AN OLD MAID'S ADVICE TO GIRLS.

Thames Star, Volume IX, Issue 3002, 28 September 1878, Page 1

AN OLD MAID'S ADVICE TO GIRLS.

.Such marriages as mine are not to be expected or even hoped for. It must be exceedingly rare for a woman forty-years old •to meet a man whose age, taste, habits, and position make iheir marriage a promise, of happiness to both. : Such a marriage is to be gracefully rejoiced over if it comes, but it is possible to be happy and useful without it. What I mean to impress to them, is that they should make themselves able to stand alone. I'll quote Margaret Fuller's words on that subject, to them: "With self-support possible, unhappy years in the paternal home and many unhappy marriages ; will be prevented, a happy single life will be made possible, and a happy marriage will be more probable." Concise directions. Well, if I gave any, they would be like this: _ 1. Don't waste any time waiting for "him." ' ■ ■■■' 2. Don't spend quite so much as you earn. '' 3. To prevent narrowness, master some branch of knowledge not connected with - your occupation.. 4. To keep your heart warm love some' body'B children. If possible, connect yourself with their care and education. 5. When married women confide their troubles to you—and; strange to say, they will do it much oftener than they confide them to each other—don't let it give you a dark view of married life or ofmascn* line human nature.