The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1890-02-13
At What Age Should Girl Marry?

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The New York World has received
quite a number Of answers to this very
important question. They all come
from elderly women. It might have
been better to have published the opin.
ions of some of the girls, for they are the
ones interested.
Mrs. JohntA. Logan thinks about rs
| the proper age, for woman is then at
her best, both mentally and physically.
Mrs. Harrison, the Presidents wife,
being asked if girl should choose a
husband for herself, said:
"Yes, as rule, but not when ahe is
very young. Marriage cannot concern
any but the parties to it and they should
decide, although / must confess that they
sometimes make poor work OF it.''
The frat lady of the land has this to
say about marriages for position:
Love and respect, but never position,
should decide q woman's choice of q
husband" Mrs. Harrison believes the
proper age fot woman to marry is s25.;
Mrs. W. B. Astor thinks that 25 is the
right age for woman to marry, but she
married at II and her daughters have all
welded before they were Is.
Mrs. Frederick Vanderbilt and Mrs.
Henry Clews both think that early mar
riages should be deprecated.
Mrs. S. Van RENSSELAER, Cruger is fire.
quently mentioned as The most fashion
able woman in New York." whatever that
may mean. So her opinion on the
proper marriageAble age ought to carry
much weight.
Really" she said, II scarcely know
what to say in reply to sucT 9 question.
1t is so clearly matter to be decided by
circumstances and the persons most con.
cerned. think, however, if "a woman
intends to marry at all, the quicker she
does it the better. Some women have
found that while they were waiting for
the proper manageable age to come
along, their marriageable chances have
quietly passed them by altogether. We
all know, after all, that marriage is a
lottery, and I think women have just as
good chances early as late-youDg or old.
The great mistake about marriage is,
that very young brides are apt to compare
married life to perfect bliss. Married
life, as fact, is very single life, happy in
various degrees, but, from its very ma
ture, never perfect bliss. Indeed, an,
getting to believe that all the women
ought to marry and marry early, but that
the men ought not to marry at all"
Mrs. Chauncey Depew thinks that 25
is the right age except in certain cases.
She says:
"But, after all, marriage is 80 purely q
personal matter that it is hard to decide
a proper age by theoriziug about it, or
on general principles"
Mrs. John R. Brady, Who evidently
had an attack Of love, says:
should say love has no age. The
modern bride is no doubt often afflicted
with a genuine attack of love, and in
such case I do not see why age should
be taken into consideration. I will say,
however, that in my estimation rs is the
most suitable age, under most circum.
stances, to marry. By that time wo-
man will doubtles, have seen many vari.
eties Of men and her experience, even if
uneventful and unvaried, will enable her
to make more judicioua choice than she
would have done OF an earlier age. But,
after all, love has no age, and wo can
never tell when woman will fall a VIC
tim to the tender passion, SO the modern
bride may be ssid to have no abiding
age"
A we'll known Philadelphia lady,
whoss marriage occurred some seven or
eight years later than Mrs. Harrison's
limit, but who desired that her name
should not be revealed, said
"For many reasons think it is advis.
able for women to wait until they bsve
reached the age of Is years, for by that
time their mental and physical faculties
are fully developed and in order. Phys
iology shows that the mortality of wo-
men as regards maternity increases as
you depart on either side from the 25th
year. The demanda of higher education
do not allow woman to avail herself of
all the privileges offered to hor before
that age. At 25 years of age woman
should have had a liberal share of social
enjoyment and be prepared to settle
down az wife and mother. The woman
who marries very early in life may settle
down to family cares at once, but the
chances are that few years later she will
realize that she has lost many of the
pleasures of single life and will long for
the freedom of early womanhood from
which her marriage has shut her of, As
look at the matter every consideration
points to 25 years as the most desirable,
the most prudent and the most happy
age for BRIDE"
When Dancing is Wrong.