Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1882-07-03
zaurastcr ftltelllQencer.
MONDAY EVENING: JULY 3. 1882.
OLD MAIDS

MONDAY EVENING: JULY 3. 1882.
OLD MAIDS.
How the World Now Regards Them-The
Good Tney do In Society and IN tho
Household.
Harpers Bazaar.
1t is less than forty years since that
courteous, gallant and fopling OF phrases,
Mr.. N. P. Willis, characterized the class
of single women as " The Dried ups." One i
can not imagine a writer of equal reputa- |
tion. a gentleman OF equal breeding, CON- l
mitting such discourtesy to-day. From |
his point of view, it was as if a hunchback |
should be tauntcd with his bent spine, or l
a cross eyed man with his obliquity of vi |
sion: for he assumed that unmarried
women were celibate because they were SO
plain, so poor in charms, 80 unattractive,
that no man would marry them.
If literature and society are better man
nered now, regarding single women with
courtesy, and often with admiration, it is
because our theories about them are made
to square more nearly with our facts. 1t
is matter OF common observation that IN
every circle some of its most delightful
members arc maidens past their youth.
They are cultivated, witty. gra-
cious, hospitable, charmingly dressed,
pimpante, from the ruff at their thrOats to
tho rosettes on their slippers. Are these
the women whom men pass by? Or there
are those others who do not choose society,
but who are the dea e1 machina in SO many
households, the power behind the throne
greater than the throne itself, the incar-
nate j Idgment, wisdom, economy, liber-
ality Of the family. Are men SO dull that
they do not see how these beautiful ones
hold happiness in their hands and scatter
it broadcast?
Thackeray, that tenderest Of cynics,
that most serious Of testers, declared that
any woman mi ,ht marry any man if she
would. And 1t is certainly true that most
old maids have declined to pay the price OF
marriage. The just cause and impedi-
ment which have withheld them from the
holy estate of matrimony have been from
within, not from without. They certainly
do not hold themselves too good to marry.
They concede that true marriage is the
ideal state. Bat 1t has been their fortune
not to find that other half aud fuiillment
of themselves. whose coming could alone
Justify the vowing OF vnw+. They are too
honest, too brave ami too pure to use
marriage as a maIcSlift. Aud it is plain
that there cannot te ia existence more
thoughtful more large hearted more sci!
sacrificing, more modest, tender and
truthful wcn,en than these.
As TIE worIl comes to see that a
woman l.; a. separate al entity, as dis
tinct an Individuality. aS man, it viii
pay less al d less regard to her accidents
and mere 70 herself. 1t will not take il
for granted that she has had disap
pOintmcnt - at a tender age, or buried hel
youthful lover, or been the victim of
misunderstanding, if she write hersel
Mss at forty. Nor will it audibly wonde
why charming woman is unmarried aite
twenty-five. It, will admire her for her ad
mirabenesS, whethe. that has had th'
certificate of some mans expressed appro
bation or not. II will permit her to liv
her own life.
But though it was the old notion Q
feminine incomple:cness and subjcctio
which, made the lot o! single women a re
pruach to the unthinking, they themselve
have not been hlameless. Their patienc
has been top endless, their meekncss to
long suffering, their submission too CON
plets. Almost with one accord have the
consented to efface themselves, as til
French say, srieving the while in si!enc
that married sisters and preOccupie
brothers III law and gay young n:eces-
alas, that even disappointed parents-we.
SO ready 30 enace them. For there is
certain sanction in acceptance. Whe
they acIuiesce in the general verdict ti.a
they are na:;odies, thcy enter the fin;
judgment.
Sell sacrifice is Il virtue much miSundcl
stood. 10 deny ones self for = great end
10 help The wcel. to relieve the burdencd
that is heroic But only tn sew for III
idle to take steps for the inconsideIatc,
pampcr vanity AID folly with endless Sc
vices, TO be a., unpaid upper servant I,
inappt ciY,iivr kildEed, to make one $ St
Of DO account that scliishness may pro
per, this is s.avsh, and perpetuates t,
ranny. This degrades and beiittles b.
who ministers, as it initiates and mis!eat
her who is miniStcrea unto
The single woman may maintain tin
precious dignity o: bearing which cor
mands respect. II her plate be below t!
salt, ii is left her to prove that whe
Nacgregor sits is the head of the tabl
Nor shoLld size slight her dress, and p
away iloni her the ornaments aud grac
Of life. Thoy are her armor and deleIs
her argument and appeal. For it is i;
her I" show in her own person, how ln ut
more is the woman than the wife, and hO
incontestaple is her right to d place in Il
house, il society, and 10 the world.
All women love love. The hope Of
bome of her Own, of fond husband, al
the touch of bLby hands stirs early
every maideu's heart. 1t is with d sen
of loss aud hardship that she sees tn
hope fade without fruitiou. when
1.-The God of bounis,
Who sets to seas q shore.
Comes TO her in His silent rounds,
And says, NO more"
But life is full Of compensatious. 1t
left her to enjoy, to labor, and to aspir
Perhaps it is left her to illustrate, rs h
more tettered married sister cannot, Il
real capacity, the actual power OF achiev
ment. of her sex.