The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1891-09-11


When Tom, Dick or Harry sets out
to court his Angelina is it of malice
prepense and aforethought," or does
1T all occur on the spur of the mo-
ment?
1t has been much discussed ques-
ton, and one to be divcrsely 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 full
blown flower is abloom in his heart,
sweetening and Frightening the whole
world for him.
There is certainly no royal road to
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 buttcrily'S flight. Even as
the wind 'blowcth where it iisteth,"
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-
icty and is not sometimes asSailed by
doubt and wrctchedness is, obviously,
not very deeply in love. Certainty
md quictudc may be the aftermath
following marriage, but they are surely
foreign to that anxious yet too brief
season which precc1lcs the period of
bridesmaids, minister, congratulations
and wedding tour.
There are mon who, finding them
selves interested, plunge into court
ship as diver takes his leap into the
waves. He comes up breathless; but
the very force of his first effort has car
ried him far on to success. He loses in
delicacy, but succeeds by the very odd
lty of his way, or perhaps, because it
is the unexpected that happens. To
this type belonged the stranger who,
travelling west with slender girl grad
uate from Boston on her way to take
charge of a 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 hus-
band at the end of the first scholastic
term.
Others approach the point of proposal
as a sensitive patient would take
prescribed sea bath when the north
wind has chilled the waves. They adj
vance to the very edge, but as the bill
low rolls up to their feet, they, afraid
81 l,r> elrDnI-
advance as the water rcccdeS, and,
once more, retreat prccipitatcly as the
breaker returns. SO with the diffident
lover. Who SO brave as he when away
from his fair? Who so determined to
his fate? But as the moment APP
proaches when he must put it to the
touch and win or lose it ALL" his cour-
age GIBBS away, and he thinks: "I'll wait
a 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
encd and turned the question into some
thing else. At length in sheer desper-
alton, she answered:
mo, / 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 p arts the
waters, progresses through the intri-
cacies of courtship, and arrives at the
desired haven of acceptance safely and
surely. He is cOmmG ii .fdUt 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 just what they should be. His
intentions are perfectly plain-and so
are those of his lady love and of all her
kin. He, she and they know that he
will ask, she accept, and they approve;
but it is proper that a certain sem
GLANCE of the-young-m and
ng-girl-innocent should be main
tanned: 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 Scr
aphina behaves to perfcction-blusheS
hesitates and is coy, as is incumbent
upon so fair and modest maiden
but, finally, sweetly consents, IF man.
ma and papa will approve" These
self-sacrifcing parents, having long
ago determined what good thing the
match will be, magnanimously give
their permission, and all goes merry
as a marriage bell"
From these three kinds of courtship
there are many variations of them
plcasantcr, perhaps, than the examples
givcn-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