Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1895-04-19
WIDOWS IN FRANCE
CUSTOMS WHICH MAKE THEIR LOT
ANYTHING BUT PLEASANT.

Contingent Upon the Possession OF q
Daughter or a Second Marriage.
The Paris widow is a surprise. can
not tell exactly what l had expected, but
for some reason or other the thought of
French widows always called up vague
recollections of the bereaved young person
in "A Trip to Chinatown. l humbly
beg the pardon of the real Paris widow.
She is much more like the oriental wives
who die on the funeral pyres of their hus
bands, and she is often almost as secluded
as if she were buried alive.
Naturally this does not refer to "the
people" as the French call the working
classes. When the small grocery man
dies, his widow, who has sat at the desk
and been cashier and bookkeeper during
his lifetime, sits there still, and every
thing goes on as before except that there
is 1--WE" put before the name to show
that widow (Veuvo) Maurice" or what
ever her name may be, is at the head of
the business. There is no attempt made,
Is there often is in America, to give the
Impression that affairs are in the hands of
n man. The women are too shrewd and
experienced as shopkeepers to need any
such pretense.
With the women of society it is differ
emit 1t is not easy for a stranger to make
observations in this field, and above all in
the direction of widows. The easiest way
to gain information is to cultivate some
widow who has seen better days and get
her to reveal the secrets of her sad estate.
This is not difficult. Widows with money
are the prey of designing relatives and
INSCRIPTIONS guardians, so that there are
always plenty of them who have been re-
duced to keeping boarders, which, after
the pawnshop, is their sole resource
TN France if husband dies without
a will, leaving a widow, but no children,
all his property, even though it may have
been held in common during his lifetime,
goes to his family His widow has moth
ing If he dies without a will, leaving a
widow and children, all the property goes
to the children. The widow may live on
the income with her children, provided
she can arrange it with their guardian,
but if he is so inclined he can forbid her
receiving cent from her children and
compel her to earn her own living. 1t is
terrible, isn't it?''
1t was q bright, attractive little French
woman of 40 who told me this She has
been "a widow ten years, and although
her husband left her fortune of $780,
0O0 and although she had her own dot Of
$l2, 600, she is now keeping bOarders for
the princely sum of So week. Her broth
er-in-law, in whose bank her entire for
tune was placed, failed at judicious in
terval after her husbands death, and
Nine T. found herself with young son
to educate without income and without
resources except a small country house.
This she sold and put her 15-year- boy
in college, BY the advice of prominent
lawyers she set about trying to recover
her dot, which is supposed to be the in
alienable property of married woman.
She failed, and in the meantime had sold
or pawned most of her jewelry and furni-
ture.
do l ever wish I had daughter"
said Nine. II. when l asked her the ques-
ton. "Oh, no. l can never be too thank
full that l have none. Without money she
could not hope to marry well, and her life
would be ruined With son it is differ
emit His career is entirely changed, but
it does not make such a hopeless thing of
his life. If had money! Oh, yes. Then
l would wish for a daughter, because that
would make it possible for me to go out
occasionally and mingle with the world"
But if you had money, couldn't you
do that"
And then Nine. r. explained to me
state of affairs which was appalling from
an American point of view. A French
widow becomes lost to sight and quickly
forgotten by society. She cannot go to
receptions or balls or dinners or musicales
or anything in which the heart of woman
delights. This law of the conventional
tiles does not apply to the period of mourn
ing only. 1t is perpetual lock and key
on any spirit of effervescence or natural
desire to be something besides housekeep-
ing hermit. If, however, she has been
blessed with a daughter and enough mon
ey to make presentable appearance in
society, she can take her daughter out
when that young lady is old enough. A
son is not q sufficient excuse for this en-
trance into society. Therefore blessed be
tho daughters of widows.
But under no circumstances can she go
into society before she takes her daughter
with her. If she has intimate friends, she
may dine with them, but it must be strict
ly en- famille. If these friends are of q
matchmaking turn Of mind, they will &C.
casionally invite some man to dine at the
same time, and in this way the widow
has an opportunity to speak to her fellow
men.
when these friends invited you to dine
with them and asked some man to meet
you, was it with the idea of giving you
an opportunity to find another husbandY'
Yes, " admitted Nine. Il. They knew
that my life was practically closed if did
not marry again, and they wanted to give
me the chance. "
And if you found acquaintance you
liked why could you not invite them to
dine with you, and let them bring their
friends, and so enlarge your circle, all in
very quiet wayS"
Because / couldn't. Because, again,
1 was q widow. If had invited any gen
tlemen, or if they had come to see me, the
concierge would have complained of mo.
There are two classes of human beings
in France who have no liberty. They are
young girls and widows, and of the two
the former are much the happier because
their seclusion does come to an end, since
they are almost sure to marry. The Wild
ow is liberated by the same method but
the road is more difficult one. "-Paris
Cor. New York Sun.