The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1906-05-19
THE CHOICE OF A HUSBAND
FREEDOM OF THE MODERN
ENGLISH GIRL

ting Acquainted--Changes Wrought
by Auto.
The literal reader may remark, Girls
cannot choose. 1t is the man who Sc
lects a wife" Girls know better. They
can, and they do, make their own
choice among the men who are attract
ed by them. And girls of the well to do
classes have probably more frequent
opportunities Of studying their male
acquaintance than any of their pre-
decessors throughout the ages of the
world.
In the time of Leech, writes Mrs.
Humphry in the London Daily Chroni-
Gle, the ballroom was almost the only
place in which young men and women
could improve their knowledge of each
other. There followed, in cases of cap
tivated fancy, the formal call, a ter
ribIe experience for the would-be sui
tor, with all the family sitting round,
the other sisters all eyes and ears. The
picnic of those days occasionally prov
ed useful to two persons who liked to
enjoy each others society in solitude,
and when croquet came into fashion it
afforded reason for gatherings. Us
ually the lovers played so indifferently
and became such a nuisance to the
other players that they were dismiss
ed from the game, and had no difficulty
in finding themselves tete-a-tete.
This poverty of opportunity was afen
eked out by walks that were mot ex-
actly'' prearranged, and it was permit
ted to a young man, even if he had not
yet declared himself, to wait at the
church door after morning service on
Sunday and carry home his lady's
prayer book.
Now different it all is now! The care
full chaperon finds her occupation gone.
The BICYCLE gave her the first intima-
ton that she was becoming out of date,
and the freedom that girls enjoy nova
days has indorsed her congo. This
freedom is all on the side of wisdom.
The girl of to-day may boat, golf, play
tennis and croquet, ride drive, walk,
dance and talk as much as she pleases
whit the young men who have been in
troduced to her. And it is well that it
should be so. How can a choice be made
without opportunities for comparison?
The more male acquaintance q girl
has the wider is her field of choice.
She old fashioned, secluded life in
which daughters We're kept robbed them
Of self reliance, Of confidence in their
own judgement. They knew but few
men intimately, and the results We're
not always happy. How could man
gain any real knowledge of a young
Woman's real character and disposition
when he scarcely ever saw her except
in the bosom of her family?
There may be something of the free
and easy in the modern intercourse be-
tween young people 1t is a natural
reaction on the part of the young wo-
man, after centuries of restriction and
chaperonage. And so it comes that a
girl is sometimes heard actually thank
ing man for asking her to dance. Her
proper attitude should be that of grant
ing a favor. The man, too often, be-
comes infected by her view of the case,
and is rather cavalier in his own man
ner.
But these are trifling things and will
amend themselves. The great thing Is
that a girl can now look about her and
choose for herself. The man Of her Sc
lection may possibly not respond but at
least she has had the chance of find
ing out what she does not like. A lit
tie word, look is sometimes enough
| to enlighten her as to the character
that lies behind the social mask, and
to warn her against what would be a
fatal mistake. And In the same way
she sees men in circumstances that
elict their chivalry, and prove their I'M
selfishness. The drawing room girl of
Leech's days had hardly ever such OPP
portunities as these. She did not spend
long hour with her companions wait
| ing for the admission to lock on the
Thames and thereby apply a gauge to
the capacity for patience of her male
escort. She seldom visited the hunting
field and shared the wild exhilaration
of the gallop which brings the real man
to the surface. Unknown to her was not
only the bicycle, but the motor, with
its infinite variety Of battling break
down, it's temper trying moods.
Il should never like scolding any one
else so well, and that is point to be
thought of in husband" says Mary
Garth, in "Middlemarch." She was
right. To marry man one dare not
find fault with would be to invite an
uncomfortable fate. The perfect man
if such existed, would be an incom-
patible companion for a necessarily
imperfect woman. Does Zangwill go toe
far when he says. THE love of a good
man is an intolerable bore? He surely
means the ''unco guild" and to them a
girl is seldom attracted,
More to her liking is a CHEEKY, opti-
mistic man, whose sunny good humor is
rather suggested than obtruded and
does not display itself In constant cack-
ling laughter, a too frequent failing.
The morose and morbid man occasional
ly attracts bright girl, from pure
force Of contrast, but let her beware
lest her final choice should fall upor
him. The days are lead colored in q
home where the master" suffers from
a lack of suavity, and mobility is ire
concilable with good health.
OF the Importance Of this latter girls
seldom think. One cannot expect it OF
them. She who should set out on 6
quest for a partner sound in wind and
limb woul prove herself lamentably
| e