St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-01-21

LIE SAIN L IA L 1JAI
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pany of any man not perfectly in sym
pathy with them, or their inferior
either in moral or mental caliber, For
it is not always duty to marry;, but it
is always duty to live up to our high
est conception of what Is right and
noble and elevating.
But from whatever cause the women
remain unmarried, they will have no
need TO dread the condition. as unmar-
ried women of'the previous generations
have had good cause to 90. Every year
finds them more independent. They
are constantly Invading fresh trades
and stepping up into more important
positions. They live i'll pretty cham
berS; they dress charmingly; they have
bank account; they go to the opera
and the theaters in their own protec-
ton; and instead of being the humble
poor relations of married sisters and
brothers, they are now their equals,
their patrons and their honored guests.
Besides which. old maids have begun to
write novels; and in them they have
given us such exquisite portraits of
their order-wonen so rich in every
womanly grace that we are almost
compelled to believe the unmarried
women in our midst to be the salt of the
community.
AT any rate, we are beginning to shift
the blame and the oOioQuy of the posi-
tion to the old bachelors, where it
rightly belongs; and this is at least
move Ill the just and proper direction.
For old bachelors have no excuse what
ever for their condition. If we omit
the natural and necessary exceptions.
which are few enough, then pure self
ishness and cowardice must account
for every other case. Their despised
old bachelorhood is all their own fault.
They have always had the tremendous
privilege of asking for what they
wanted; and half the battle was in that
privilege. Men don't have wives be-
cause they don't ask for them; and they
don't ask for them because they don't
want them; and iii this condition lies
their shame and their degradation and
The well-deserved scorn with which the
married part of both sexes regard them.
Men are also much more contemplate
and useless in their celibacy than are
women. An old maid can generally
make herself of service to some one. II
she is rich. she attaches herself to
church work, or to art, or to the chill
dren OF brothers or sisters; or she
travels all over the world, and writes a
book about her adventures. Ii she is
poor, she works hard and saves money,
and thus becomes an object of interest
and respect in her own set; or she is
nurse and helper for all that need her
help in the village. or her church, or
her family. AT any rate, she never
deScends to such depths of eDnui and
selfishneSs as do the old bachelors
who loll about OIL the club sofas; or who
dawdle diScOntentedly at afternoon
teas. An old maid may be troubleso me
in church business, or particular i'll
household affairs; but it takes an old
bachelor to quarrel with walters and
grumble every one insane about his
dinner menu. An old maid may gos-
sip, but she will not bore every one to
death about her dyspepsia; and if she
has to starye others, we may be very
certain she would never fall under that
tyranny of Wallets and janitors which
are the "Slings and arrows" of wealthy,
selfish old bachelors.
On the whole, then, the unmarried
woman Is becoming every year more
self-reliant, and more respectable and
effeminate and contemplate. We look
for day. not far off, when a man will
have to become member of so me re-
ligious order, if he wishes reputable
excuse for his celibacy; and even in
secular life it would not be a bad
idea to clothe bachelors, after forty
years of age, in a certain uniform. They
might also after that age be advised to
have their own clubs, and recreations
| for their assumption of equality with
| those of their sex who have done their
duty as men and citizens, is piece of
| presumption that married men ought to
| resent. Men who marry are the hon
| orable progenitors of the future, and
their self-denying. busy lives not only
| bless this generation, but prepare for
the next one. The old bachelor is
merely human figure, without duties
and without hopes. Nationally and So
cially, domestically and personally, he
is spoon. with nothing in it!
AMELIA E. BARR.