Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1868-03-13
now rHE eERMANs mANn Lorr.

Oh, you American lovers. reioieipg II
your secret walks, your lonely rides, your
escorts IRON evening prayer meetings, those
well-established rendezvous for lovers. vDr
who can indulge in secret sighs, billet. doux.
and poetry, little Dc You realize the ineon.
yenlence with which modern German,
courtship is carried on. There are no secret
interviews and smuggled letters to inspire
the heart Of an amorous German. If he
has anything to say, he says il before apv-
body or everybody who happens to be in the
room.
II he calls upon the mistressof his affection
he beholds her quietly knitting a stocking
10 the midst OF the family circle. and with
all this array OF spectators must he unbo-
som his heart and WOO his bride. BY un.
bosomlng his heart, don mean proposing.
Unless ne can watch second behind door
IN ball room, or elude for an instant the
watchiuleare OF the young lady's guardians,
that momentous question, ''Will you have
mel ana It's delicious answer, "Yes, dear
est, will never be whispered between them
at at. he must 90 to bGterfanlfhas or
some married friend whose affections are
doubtless as withered as her features. and
make them the mediators.
When all is arranged, the engagement
announced, and the romance entirely over.
then be can see the lady alone, take her oc-
caslonally to the theatre, twhen he wishes
to do this before the engagement he must
invite also the mother or the aforemention-
ed withered relation, and indulge in a walk
once a week. This extreme reserve seems
at first glance the more unnatural from the
fact that Germans are essentially roman
tlc and poetieal people. Their literature.
love Of music and worship Of art, show this.
no less than the mistaken and romantic at
tempts at chivalry among the students, and
the tenderness and kindness, rough though
1t sometimes is, and the interest, almost
curiosity, which Is taken in your affairs.
But Germans have to look beyond mere
Irritation and love making. They are usu-
ally poor, and must choose a wife as the
Vicar Of Wakefield did, 'for wear A
fashy, brilliant girl who lacked the usual
domestic instruction, would never do for
them, and lady who should throw of her
reserve and openly accept the attentions Of
gentlemen would, If she succeeded in keep
ing her character, never win a husband.
German men are not easily caught By APP
pearances There are some sad stories con
nected with German engagements, owing 20
the excessive poverty Of the men, and the
necessity of almost every one to work his way
from the bottom Of the ladder Frau DR..
5. told me, with tears in her eyes, of an
elderly lady living near here who has been
engaged fifty years At no time has her
lover earned enough to marry upon. and now
both are gray-haired, and approaching the
grave, and though their hopes of marriage
IN life arc over, they koop their vows sacred
for another world. There are many such
cases, doubtless, where's whole lifetime is
one continued struggle between hope and
despair, a struggle onlyended with death.
The struggle is not always on the part of
the bridegro0ms for there is a custom here
appalling to a man with several daughters
and a small income. In America, if lady
consents to deliver up her own precious self,
the sacrifice is considered by the enraptured
lover quite sufficient; but here the lady must
bring as a dowry all the furniture, linen and
household urensils--in fact, everything nee
essary to housekeeping. The absolute dis
may Of an honest German, with eight charm
ing daughters and five hundred thalors in
come, can be conceived where such a Gus
tom is in vogue. Perhaps this is one reason
why the mothers do not spend their lives
like the English doWagers, in constant en-
deavors 10 knock their daughters off TO the
lowest bidder, { | fear that "lowest bidder
viii not be understood by the speculative
Yankees, | mean to the man who will take
the smallest amount Of money with them,
for Euglishmen never think of taking the
incumbraRce of a wife without the j0inture.