The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-07-28

himself by a book. but was proposed to in
this way. One day he found an admiring
patient alone. sitting with the family Bible
before her. The physician read the worGs
to which her fcrefinger pointed-the words
of Nathan to David, Thou art the man."
He took the hint and married the lady
The great preacher Sturgeon asked the girl
who became his wife by means of a book
He was reading one day. as he sat by her
side. Tupper's "Proverbial Philosophy"
Coming to the lines. "If thou art to have a
wife of thy youth she is now living on the
earth. Therefore think of her and pray for
her veal" he pointed them out to her and
asked: DO you pray for him who is to be
your husband?''
To go back now to some less modern d.
vines. The old method of proposing on ones
knees, which went out with the wearing Of
swords and silk stockings. must have been
physically uncomfortable for all but the
very young, and in one historical instance,
at least. it was in other ways inconvenient
We allude to the case of the Reverend Jer-
ry White. He was caught by Oliver Crom-
we'll himself kneeling at the feet of his
daughter. The ambitious person pretended
that he was suing for the hand of the lady's
maid. and, taken at his word had to marry
her instead of her mistress
1t certainly could not have been said of
Richard Hooker that his only books were
women's books. for he was so taken UP
with his studies that he had no time to
look for or propose to wife Accordingly.
when the woman with whom he lodged
suggested. after he had been Ill, that he
ought to get a wife to take care of him, he
hnr 70 fy,1
appointed her daughter to the situation and
Hooker had cause to regret that he did not
choose for himself.
The only one to whom Dean Swift an
pears to have proposed marriage was Miss
Warning. and he did this in an imperiOus
way. like n victor imposing terms on
vanquished foe. He began by asking: Are
you in condition to manage domestic af-
fairs with an income of less than three
hundred pounds year? Have you such an
inclination 10 my person and honor as to
comply with my desires and way of living.
and endeavor to make us both as happy as
you can? VIII you be ready to engage in
those methods ] shall direct for the i'm
provement of your mind. so as to make rs
entertaining company for each other. with
out being miserable when we are neither
esteem, and Indifference to others the same
way as do mine? Have you so much good
nature as to endeavOr by soft words to
smooth any rugged humor occasioned by
the cross accidents of life? Shall the place
where your husband is thrown be more
welcome than courts and cities without
him. If Jane Waring could answer these
questions in the affirmative Jonathan Swift
said. II shall be blessed to have you in my
arms. without regarding whether your per-
son be beautiful your fortune large.
Cleanliness in the first. and competency in
the second. is all | look for. 1
singled you out at first from the rest Ut
women, and l expect not to be used like q
common lover This was certainly not
common way of proposing marriage.
Rowland Hill was as abject when pro-
posing as Swift was imperious. He asked
the lady Ia Miss Tudway) to accept "a
POOR worm in the character of a minister
of Christ"
What difference there is between the
proposals made by Swift and Hill and that
OF Richard Steele! He wrote: II have not
minutes quiet out of your sight; and
when I am with you. you use me with SO
much distance that / am still in a state Of
absence, heightened with a view of the
charms which am deried to approach.
In q word. you mus give me either fam