POPPING- THE QUESTION.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 186, 31 August 1871, Page 6

POPPING- THE QUESTION.

("London Examiner.")

If the emancipation of women were complete, if perfect equality were established between husband and wife by the law, as it is already by the best moral instincts, would it affect the interesting subject of popping the question ? Or would the initiative remain, as hitherto -with the male? There are of course many whose opinions and sentiments are so entirely fashioned bycustom, that the mere discussion of a question may appear absurd and offensive, but they should not object to consider the rational ground upon, which their opinion can be defended. One 'circumstance alone, in the present state of the relation of the sexes, is almost decisive. Marriage, generally speaking, has a pecuniary value to women. To many it is fhe sole means of livelihood. It would, therefore, be indelicate for women to propose to men, because they would be open to the suspicion of entertaining sinister motives. They would be accused of mercenary intentions, and of profaning the holy temple of matrimony by bringing into it the money changers. The money chargers cannot, in the present state of society, be altogether driven out, but their presence is felt as a skeleton at a feast, as an ugly fact, to be kept out of sight. This is the way society proceeds. When it cannot get rid of the sepulchre, it puts on white paint. When it cannot destroy the carrion it hides its head in the sand. Thus a mercenary element in marriage is felt as degrading; it nevertheless cannot be expelled ; it is therefore ignored. All etiquette proceeds on the assumption that it does not exist. But if a woman in needy circumstances were permitted to send round circulars to her rich friends acquainting them with her qualifications for matrimony and ht readiness to enter it, the polite fiction could not be kept up. The male prerogative of popping the question may accordingly be traced to the percuniary responsibilities ifc may entail.

Tlie accuracy of this reasoning can be tested. In the case of one woman only is the position of the husband, by law, inferior to that of the wife. The Queen starlus pre-eminent as an instance of a woman taking nothing by marriage. The usual situation of the parties is therefore reversed. It is the husband, not the wife, that obtains an advantage by marriage. If we have reasoned correctly, it would be indelicate for a man to ask the Queen in marriaye, just as is other cases it would be indelicate for women to ask men. Now it is a singular fact, in this case, etiquette prescribes that the Queen sh ill pop the question. We do not know whether the same rule applies to the princesses, but ifc is interesting to observe that a reply to congratulations offered on the late marriage was made by the Princess Louise on behalf of herself and the Marquis of Lome. Great is sex, but still greater is rank.

There are some to whom this explanation of the male prerogative will not be satisfactory, in whose eyes the glorious privilege of the Queen will appear a disagreeable anomaly, though it may be excusable in a person of her exalted rank. They will point to the animal kingdom, and show, as a nearly universal rule, that the male seeks the female ; and they will declare that the prerogative of popping tbe question springs from an ineradicable difference in the constitution of the sexes. Way, they will even say that the love of woman is essentially resposive ; that if; is in fact a sort of gratitude. If the woman falls in love first, she is in their eyes guilty almost of a crime. The smile they delight to employ, of a plant whose tendrils cling for support, implies the same theory ; for the power of climbing cannot actively be called forth until there is something round which to climb. A woman ought to wait until she is asked, and she ought not to love until she is loved. If this were stated merely as a rule of prudence to guide youag ladies, no objection could be taken to it. Women incur a great risk by taking the first step. Unless they adroitly manage to conceal the full extent of their interest, they may defeat their object. They must leave a " margin of uncertainty," so as to compel a pursuit, nowhere more than in love affairs if +u e difficulty supposed to be identic«u with the precious. Without some assistance from the arts of coquetry, love seldom rises to fever heat. On the other hand, some are so complaisant, that they could not refuse to marry a woman who fell in love with them, if they had not already lost tl i eir hearts.

The Australian Preserved Meat Trade — The trade in preserved meat from the antipodes has rapidly assumed proportions of great magnitude. The first satisfactory shipments wei-e made in 1866, but the value of the whole amount sent in that, year was only L 321. From that time the increase has been extraordinary. The total was £18,820 in 1867, £45,746 in 1868, and £80,385 in 1869, while it is believed in 1870 to have been more than £200,000. About three-fourths of the shipments consist of mutton, the remainder of beef, and more than half the supply is from the Melbourne Meat-preserving Company. A development of the system, with improvements in the processes employed, may be the means of supplying not only England, but a great part of the Continent, with cheap meat. — " Chamber of Agricultural Journal."