
the mouthpiece Of a class who have a
right to a hearing, say first: No amount
OF misconception Of your motives alters
the truth that our social as our domestic
atmosphere is what women make it, And
if our best women give over the attempt
to refine and reform men, they will be-
come Turks and Yahoos. Next: Respect
yourself body and spirit There is un-
told might Of influence in the fearless
purity OF nature that, having no affinity
for evil, passes it unconsciously by. Smile
as brightly as YOU please; enjoy sensible
talks and harmless fun, and be as happy
with the boys as the Lord meant you and
them to be together. But, from first to
last, never forget that your duty to them
and to yourself demands that both shall
be better for the association. If mans
work is like that of the more majestic
forces Of nature-tides and glaciers and
stormy winds fulfilling His word, yours
is the gradual but potent ministry of dews
and showers and sunlight Regard and
regulate the drift Of little things, the
thistle-dONn of thought and action. Go
to your needle and knitting work for les
sons in the slow accretion of influence
and result; the disasters of unfastened
threads and stitches dropped and over
looked. For examples: The man who
presumes 50 far upon his privileges as
frequent visitor as to cross your thres-
hold with his hat upon his head or a
cigar in his mouth; who lounges at half
length upon the sofa, or helps himself to
an easy chair when the ladies present are
less luXuTiOusly seated who sits unmOved
at your grandmOther's entrance, and sees
you or any other woman tug at refrac-
tory blind or window or move a heavy
piece Of furniture who drop, unauthoriz-
ed, the "Miss" from your name; who is
fond of holding and pressing your hand,
or seiZing you by waist or arm in what
then ceases to be innocent frolic-may
become a gentleman through your tactful
discipline. He may now, as we said re-
Gently, know no better
II wish he would not mean quite SO
We'll, and ito a little better y said {. young
lady to me little while ago.
\ highly respectable youth, seeing in
the course of a call upon her, that his
sock had slipped down, coolly laid bis
foot upon a chair, pulled up his trouser-
leg, readjusted the offending garment,
composed his pantaloon, and put his foot
down without intermitting bis talk
ale is the sole support of a widowed
mother my DEAR" pleaded l, family.
"Whatever his solecisms in demeanor,
he always means WE'LL
Upon which succeeded her plaintive
rctOrt.
In truth, the marvel is that the majori-
ty of our young men are so well behaved,
when we remember the herding of schools,
colleges stores and business offices, and
how few of them remain under the pater-
nal roof after the age of fourteen. If you
girls DO not come to their help in reso-
lutte, sisterly spirit, not only in the polish
ing Of the shell, but in the elevation OF
the inner man, the race of gentlemen
1anuSt dinniniSh liraflll1- fIhnra