The Grenada sentinel., 1888-08-25

vi tlluo W buelf tuucdllOu anu luSIFuC-
tion in household duties as they spend
in 'trotting them OUT for the inspec-
ton and admiration Of possible sons-in-
law. The rebuke, wherever merited-
as it no doubt is in some instances-is
perfectly just. But when a mother has
done her duty otherwise, a reasonable
amount of managing and maneuvring
on her part to provide her daughters
with husbands, is perfectly justifable.
She may feel tolerably certain that,
with or without her cognizance, some
sort of matchmaking, or, at all events,
filtration is sure to occur; and that be-
ing so, it is undoubtedly better that
such proceeding should be conducted
under her watchful care and direction,
than they should be carried on clandes-
timely or under less responsible super
vision.
To parents with a large family Of
daughters, the successful bestowal OF
them all in matrimony is no light mat
ter. 1t is a matter involving not only
much serious thought, but often also
great trouble and expense. A wit re-
marks that when mans only resources
consist of numerous family of daugh-
ters, the best thing he can do is to hus-
band his resources. That is no doubt
very sage advice; but girls are a kind
of resources which it is sometimes by
no means easy to husband. In order
| to execute that man9uvre, a great
many other resources have generally
| to be called into requisition, and not
the least important Of these is q sub
stantial bank account. If his daughters
be his only resources, both he and
| they will be placed at a decided disad-
vantage.
But when paterfamilias has provided
| the sinews of war, there, as rule, his
share in the matchmaking ends. Men
| have not sufficient tact to be intrusted
| with such delicate tasks. When they
| take it upon themselves to interfere in
these matters, they are sure to.make
! trouble of one kind or another. Match
making is essentially the ladies' prov
ince. 1t is, moreover, branch Of dip
lomatic service in which few men have
any ambition to distinguish themselves.
| At the best, it is a somewhat invidious
! task. A mother and her six marriage
able daughters have been facetiously
described as ''school of design;h and
that is really the aspect in which they
are generally regarded. The very ap-
pearance of mamma at the head of such
battalion is sometimes enough to
scare away the most stout-hearted eligi-
bic single gentleman, whose suspicious
are Immediately aroused, and who,
rightly or wrongly, persists in regard
ing the party as veritables school of
design. The difficulty is immensely in-
creased if the young ladies do not hap
pen to beparticularly brilliant or attrac-
tive 1t is here that papa's financial
resources come into play. But even
when these resources are considerable,
intending suitors are apt to pause when
they think of the process of subdivision
that will have to be undergone. To
vancouver her forces so as to bring
about series of successful engage
ments, thus demands, on the part of
the maternal head, no little skill in
generalship as well as in diplomacy.
American mothers have acquired
some reputation for skill and energy in
connubial management on behalf of
| their daughters. A Partisan newspa-
per some time ago recorded an exceed
ingly clever bit of matchmaking, exc
cuted by an American lady of this order
in brilliant style. Her eldest daughter
had sailed from New York with some
friends for tour of Europe, and after
doing the continent, had returned to
the French capital for several months
of rest and pleasureing, Attractive and
clever, she had many suitors, some
more, some less desirable. She could
not marry them all, so she adroitly re-
| duced the number to twO-the best of
the lot, of course. Then she wrote
home to her mamma, explaining the
exact situation of affairs, adding that
they were both so handsome, agleea-
Bile, well-connected and rich, that she
could not decide between them, and
closed with the question: ''What shall
| do?' Ten days later, she received a
cablegram from mamma: 81 sail to-
morrow; hold both till | come" The
next transatlantic steamer brought
Mrs. Blank with her second daughter,
Just turned eighteen, and fresh from
school. On her arrival the old lady at
once took the helm of affairs, and
steered so deftly through the danger
GUS waters, that in a few weeks she had
reached port with all colors flying. To
drop metaphor, she attended the we'd
ding of her two daughters at the Amer
lean chapel on the same morning.
After,due examination, she had decided
that neither of the nice fellows should
90 out of the family.
| Wy lo,, ,,; That ,po, do NOT oo a