Year: 1872

InaI ene must look upon with awe.


bryant.


The Old Maid of the Family


As rule we do not place much
faith IN signs. There Is so much
to uislead Us in this life that if we
want to preserve our reputation for
sagacity 1T is advisable never to pre-
diet an event until il has happened.
There is one prophecy, however,
in winch man can indulge with
the satisfaction of discovering that
his prediction is very likely to be
fulfilled. A close observer can al
most Invariably hit upon the old
maid of the family. He caR reeOg-
nize her as quickly amongst the resi-
Of her sisters as if she alone did not
bear the mark, Going to be married.
She may not be matter of fact; on
the contrary, she maybe far more
idealistic in her temperament than
the rest Of her family. Shem may not
be bad, or quick-tempered; for her
character may be very sweet, full OF
the unobtrusive beauties of virtue
that make mp the perfect woman
hoods She need not fulaill any one
of the eoadi itiOns which form the
conventional theory Of the old maid;
and yet traits there are in her cha
racter which proclaim her. She
stands "confest," to use an express
sion of the old poets, by the determi-
nabie eccentricities with which she
variegstes the routine of her life.-
Eecentricities they must be, for they
find no assimilation with the char
acteristies OF other girls of her own
age Even when she pursues the
path ehalked out by the social prac-
tees of her own sex, her imitation
has an air different from that sug-
gested by that of the others. She is
coQuettish with an effort, though
her cOquetry may want no piquancy
from beauty. With the, Irritation
is love; and her love has an earnest
ness that repels by unexpected fer
Vor. Indeed, earnestness Is her
great foible; it is the sign that be-
trays her future. She has no but
terfiy-nimbleness; the graceful capa-
city of lighting on flower after
flower, imparting zest to the pur-
suit of the lover, who Is as child
in the chase. Here is an undue ten
sity of faith, a fixity of idea. She
resembles some which all other
stars pass and repass; forever beam
ing forth unbroken light from the
high altitude of her own belief. She
seems to have no mission but that
of loneliness; yet her loneliness is
not of her seeking. She is born with
a stationary beauty; but her earnest
ness repels; for there can be no al
lurement where there seems so much
eargerness to allure.


She may be a young glri, and still
you can foreshadow her future by
the subdued air of her present life.
Her eaFnestness has taught her an
odd experience, and later dealings
shall embitter the knowledge The
secret of her celibacy lies in the in
tense refinement of the chastity OF
her thought and the purity of her
character. Both these virtues are
too often sickIed DER with a simple
sort Of sentimentalism. Her i'm
pressionsbility works her matrimo-
nial ruin. She mistakes the shadow
of love for itself; and hugs for q
long while, incapable of being con-
Vinced of her error, the phantom of
her heart, like the woman in the
story. who was discovered fondling
the smooth bones of the skeleton
the sight of which had driven her
mad. There is an infnity to be eI-
tracted from the life of the old maid
Of the family. The rude, undiscern-
ing eye may see in her conduct and
character only a woman's heart at
variance with one of the most nat
ural conditions of life. But deep
er gaze can penetrate the underly-
ing secret, and mourn over the
young earhestness sanctifying itself
by its patience, but consuming itself
with vain aud idealistic longings.-
She always loves when young, and
loves with singular purity and
power. She has found some hero,
and has proclaimed to herself his
ROYALTY. But her powers of demon
stration are not rendered with the
faculty of tact. She sees her lover
in the light of her own love; never
once dreaming that she has inspired
him with no other emotion than a
larger self-coRceit. Her conduct to-
wards him is animated with the en-
thusiasm of alteration. The curse
of earnestness is on her. There is
no effort to WOO i'm her love; for the
love having been inspired of court
ship with her has passed; there is no
other desire now than to mingle
soul and soul. Rarely it happens
that such love meets with the sign
and the response which it longs
You can seldom liken To human two
human souls to a silver rod, that vi
brates with responsive echo at one
end to the touch that at the other.


1t is such fruitless love that first
deyelopes the character OF the old
maid. 1t is easy TO grow cynical
over such abOrtiYc sentiment and
deride its unworthy views. But
for the Staying of love makes tragi-
cal the life of the hearth in which love
lies dead-comes the influence that
is TO bias the whole future of the
mourner. There is generally an in
stinet amongt families as to whom
the old maid shall be. They look
upon her as 4 fat Gccompli. There
is a kind of comical pity. The girl
seems to guess her fate, and accepts
it smilingly. She is not piqued; she
has tasted the bitterness Otlove; and
should ever Fate proffer her again
the cup, she knows how much of the
memory of that bitterness would
mingle itself with the sweets. : Lon
don Leader.