Could we not do a little more to save our young girls from sacrificing their happiness to false ideals by opportunely obtruding a little mature common-sense into their day visions and their inexperienced way of looking at things?
It is all very well in the heyday of life, when existence is full of delight and home affection, to refuse a man who could make them happy, because they don't quite like the shape of his nose, or because he is a little untidy in his dress, or simply because they are waiting for some impossible demigod to whom alone they could surrender their independence.

But could we not mildly point out that darker days must come, when life will not be all enjoyment, and that a lonely old age, with only too possible penury to be encountered, must be taken into consideration?
God knows I am no advocate for loveless, and least of all for mercenary marriages, but I think we want some _via media_ between the French _mariage de convenance_ and our English and American method of leaving so grave a question as marriage entirely to the whimsies and romantic fancies of young girls.

We need not go back to the old fallacy that marriage is the aim and end of a woman's existence, and absolutely necessary for her happiness.

Some women are doubtless called to be mothers of the race, and to do the social work which is so necessary to our complex civilization.

Some women may feel themselves called to some literary or artistic pursuit, or some other profession, for which they require the freedom of unmarried life.