The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1880-04-23
French Courtship.

here, not the men who marry the women.
A bachelor is possession of value, and
he will not let himself go for centime
under his worth. He need not have for
tune, but he ought to have name OF
position. Names are very plentiful in
France, and positions too; for place un-
der government, however poorly paid,
is held to give man certain considera-
ton. At thirty, Jules, who has run his
little career of follies, begins seriously to
think it time to settle. He first comes
to terms with himself and lays down the
conditions on which he will barter away
his liberty, with great precision. His
wife must have SO much fortune. There
is no sense of shame about it, and no
concealment; in fact, the widest public
ity of certain kind is the very essence
of the business. As soon as he has made
up his mind as to the dot, or marriage
portion, he seeks the aid of some of his
feminine acquaintances, takes them into
his confidence, and asks them to report
to him on all marriageableHrls with for
tunes in their circle. No good-natured
married woman can refuse an appeal of
this kind. She was married in that way,
and she is disinterestedly anxious to give
her unmarried sisters the benefit OF the
custom. She passes her acquaintances
in mental review, aud selects two or three
she thinks likely to suit her friend Jules.
The confidential report is made, the girl
named and described, and the swain is
probably says he would. A meeting at
the house of the amiable negotiator is ac-
cordingIy arranged, and all the resources
of French tact are employed tc prevent
it from compromising one side or the
other. The young lady is not to know
anything of the matter; she is simply to
appear by chance simultaneously with
her possible adorer on a visiting day.
She drops in with her mother; Jules
drops in by himself. The mother is in
the secret and looks at Jules; Jules is in
the secret and looks at the young lady,
and if neither cares to go any farther
there is no possible opening for gossip,
and the affair is brought directly to an
end. The self-possessed adorer is sup
posed to Judge of the girls capacity to
ensure his everlasting happiness from
her manner of answering his few spirited
observations about the weather. 1t
would be absolutely against all conven-
ience for him to say much more to her.
The French girl cannot firt; she has no
chance left alone during the whole period
of courtship, if courtship it can be called.
She is under the eye of her mother or
some relative who consents to play the
part of Watchdog. All the exquisite
play of passion is unknown to her at this
period of her experience; SO in common
Justice to herself she is driven to acquire
that knowledge at later stage.
Calebs in search of wife is thus IA
miliar figure of French society. He
looks in on his friends and asks them, in
a confidential Whisper, if they have heard
of anything in their line. Passion, or
even affection, is quite out of the ques-
tion as a preliminary consideration. The
first thing thought of is the union OF two
fortunes, or, more often, one fortune and
two names; the rest, it is supposed, will
follow as matter of course. Ii the gar
con is gentle the girl is supposed to be
ready to love him at word of command
from her mother. If the young girl has
a sufficient dowry, he is quite prepared
to give her all the affection 1t would be
good breeding, on her part, to demand.
The theory seems to be that any two peo-
pie are capable of liking each other
where the conditions of their living to-
gether in comfort are known to exist.
The French, like every other people,
have a very rigid code of honor OF their
own. It would be considered extremely
base in man to attempt to win q girls
heart without having first consulted her
father and mother for their approval OF
the enterprise. The usual course after
these preliminary inspections is to con-
yene the representatives to each party to
a business meeting. The money ques-
ton is discussed with extreme minute
ness; and when both parties have come
to an understanding, the discreetly inn
passioned one is permitted to breathe
his fame" This operation is conducted
with rigid formality. He visits the
lady in full dress throughout the whole
period of the courtship that is to say,
of course, when his visits >take place IN
the evening, and it is hardly sis 1,eg1e tor
him to call at any other time. AT every
visit he is expected to leave some slight
present, generally nothing more than az
bouquet. The mother sits III one corner,
the happy lovers in another, getting
what entertainment they can out OF q
talk on public events. In due time the
French girl married in this fashion be-
comes the French wife, sets up salons
her own, and, in grateful recognition
her happiness in the marriage state
makes her salon kind of bureau -ff0f t1
promotion of the happiness Of her un~
married sisters The only theory on
which one can account for it is that
which makes the tame elephants of
India SO assiduous in laying snares for
the capture of their wilder brethren, who
are still enjoying the freedom of the
woody. Y. 0s,aohci.
-~------.---- ".
A good character can not be stolen ,hK
day or night. Ifany man has a charaS
that can be stolen, the thief will
cheated.