Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1879-11-05
TIE FRONT GATE
DISCUSSION or THE pIrrERENr METHODS
on SWINGING ON 1T.

From tho New York Tines,
ln all agcs, the front gate has been
recognized ms an indispensable element
OF real courtship. 0fcourse, girls have
been courted In brown-stono houses
devoid OF front yards and Of every
species Of practicable gate, but In such
cases tho poetry Of love.making is
lacking. According TO Buckle and
Darwin and Spencer, domestic bappi-
ness exists only in countries where
front gates abound. Why is II that
tho French marriages are arranged by
the parents OF tho bride and groom,
and arc hence based, not upon love,
but upon convenience? and why, IN
our favored land are marriages arrang.
ed without the slightest reference 10
the old people? It is plainly because
in France tho front gate is rare and its
true uses are unknown, while in cur
rural towns every house has its front
gate, and the mercst child knows it's
uses. French marriages, contracted
without the sweet influences OF the
gate, are too frequently unhappy, but
with us the path Of domestic bliss lies
through the front gate, and is too plain
to be oasily missed. Among the Ro-
mans, the wife was little better than q
slave, and on Sunday nights the young
unmarried Roman, instead Of spending
bis evening in the "dim, religious light
of the back parlor," as Milton beauti-
fully says, went TO the circus or am.
phitheatre to witness a gladiatorial
walking-match or tho antics of tho
Talmage Of the period. The discovery
OF Pompeii explains why courtship
was lost art among tho Romans.
There was not gate Of any kind in
the whole city wall and we have every
reason to suppose that nothing analo.
gous to our front or back gates existed
throughout the wide extent Of the Ro-
man Empire.
II is in our Western States that the
front gate has reached lis highest de.
velopment Of an aid to courtship. As
is well known, there are two schools,
which differ radically in their theory
Of the true method Of using the gate.
The Concord school, of which Mr..
Ralph Waldo Emerson is the leader,
holds that both the young men and
the young women should lean on tho
same side of the gate-the inner sido
being regarded as preferable. Tho
Western school, on the other hand, in
sists that the young lady should lean
on the inside Of the gate while her
lover leans on the outside. Though
the Western school lacks leader Of
the fame and experience Of Mr.. Emer-
son, il has by far the greater number
OF aJhcrents, and TO the unprejudiccd
mind there can bc but little doubt that
its doctrine is the true one.
1t is easy to comprehend how the
front gate originally came into use. The
original pair Of lovers who first utilized
it had doubtless sought place
where they could enjoy privacy, and,
at the same time perceive, while yet
aiar of, the unsympathetic father and
the wayfaring small boy. The locality
of the front gate, commanding as 1t
uOSb dIull NitW VI lut OunciIOlu WnhSu
the father may emerge with bis heart
less boot, and the public street, along
which the casual small boy may wend
bis whstling way, would naturally be
selected even by lovers wholly without
engineering instincts. Experience soon
showed that the front gate possessed
other unequalled strategetic advan-
tages. Totheeyes OF the public the lover
on the outside Of the gate always ysseemed
to be in the act Of going away. When
any ono except the avenging father
drew near, the lover would remark,
"Well, as was saying, must really
90 !" and then, when the Objectionable
person had passed on, the sweet sor-
row Of prolonged parting could begin
again and last until the appearance OF
an elderly gentleman with club at
the front door seemed to point to the
Of an immediate aud real
parting.