The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-07-24
OLD MAIDS IN FRANCE.
Those of the First Families Never Go
 in Social World.

Tn SOchuA WIT
 Gentlewoman.
 Are there any old maids in France? The pilgrim and stranger from another land, glancing around him in French society, would promptly affirm that the French spinster did not exist. One may go into French society for years and never once meet a single woman-that Is to say, a woman who Is old, or grow ing old, without wedding ring on her left end.
 There Is no equivalent in French so- ciety for the unmarried English gen. tlewoman, with her gardners. her car | riages and her maids. all under first class management, all betokening com plete independence and a wide outlook on life. The feminine world of fash | ion in France generally hides its gray | hairs and lost illusions in the convent or convent boarding-houses Here and | there devotion and philanthropy out side such walls are resorted to-never social distractions or active life. In the upper ranks celibate womanhood ef- faces itself Tens of thousands of French women virtually retire from the world simply because they happen | to be unmarried.
 | Much Is to be said for their point of view. Take the matter of money. for instance. So long as her mother lives an unmarried daughter, no matter her | age. is treated like a child In France 1t is the parent who pays for every thing. New Years gifts taking the place of pocket money.
 | The effect upon the French single woman of this system of pecuniary de- pendence is not only galling Cor would | be if she had ever known anything diff ferenD, but stultifying as well. and renders her quite unfit for the future | conduct of practical affairs.
 | French old maids of thirty. or even more. must have no innocent little se- | crets. no private generosities. no harm- | less mysteries. The French unmarried woman. in the eyes of the law and of her family, remains a perpetual minor And then her bringing up has totally unfitted her for an independeut life. Never accustomed to walk out or trav- | el alone. always chaperoned when pay | ing visits, her reading. amusements friends chosen for her, her notions of etiquette in harmony with restrictions she finds insupportable, no wonder that | she regards her life as a failure-that the convent or convent pension is look ed upon as harbor of refuge.
 Many a girl takes the veil before crossing the Rubicon, her 25th birth | day. But to the old maid of thirty or over, whose dowry or personal attrac- tions have not secured life partner l for her, the convent offers the cheap est possible provision. Ten thousand francs. 400 pounds, paid down. and the recluse is housed, fed. clothed and car. ed for until the end of her days. The step Is invariably approved of l How differently the Gallic and An- glo-Saxon minds regard questions oi this sort is proved by the reasons which often lead French girl who is ''in society" yet without matrimonia, prospects. to bury herself alive Fam | fly considerations are potent factors 1T ! these sacrifices of home, friends and in dividuality. girl may go into a con. vent. 1t seems. from an unselfsh de- | sire to further the opportunities of ( younger sister or a younger brother The recluse who Is actuated by family piety of this kind Is especially praised And the reason why she seems SC praiseworthy Is because in France Inc sacrifice can be too great for la fa- | mille."
 We must bear in mind the fact that in the upper ranks. in what is called la societe, no girl has any chances whatever of marrying without a suf- hcient dowry. Realizing the absolute