The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1895-04-23
A PLEA FOR YOUNG AND OLD
MAIDS.

Hn0 report Tor lOS4O1 AS0SOO
in Richmond, New, Brenttord, T"lcK-
enham, Strand on-the-Green, Mortlake'
Barnes, and Isleworth," In
with the Ladies' Association Tor a
Care of Girls-Mothers or NaCura
ChiIdren-in Richmond and nelghOor-
hood" of which Ell. r. H the Duchess
of Teck, is President, and the DoWager
Countess Russell first member OF the
Committee, sets one musing. And yet
there is nothing philosophical about 1t.
But it is typical of rescue reports gen
orally. It gives the minimum OF amor
nation with the maximum OF plous re-
Elections. The following extracts, how
ever, from the matron's notes are
chiefly responsible for this article:
ga, 10, was sent to Richmond that
she might be away from her old asso-
ciates in another district of London.
She had been a very naughty girl, and
for some time gave a great deal OF
trouble in the Home. She determined,
however, at length, by Gods help, to
try to do better. A lady very kindly
engaged her to give her a trial, and is
80 we'll pleased with her that she has
sent two of her friends to know If l
have others like her, she is such a good
girl"
"B., 81, had always been a very re-
spectacle girl and borne a good charac-
ter, till she was wronged by her lover,
in consequence of which she was cast
off by her relations and thrown out of
employment. Naturally a delicate girl,
the trouble preyed upon her mind, and
for some time she was very low and
depressed. But now that is a thing of
the past; she obeyed the call Come unto
Ne, all We that are weary and heavy
laden and came and found rest. Her
friends have since received her again,
and she is back at her old place Of bust
ness with her heart full of thankful.
ness to God for all His goodness to her. "
There were fifty-six other cases, no
doubt similar, and we asked ourselves
what was the primary cause that these
young creatures became outcasts9 and
the answer was, heart-hunger. Heart,
hungerl The strongest craving i'm
planted in sex. And nature exerts
all its skill in fashioning us for its
qualification. Consciously or uncon-
sciously, all the impulses of the bud
ding woman impel her to love, and her
organization c~onspicuously denote the
purpose of her being-Motherhood. ALI
the forces that made her urge her to
fulfil this mission, but when she does
so otherwise than in the society method
Of her time and place, she becomes at
once a miserable sinner, is least off by
relations and thrown out of employ
ment," and finds her way to the work
house, to the refuge for lost" women,
or the streets. Nature and society are
at variance on this point. One must
be wrong. Which Of them are rights
God OF man2
Nature provides a maid for every
man, and a man for every maid. In
point of numbers the sexes are az equal
as anything in this world can be-. Yet
in England and Wales in 1891 only SO
per cent. of the females were wives. In
every thousand 500 were spinsters, 329
wives, and rs widows. In every ten
thousand women twenty years of age,
7,011were spinsters, 1882 wives, and
% widows; and at fifteen years of age,
1902 YER spinsters, 1914 wives, and 1
q widow. In every ten thousand wo-
men So years of age, 1 ,644 are spinsters,
and at IS years, 1,075. Thus from Is
IS there is a huge proportion of women
who never become wives, and from 10
to 90 the spinsters outnumber the wives
several times over. Altogether, there
are nearly nine millions. AS men are
not believed to be continent, it follows
that, excluding illicit engagements,
wives and widows monopolize them
all. This agrees with observation.
Widows are more skilful anglers for
husbands than spinstera, and many
marry several times. This is q social
injustice to the ~spinsters. lone man
one woman" is surely as fair a cry as
Zone man one vote" AS there is
scarcely one man for each woman, what
right has one woman to two, three, or
four men in succession9 She may re
ply, by the right of conquest" But
then, is she not reducing others to I'M
happy courses or to become old maids9
Formerly she would have been pun
ished for bigamy if she married again.
And although the Church in olden
times was cruel in this matter. we be-