Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1853-11-23
MlSCELL A N Y.
Courtsaips of Great NIen.

If, my young friend you desire to be-
come the husband of good wife, do not
~stoop to conquer" the maidens. Rather
be burned by the slow fire of love conceal
ed than cringe before a fellow-creature.-
Never Aatter That you declare yourself a
woman's lover is proof that you believe
her to be worthy of esteem. 1t Is both USE
less and wrong to talk to a woman Of her
vSrtees-I use the word in its largest ac
ceptation-5ecause she knows them all, and
sf she does not such ignorance is bliss
wrong, because our good qualities are at
tended by destroying devil, which, if you
speak of them, appears aud kills them, and
takes the place which they occupied.
In our tiaeS, all women, when in love,
are actresses; they feign coldness which
thew do not feel aud often say what they
do not mean. In the days of the patriarchs,
a'woman's conduct was the child OF her
heart. But let rs tell how they were court
ed.
WILLIAM THE CoNoUERoR.-W sur
named the Conqueror, OF England, loved
al ,tilda, the bea0tilNl daughter of the Earl
of Flanders, wealthy, potent, and polite
prince. As a statesman he was desirous
70 a league with the tather3 as man, he
yearaed for union with the daughter
She mas comely and learned, "a mirror of
prudence and perfection of virtue" She
was sought in marriage by the greatest sew
ereign ia Europe William was hand
some nan, an able legislator, and warfi-
or of renowa But his addresses were cocl-
10 received; for Matilda was enamoured of
Young Anglo Saxon nobleman, who treated
her as she treated Wm. For years did he
serve al apprenticeship to Cupid; at the en-
piration of which says Agne, Strickland, he,
i0lT, waylaid Matilda in the streets OF Bru-
ces, as she was returning from mass, seiz-
ed her, rolled her in the dirt, spoiled her
rich array, and not content with these out
RACES, struck her repeatedly, and then rode
off at full speed. This Teutonic method Of
courtsh,p brought the affair to crisis; for
Matilda, convinced either Of the strength OF
Williams passion by the violence of his
behaviour, or afraid Of venturlng second
beating, consented to become his wife
How he ever presumed to enter her pres
ence again, after such series Of enormi-
ties, the chroniclcr saith not; aud Strick-
lauu UeluS hOhdHi "a . ShS is ~ IOee
TO imagine.
"The marriage between the royal cousins
took place in'1052, at Williams own Cas-
tie of Agni, in Normandy, whittier Matilda
was with great pomp conducted by her IL
lustrious parents and noble company OF
knights aud ladies. ."-Liees of The Queens
of EAgLaad, Voi. /.
This unaattering mode of sparkling, is
not vet extinct. Ii exists among the abo-
riginal inhabitants of the Australian group,
which has been Justly styled 'the country
Of contradictions" Their treatment of the
female sex, says Dr.. Hugh Murray, in his
"Encyclopedia Of Geography" is of all
other particulars, the most atrocious. Their
courtshp consists in the most brutal vlo-
lence. The intended husband, having con-
trved to find alone the unhappy victim of
his love, begins by beating her to the ground
with club /; then accumuates blows, till
she becomes altogether senSeleSS, when he
drags her to his hovel regardless of her rstri-
king against shrubs and stones, TIL under
such promising auspices she is fixed in his
establishment, All Of their subsequent
life is of piece with his outset. Several
Of the colonistS in yail attempted 10 count