The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-04-10
WILL you MARRY ME7
How to Say the Magic Words
Between Lovers
TNE NATTER or paoposALs.
IT, PesfessSr ~ ssnv.sIfsa - Cornell
rsfvesssty shs~s Hsu I.psrtass
Fart k5s<ats~a Flsys-


"8IU - XVz08 ttsNef y =
woman ard ufsiaes 70 make her has vile.
sars Benfuard q. saith, the prime question
for him to decide =. how shall he ask her
khaIl hel--
fesd her srom ne festive boards.
Polnt her - the starry skses,
Guard hes By his lyuthtnI words.
Rurs from eonrtship's nsfsersess
This method has iss disadvantages In orr
variable and uncertain climate. and court
shine aatser1ss are not always unpseasing
% young women, Mrs. Browning 70 the
contrary Notwithstanding.
Shall he fan ca his knees and pour out
his soul in impassioned and more or less
uninteilixibie ianguagef This method now
sdays d confined - the dramatic stage
The sensibis nineteenth-censury Amera-
cxn war IL for the man maniuiiv
10 say 70 the woman: win you
marry mel" Those are the words
she wants TO hear II she be . true
woman. Let no shaiiow-pafe. who holds
Woman lightly and issss OF her easy
conquest imagine that he sees in what l
have written the intsmasion that OF course
that Ii the question she wants TO hear, and
that tbs words and manner do moi concern
her % that the question be asked. Believe
me. there h not particle Of truth IN that
well. worn story Of The Maiden Lady aud
the Owl" Depend upon H. the snrpslcant
was an old bachelor, and that Minersass
bird answered with more than it, usual
wisdom In advising him to Wool Wool
Theodore Winthrop's Maine misogynist
hall hit the truth when. drawing duh le
gends of trout fishing he said; "Dreffni
notlonal critters traout be: ollux bitin' at
whodgsr haan't got Orful contrary crit
sers. jest ike flmmis. Yer can catch a
fimmi with feather ef she's TO be cotcned;
eli she haap't 70 be cafched yer may scoop
The hull world dry an ye haan't got her. {"
As regard fhese words j do not believe
that he even halt hit the truth, for women
are influenced more or less by the bait.
and the right words we'll said are hard to
he resisted even by the most skittish OF
her sex.
THE sfMrLE QUESTION.
What are the right words7 shall try TO
prove that the right words are those con-
aimed in the simple sentence that have
already written. will you marry me- r.
These are the right words, because they are
the words the woman wants To hear. 'sWill
you go TO the ball this evening? will you
partake OF plate OF ice-cream with me p
or even "Wiii you be q sister to me7' She
may not say Yes To the supreme
question with the unhesitating aiacrity
with which she would do the first two
questions shove; she may even answer il
~ though Ii we're the third, but she wants
70 hear the man say: will you marry
me1s
These are the right words. because they
express the idea the man wishes to convey
TO the woman with purity, propriety and
precision that is, with perspicuity. How
much this means every student OF rhetoric
knows. That this statement may have Its
full weight, word OF explanation:
1. The words used and the construction
of the sentence belong To the idiom Of the
language which We speak. Hence the
purity Of the sentence.
2. The words selected to make the SEN
tence are used - the best and most estsb-
iished usage has appropriated 10 the pc
cmiiar idea TO be expressed by them. Hence
their propriety.
3 They express exactly the idea that
the wooer intends. not some other which
resembles II or Is akin to il; they express
the idea fully and completely. and they ex-
press the idea and nothing more. Hence
the precision OF the sentence.
rmx MATTER OF BREATHING.
Moreover. there are in the four words
forming the sentence. or rather there are
In the sentence thus formed. clcarness,
unity. strength, harmony.
II Is model sentence.
Assuming. then. that the words "will
you marry met" are the right words, IL
renlains to be decided how these words can
lie best spoken. For, rs Seneca very Justly
says: The manner Of saying q thing goes
great way toward the value OF the thing
itself /"
II should be laid down as an axiom that
no man can control his voice who cannot
control his breath. Correct breathing.
therefore. is the very foundation of correct
speaking. lie who can control properly
his breath need not hesitate TO 20 into the
presence Of her who holds his fate In her
keeping and say the words that are burn
ing IN his heart, knowing that neither the
tnsnly agitation nor the proper fear that
he feels can cause him 20 lose control Of
his voice and render his speech hating,
nninteillsibie and perhaps repellsns 10 her
whom he hopes 10 win.
The limits OF this paper do not permit
re to say more than that by correct
breathing | mean midrif breathing, dia-
rhsagmatic breathing. abdominal breath
sng. all names for the same process. To
the wouid-be wooer who seeks Information
and lneioses postage stamps | shall be glad
IN suggest several valuable books on this
subject, or, better stll. II he can wait. my
proposed work ON "How 10 Speak. which
vii ee In type soon after IL Is written. will
give him al necessary instruction in the
art Of deep breathing.
noN'r ~ IN HURRY.
one remarkable result of siiapirsgrnatie
breathing and one that have never seen
mentioned. is that 60 the wooer who
practices ia there can never be that I'M
pleasant experience of having his
heart in bis mouth. The explanation
" simple. In dsaph-agmasic breath.
ing the lungs are expanded to sheir great.
est dimensions. aud there Is no room for
the heart 30 get past them and. by rising
into tAe mouth. interfere with nFoper
srsesh. Even q maa with q small heart
vail hnd daaphrassnztie breathing an All
msrshse exercise. and to men sith large
hearts. whsch. sx Is well known, are most
subject 10 tnssplscsment. IL is simply .
tsson.
We thus approach thu sahlect listle
nearer sna the QUESTION -: "ilow shall
The wesecT, pFcHeris controlling his hreSsh.
end consequently has sasce ard his heart
sresa tie woEass First. a. 10 time very
RAPID. rapid moderate, slow. or very