Mexico weekly ledger., 1909-04-01
Are
Old
Maids
Selfish?
by AGNES A. NJ ROVE.

80, we're deemed Il be old maid-a sort Of opprobrfum being cast unon
them for remaining single! Nov a woman is said to be at her best at
IS, and many marry even later in life. Wherein lies the difference be-
tween a bachelor and a single Lady, Yet no one reflects upon the bachelor
because he is unmarried; why, then, cast diseredit on the beheorwoman?
Women surely have a much right to remain single if they choose to
do 50, as menf More right, considering they are supposed to he the weaker
sex, for Is not a womans position a hundred times woret than a mans if
she happens to be unlucky in her selection of a partner for life? Ought
he not, therefore, to be most careful in her selection of a husband-chary
Of resignng her state of single besedness and submitting to the require
ments Of 4lord and master"
Naturally, there re many reasons why women remain single Some
do % from choice, having no desire to change their mode of life which, if
dull and quiet in the eyes of many. is at least removed from the turmoil
troubles, and worries of her married sister. How many an old maid has
on seeing the unhappy marriages around her. thanked her lucky stars. that
she has escaped a similar fate!
1t is no dscredt to a woman not to marry; in fact. all the mora
praise is due to her that she can fight the battle of life alone. MANY of our
eeveret women of to-day are noveists, artists, musicians, actresses. lady
doctors, and nurses; every position of intellectual life is represented by
single women who are a credit and adonment to the profession of tbdr
adoption.
Is there anything opprobHous, then, in this life of single blessedness2
Rather is it not more often the case that, instead of being. as thew are
often termed, cantankerous old maids, that such women. happv and con
tented with their own peaceful lot in life, are enabled to do much real
good? Instead of being soured and selfish, they work for the benest ~
others; having more leisure, less calls upon their purse and tire. than
those of their married sisters.
The old maids life is not necessarily a lonely or upbapnv n =
indeed, the reverse, and depends entirely on what she herself choose -
make it Being purely a case of temperament the single woman's Hfo i
if she wishes to make it so, a happy and peaceful one. Her time il boy
own; there is no husband or child to worry about, and she can please
herself, if comfortably of, whether she lives in country n town entertain
largely, visit her friends and relatives, and, best of all, devote a mart 81
her time to doing good. And what an amount of good such a woman cn
accomplish She may be an old maid in the eyes of many, but in her own
intimate circle how she is loved and reyered!
1t is, as a rule, to the unmarried sister both brothers and sisters trr
for consolation and advice in their domestic affairs. In time of s;cLros.
she is always to the fore, the willing helper, consider and sympatl,or on5
if her parents value and love her, how much more is she to the eaor
loving nephews and nhces, by whom auntie is viewed as a second mo4hor.
the delight and joy of their childish hearts. Auntie spols those obldron
humors them in every way; yet neither she nor they contemplate a change
They like ii; so docs she. 1t fills her heart in place of that other love sbe
has either rejected or missed, and so all are happy in their different vavs
EIv ofiap to AZ wa End ow,day KLoa 49,. 1T "
ing her own with the stronger sex revered and respected by them. while il
other cases she is the real sister of mercy, a ministering angel ofton a.
the poor, the sick, and the needy, deVotng her life as far as possible to
helping those who are in affection, not as happily placed as herself
Surely such a woman cannot have lived in vainl