Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1846-01-03
A CHAPTER ON PROPOSALS.

1t viii mont DO deemed vanity at my age TO
say that at twenty-five | was possessed of
full share Of ordinary personal charms Of
youth. Within a little Of the Chesterfield
standard Of height, five feet ten, with locks
black and g ossy as the ravens wing, (alas /!
the driven snow is not whittier pow y with fair
complexion, cheeks glowing with the red tide
OF youth and health, and possessing what is
considered sufficient good sense and educa-
ton for all the practical purposes Of life, il
may be thought that my experience IN matters
Of tie heart oughtsto prove all exception to the
rule that "the course Of true love never runs
smooth" But alas! not SO! IL was my
misfortune to become acquainted with a
young lady possessed of go many charms,
mental, moral, aad personal, and so super-en-
inent in each, that it was indeed impossible
for me to avoid falling, as did, desperately
in love with her.
As far as g~lances of the eye, tremors ofthe
voice, and occasional inuen1Oe5 might 90, |
doubt not that / succeeded full we'll III lrnpar
ting to her a knowledge ofthe state OF my
heart and | will not presume upon your pa
tIence 40 much as to detail the secstacy of joy
with which first discovered, through similar
media, a reciprocity Of feeling on lhs part of
the SDu1R lduJs LIZ u uIliC ~ Gay tBdL
this was the case, and that the time came
when it waa incumbent upon me to make a
distinct ayowal OF my love. Ihls, after long
and perplextng mental debate, 1 resolved to
DO by letter and after writing some forty
e~pistIes OH as many sheets OF gllded satin
paper, | final y succeeded in for ming a letter,
amounting to about six lines, containing, IS |
thought, the condensed quintessence Of eve
rythIng that could or ought to be said Oh the
subject. or this precious m0rceaH / retain
now but slight recollections. That it aboun~
ded with terms express, We Of pure, warm, ar
dent, glowing, undying, everlasting and IN.
precedsnted affection, ! have not the least
doubt.
But unfortunately, this little specimen of
spistoIary excellence was scarcely finished,
when CHANGING to pursue ONE OF The expe-
rienceofa predecessor in ths path Of love, !
read that nothing was more unwise and dan.
gerous, than making an Offer of ones hand aud
heart by means Of en- and paper.
Win the creduIity Of q ample mind, | at
once gave implicit credeuce to his doctrine,
aud frightened at the fearful precrpics which
I had 80 narrowly avoided, J immediately dea-
troyed my letter, AVID resolved to declare my
self ID person, with my own lips and voice,
and to hear with my WI ears the reply which
was to seal my destiny.
Never did an Alexander, Wallace or a
Napoleon, feel the inspiring effect ola reso-
luton more powerfully than felt the iniI-
encs of thia. | had resolved. | would exc.
cute 4! / walked the streets with a proud
consciousness Of the E,eroi0m Of my resolution;
andsin the height Of my pride, fairly feared
lest, in the words ofthe poet, | should "strike
The stars with my head" But sensible Of
the imperfection of human powers, and con-
scious that mine, in particular, were liable to
fail on SO delicate an emergency, | resolved at
least 10 write and commit to memory my de-
claratofy 81 ee Oh. This ~undignifed and fool-
ish thing | did. Instead Of trusting 10 the
warm outpouringa of an %ingenuous heart,
which 10 some way at least would have man.
aged TO make itself understood and TELr,
| committed to memory a cold formula OF
words, to be delivered as the school boy re-
cites his speech, of which it is sufficient for
the purpose of this little article to r~ecollect
the following sentence :-"Mlss Adams, will
you ALLOW me to offer you my hand and
heart!"
The fearful hour arrived. The evening of
my wOnted visit approached, and | found my
self seated BY the side of my adored in the
summer evening twilight.
The last rays of the setting sun had gradu-
ally disappeared from the rosy clouds that
fingered about the Vest. The full moon rode
high in the heaven, and one by one the stars
became visible:
I'm such a night
Stood Dido with a willow in her hand,
Upon the wild sea banks, and waived her
love
70 Come to Carthage"
The opened window by which Be sat lock.
ed out upon a garden stored with q profusion
of rich and rare flowers, from which were ex-
hailed and rose around US, a delicious fra
GRANGE, forming a ft atmosphere for such a
The time, the silence, the scenery,
thing was appropriate ; and she, the
beautiful, the almost uRearthly seemed by in
tuition to understand nv thoughts and inten-
tons, as with head bent down, she gazed ear
nestly land with a slight blush upon the fair
around which her auburn Curls were
upon a moss-rose which she vas
earnestly engaged in pulling to pieces. vas
employed in the equaIIed serious occupation
of opening and shutting a email fancy snuff
box. which | held in my hand.
Alas were n1w was the Alexandrian or
Napoleon courage that had inspired me |
felt my valor oozing out of the palms of my
hands But at length, sommoning resolution,
like a man upon the scaffold who wishes to
die with at least SEEMING fortitude, OF to use a
,,ro Eovr;bio illustration r~Fhmvad tow~khnm