River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1891-04-02
HOW TO PROPOSE.
Some Valuable Suggestions For Men Who
Contemplate Matrimopy.


Some Valuable Suggestions For Men Who
Contemplate Matrimony.
The question how to propose In tho
most effective way is a question in
which every man. whose heart and
mind are healthy, has present or rem
iniscent interest. Every man of sym
metrieal manhood has known, or will
know, time when he would give more
for the ability to propose successfully
than he would for ten years monopo-
ly of the haunted streams and pleasure
rich fields of Utopio. At that memora-
bic time the power to paint the light
that never was on sea or land, or to
construct planetary systems out of va
grant moonbeams, would be an unsat-
issying trifle beside the power to frame
an absolutely irresistible proposal. 1t
is precisely az that time. too, that
mans mind is in such chaotic and dis
heveled state that he is unable to do
himself justice. Whatever, therefore.
win aid man at this critical and agi-
Iating time it is a duty to supply.
1t is eonfessedly difficult to give
available advice upon this delicate sub
ject. Circumstances and women vary
so greatly that no cut-and-dried formu-
las, such as are furnished by books on
etiquette and on '.courtship made easy"
have any utility whatever There are,
however, few general directions
which are of some value. First. no pru-
dent man win propose within three
hours after he has dined, except upon
great provocation. This may seem like
a parody of advice on the subject of
bathing, but it is not so intended: ON
the contrary, it is meant most seriously.
No man deserves success in love-malSing
who attempts it with his intellectual
machinery clogged with pie. Propose
when at your best is a rule that admits
no exceptions.
Another item of good, general advice
is, do not get heroic, and swear, with
an oath, that you will propose on a GER
tain evening and before a certain hour.
This is the surest known method for
making a fool proposal. The kind of
an offer which is made in pursuance of
such programme win almost compel
any woman of spirit TO refuse. The
man is nervous, the striking of the
clock gives him chills; he laughs in a
forced way, like a murderer awaiting
the rope or dynamo; he is unnamed by
guilty 'curfew must not ring to-
night feeling as the Hateful hour which
he named in his oath approaches; and
the ticking of his watch is like the me-
tallic counting of a fiend telling the
seconds which will elapse before
fatal Judgment is pronounced
upon him. woman who really
loves man will be forced to re-
fuse him after such an exhibition of
fatuousnes as he is sure to make when
he goes about proposing in the heroic
way; or, at the best, she can only ac-
eept him under protest. and by remem-
bering what he is when he is himself
Again, mo man of sense and courage
will propose by letter, except under
unusual conditions. The bravest way
is the best way in courtship, no less
than in politics and business. The man
who loves woman. and wants her for
his wife, may rest assured that in no
other way is he as likely to win her as
he is by telling her of his love in frank
and sincere words. speak for your
self, John" is the maiden's thought to-
day, no less than in the time of Pris-
ella. letter is cold and colorless,
and every true-hearted girl not only
likes to hear words of love. but she
Likes to feel that her lover has the wit
and courage to tell her that he loves
her and wants her TO walk the long
path" of life with him.
The man who gives any thought to
the momentous question: How ought
| to propose?" will speedily come to the
general conclusion that he should pro-
pose by spoken words The real diff
| Guilty is encountered when he comes to
decide, or to try to decide, what those
words should be- and how they can be
made most effective. Story-books are
full of eloquent and versified proposals
such as no man ever used, or ever will
use, and the greater a man studies them
the more will be his confusion. Erotic
literature seldom assists a sutton, and
men, after studying blauk-verse pro-
posals and love sonnets for months,
have been known, VIXEN the fatal mo-
ment came, to stretch ont their arms
and say only: 'Jane, be mine!' This
blunt, tri-worded declaration has the
qualified Endorsement of high literary
authority, but it is inartistic, if not in
judicious.
The man who proposes as he ought
to propose will take his time for the
delicate duty. and will see that the sur
roundings are suspicious. Ibsre is
magic in moonlight, and CRATE IRE is
one of the brightest foes of eel bacy.
Sweet music, too, is a helpful assistant
to the lover who wishes to plead his
cause successfully. There is such a
thing as a love atmosphere, and, when
that is found, the judicious man pro-
poses. When soft moonlight Is stealing
into fiower-scented room. and the low
sweet tones of a distant organ are just
audible, then Cupid governs, and all
tides set toward love. At such
| time souls are full and
pliable; almost without words spirits
that are in harmony answer to each
other. The man who is not eloquent,
and the woman who is not responsive
when all the conditions are thus favor
| able. are beyond the reach of sentiment
and are fit only for parrots and celibacy
The moonlight's spiritual radiance, the
| fragrance of the flowers and the muir
muring music all say, softly: Il love"
and the man who proposes when he
should propose win follow their exam
pie. Then the right words will surge
upon his lips as by magic, and he will
solve the question that so many find in
solvable-''How ought a man to pre-
pose?"-H. +. Marsh, in Once a Week.
a KID EDITION.