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Show i HZH!ZZZZZIZIZI!3 t'o this question, the verdict of the ma jority of people nowadays- is decidedly "No." The world is recognizing the fact that many of its cleverest women elect to Old remain spinsters in spite of various offers msr .-a .of marriage. Why the term spinster lYlalQS 1 should continue to be applied to single Selfish? women, few people can adequately explain. The derivation of the word is from one who spins a maiden; but how many maidens By AGNES A M ROWE nc Prcsen' generation spin, or, indeed, ever saw. a spinning wheel ? jZZSZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZl Then, again, women until recently, if unmarried, on attaining the age of 28 or 30, were deemed to bo old maids a 6ort of opprobrium being cast upon thcin for remaining single ! Now n woman is said to bo at her best at 35, and many marry even later in life. Wherein lies! the difference between be-tween a bachelor and n single lady ? Yet no one reflects upon the bachelor because ho is linhinrricd ; why, then, cast discredit on the bachelor-woman ? Women surely have as much tight to remain single if they choose to do so, as men ? Store right, considering they arc supposed to be the weaker sex, for is not a woman's position a hundred times worso than a man's if she happens to bo unlucky in her selection of a partner for life? Ought she not, therefore, to bo most careful in her selection of a husband chary of resigning her state of Binglo blessedness and submitting to the requirements require-ments of a "lord and master." Naturally, there arc many reasons why women remain single. Some do so from choice, having no desire to change their mode of life which, if dull and quiet in tho eyes of many, is at least removed from tho turmoil, troubles, and worries of her married sister. IIow many an old maid has, on seeing the unhappy marriages around her, thanked her lucky stars that she has escaped a similar fate 1 It is no discredit to a woman not to marry; in fact, all tho more praise is duo to her that she can fight tho baltlo of life alone. Many of our cleverest women of to-day are novelists, artists, musicians, actresses, lady doctors, and nurses; every position of intellectual lifo is represented by single women who ore o credit and adornment to the profession of their adoption. Is there anything opprobrious, then, in this life of single blessedness? Rather is it not more often tho cose that, instead of being, as they arc often termed, cantankerous old maids, that such women, happy and contented con-tented with their own peaceful lot in life, aro enabled to do much real, good? Instead of being soured and-Bclfish, they work for tho benefit of others; having more leisure, less calls upon their purse and time, than thoso of their married sisters. Tho old maid's life is not necessarily a lonely or unhappy one; it is, indeed, the reverse,, and depends entirely on what Bho herself chooses to nioko it. Being purely a case of temperament tho single woman's life is, if sho wishes to mako it 60, o happy and peaceful one. Her timo is her own; there is no husband or child to worry about, and she cau pleaso herself, if comfortably off, whether she lives in country or town, entertain largely, visit her friends and relatives, ond, best of all, devoto a part of her time to doing good. And what an amount of good such a woman can accomplish 1 Sho may bo on old maid in tho eyes of many, but in her own intimate circlo how she is loved and revered 1 It is, as a rule, to tho unmarried sister both brothers and sisters turn for consolation. and advico in their domestic affairs. In time of sickness, she is always to the fore, the willing helper, consoler and sympathizer, and if her parents value ond love her, how much more is she to the eager loving nephews ond nieces, by whom auntio is viewed os a second mother; tjie delight and joy of their childish hearts. Auntie Bpoils thoso children; humors them in every way ; yet neither she nor they contemplate a change, They like it; bo does she. It fills her heart in: place of Hint other lovo alio has' either rejected or missed, ond so oil arc happy in their different ways. ' Ilowrof ten, too, do wo find nowadays tho once despised old maid hold-HH. hold-HH. jngii&r'owi) with tho stronger box ; revered and respected by them, while in other cases she is the real sister of mercy, o ministering angel often to the poor, the'sick, and the needy, devoting her life as far as possiblo tb helping tlioljeSvlio are in affliction,, not as happily, placed as herself. ' B'';, ' Surely such ft woman cannot havo lived in vaiu I Hub bbbBkM bbbbsh |