The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1891-10-30
COURTSHIP.
A Glimpse Into a Paradise Where
= All Is Sunshine and Love.
The Difndent Lover, the Confident Lover.
the Sudden Lover and the Lover Who
Always Does the Right Thing at
the Right Time.

the Right Time.
When Tom. Dick or Harry sets out
to court his Angelina is it ''of malice
prepense and aforethought." or does
IL all occur on the spur of the mo-
ment?
1t has been a much discussed ques-
ton, and one to be diversely answered
as long as there are ''many men of
many minds" Each girl believes she
knows just when she made the first
impression; but the truth is very often
the man himself cannot tell when the
seed was planted nor how it germinat-
ed, and is surprised to find that ID full
blown flower is abloom in his heart,
sweetening and Frightening the whole
world for him.
There is certainly no royal road &c
success in love. 1t is as impossible to
lay down exact rules of procedure in
courtship as it would be to apply math-
ematics in calculating the probable
course of butterdy's flight Even as
the wind "bloweth where it Iisteth, 3"
SO the lovers emotions vary and change
often against his will and better
reason. The man who is very sure and
calm in his courtship, who has no anx-
doubt and wretchedness, is, obviously,
not very deeply in love. Certainty
and quietude may be the aftermath
following marriage, but they are surely
foreign to that anxious yet too brief
season which precedes the period of
bridesmaid, minister, congratulations
and wedding tour.
There are men who. finding them
selves interested, plunge into a court
ship Us diver takes his leap into the
waves He comes mp breathless; but
the very force of his first effort has car
ricd him far on to success. He loses in
dclicacy, but succeeds by the very odd
ity of his way, or perhaps, because it
is the unexpected that happens. To
this type belonged the stranger who,
travelling west with a slender gil grad
uate from Boston on her way to take
charge of school, proposed at the end
of the trip that she should teach him
how best to live his life, rather than the
children how to spell. His straight
forward assurance had its charm, and
she exchanged her pupils for a hus-
band at the end of the first scholastic
term.
Others approach the point of proposal
as a sensitive patient would take a
prescribed sea bath when the north
wind has chilled the waves. They ad-
vance to the very edge, but as the bill
low rolls up to their feet, they, afraid
of the shock draw back-only to again
advance as the water recedes, and,
once more, retreat precipitatcly as the
breaker returns. So with the diffident
lover. Who SO brave as he when away
from his fair? Who so determined to
his &c? But as the moment ap-
proaches when he must put it to the
touch and win or lose il all, his cour-
age GIBBS away, and he thinks: ''I'n wait
4 little while and make more sure"
Lucky for the man If he can at last find
such help as Dorothy gave her lover,
who for ten long years tried weekly to
propose, but always became fright
cned and turned the question into some
thing else At length in sheer -desper-
alton, she answered.:
NO, / woan't be havin' the loan o.
yo' nag; but for the Law sake, Oba-
diah, if yer want to marry me, WHY
doan't yer say SOP"
Then comes the man who, as grace
fully as the strong swimmer parts the
waters, progresses through the intri-
cacies of courtship, and arrives at the
desired haven of acceptance safely and
surely. He is c0mnle az taut in every
particular; he does the right thing al
ways, and invariably in the right place.
HIS attentions to every member of the
family, from grandmother to baby sis
ter, are j st what they should be. His
intentions are perfectly plain-and SO
are those of his lady love and of all her
kim He, she and they know that he
viii ask, she accept, and they approve;
but it is proper that n certain sem
blance of the-young-man-in-lov and
ng-girl-innocent should be main
taincd; SO Angelo does all that is
requisite and at last proposes with Just
the right amount of ardor and uncer-
tainty in his voice and words. Ser
aphina behaves to Observation-Disclosures,
heSltates and Is coy, as is incumbent
upon so fair and modest a maiden
but, finally, sweetly consents, If man.
ma and papa will approve" These
self-sacriticing parents, having long
ago determined what a good thing the
match viii be, magnanimously give
their permission, and all goes merry
as a marriage bell"
From these three kinds of courtship
pleasanter. perhaps, than the examples
given-for Tom, Dick or Harry, honest
fellows despite types and rules. follow
ing out their own theories, and bcliev.
ing that each one knows more about
his own particular Angelina than any
other man has ever known about any
other girL He tells himself he is not
silly enough to be frigh sened or bash
ful or awkward; he is well aware of
just what he is going to say and where
and when he shall say it. He thinks,
too, that he can be pretty certain of her
answer TOR he would not be so foolish
as to ask, though, if she should make
some few objections, he hopes and be-
heves he knows just how to combat
them successfully. So he lays ont his
plans while Angelina sleeps peacefully,