Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1882-05-05
How Long Shall Girls be Courted :

Ought engagements to be long or
short? 1t has been often said that
nothing helps so much to steady young
men as the being engaged to girl
whom he loves, and for whom he
works to prepare a suitable home
The solicitude Of David Copperfeld's
friend 'Traddles" to buy bits of fur
nlture-fower-pots and such like
for the house where he and his be-
trothed were to dwell, was a pretty
thing, and much too be commended;
but, on the other hand, it is undeliable
that long engagements have their draw
oacks, especially if the young people see
to much Of each other during the peSiod
of probation. In this .nnoL :. -
s.c5i! !! elllle4. u + the poetry of court
ship, and no less gliding off the pros.
poets of marriage. There may be
great deal say against the policy
Of weddings in haste, but young peo-
pie who take each other for better or
worse, in all the illusion of mutual
trust and admiration, 60 through
time of ecstasy unknown to those who
marry quite nationally.
The honeymoon of such pairs are
halcyon epochs to be remembered all
a life long, and if the after periods
seem dull and loveless by comparison,
yet it is something to have lived for,
however brief time up to the high
est ideal of felicity. Besides there is
no little sweetness in having faced the
first hardship of life together. If a
young couple have to encounter pow
erty, aud if they conquer it side by
side, lightning all their labors by
sharing them and diminishing their
troubles by mutual consolation and
encouragement, they forge links which
must bind their hearts closer and
closer together. l like to see snug
young man stacking up money in
bank against his wedding day, while
his future wife looks on complacently
at the operation as who would say -
Thomas must earn good many
more pounds before he can furnish a
house good enough to lodgs me-"
like still more to see a young hus-
band and wife who have feathered their
little nest together.
1t is pleasant to hear a smiling wo-
man remark: 1--WE had nothing at
all when we married, but see how
coy we have made our house" This
means there has been cheerful hard
work on the one side, thrift and self
denial on the other-in fact, union
After all, the joke of marriage is an
apparatus that should sit on two
pairs of shoulders, and there is moth
ing very seemingly in seeing a girl
wait to wear her own part of it until
it has beenpadded with quilted satin.
It Made Him Laugh.
well, BRETHREN said Maine min
;ster to some of his fellow -evangelists,
L never was guilty of laughing in the
pulpit but once. Some years ago I
had in my congregation an old man
who universally went to sleep in
church and snored loudly throughout
the entire service. One Sunday
morning, glancing in his direction, l
saw him as usual, with his head back
enjoying nap, and right above him,
in the gallery, young man was roll
ing large quid of tobacco aroand in
his mouth. AS | looked he took it
out and pressing it into ball
poised it carefully over the opened
mouth below. l became so interested
in the proceeding that l forgot to con-
tinue the sermon, but stood Waiting
the young man. With wicked smile
he 6ok careful aim and dropped it
squarely into the old mans mouth.
with gulp-lp-lp the sleeper start
ed up and with face red as beet rush
ed from the house. The people no
doubt were Mortified, but l could not
have kept from laughing if sword
had hung over my head ready to fall.
The old man did not come back for
several Sundays, but when did, he
changed his seat and remained wide
awake