PROPOSALS IF PRINT.

New Zealander, Volume XVIII, Issue 1715, 16 August 1862, Page 4

PROPOSALS IF PRINT.

(From the London " Spectator, l ’) The halfpenny journals have developed a npfc very unexpected feature in English societv. penny weeklies, with their highly-spiced rom»„ * wretched woodcuts, had always Le qS? l ® 4 peculiar to themselves. Everybody wrote to^L 118 about everything, however absurd, 0 r however d^® 11 and the editors answered them all. John asked** he was to do when be was kicked, and Henrv he might break off an engagement. Ellen waited know if red hair was ugly, and J Bne in qair !J f° underlined print if her lover ought in propriety JV* her before they were married. They were *e ° ”** these questions and answers, and suggested all Ideas as to the gossip which circulates in certain* #f of English society, but they were usually innocent unobjectionable, except on the score of taste, w not quite sure that the new habit can be quite go 6 V* excused. It has become the custom of Ihs half** 6 ** papers to publish letters from lads seeking" J girls seeking husbands, letters describing tbems ’i their faces, their figures, their fortunes, and every particular an intending wooer or fair one might to be told, with one well-marked 5 exception, TW never describe their relations. Except upon this point they are openness itself, and as these letters ° D * not published in twos or threes, but in dozen? scores at a time, they throw a new and not altoeaU® pleasant light upon a portion of English society T! that by no means the lowest. 10,1 | We must premise that we have every reason to * lieve the letters in question genuine, that the editor r the Halfpenny Journal, for example, does really rJ:® the extraordinary communications he quotes, and i)? 6 they are not hoaxes. The modas operandi seems lO T in this wise ; the lady who wants a husband write, " the Welcome Guest, say. in the following style; ><y l ,° seventeen, tall, with dark hair, eyes, and ejeb'ro*,f** high, white forehead, Grecian nose, small, well.( 0fB !j mouth, pearly teeth, and a figure a little inclined uS alight. If any of your young men think they *J! fancy me, 1 will at once forward them an addre,. i which they may send their portraits. I will withj-u send mine in return, with which, 1 flatter myself th will not be disappointed." We have selected t specimen, one which displays the alight vagueness to which most of the lady writers of these letters seem addict themselves. They never, or very rarely, mention money, are very seldom more than twenty years of a» never allude to parents or guardians, and alwar, de! scribe themselves with minuteness and oecaflomuj with laughable candour. One aspirant, for example actually calls herself plain; another says', “I am father quick-tempered and even "Imogen,” though alt does not use the word scraggy, obviously intenda only to record that painful fact in the most euphuisticphrase Sometimes, though not very often, they describe the sort of man they prefer, taste running decidedly to volunteers; thus “ Annie’’ writes ; “She is very dark with black hair and eyes, and blooming complexion' She is eighteen years of age, and greatly admire* light gentlemen, especially members of a rifle corps. Sheia considered amiable, ha* had a great many offers, but accepted none.” One—and it is the only one wto mentions religious belief—makes it a sine qua nos (b t ? her lover shall be a Protestant. One asks for “m elderly man of gentlemanly manners and app-annoe,” whom “ she would prefer to one of her own age," which, however, she does not state. Another, ol twenty-two, wants a husband of forty, disliking fopt, In no case that we can find in there any allusion to income, though in all other respects the affair is treated in the most strictly business fashion. Thus, “ Nelly 11 writes to “Oscar Bertrand,” an advertiser; “I really iu want of a true and affectionate heart ia return

for my own. I possess one overflowing with love,and will promise that it shall be as true as the one jcn bars to dispose of. I have a, good temper and amiable disposition, dark hair and eyes, and rosy completion, am thoroughly domestic, and would do all in raj power to promote the happiness of my partner, and be bit comfort in adversity. Should this not mm the approbation of Oscar Bertrand, Nelly is open to an engagement with any other free heart.” And "Heathcote,” for whom, as our readers will see, the editor vouches, sends the following astounding offer ; “ Heatbcote, whose letter proves her to be a thorough lady, solicits our aid. She is a widow of thirty-five, with two children ; is considered handsome, and of an affectionate, candid, and honourable disposition, la not a worshipper of Mammon, but would lit* to meet with a person of independent means, who coala provide a good home for herse f and her children, and to make that home happy would be the study of her life. Having a strong preference for the country, I gentleman farmer would be the most suited to her ideas.” Only imagine the kind of man who would marry a woman of thiity-five with two children who advertised herself into his affections. \ei, if these letters may be believed, “ Ileathcote” is as likely as not to find what she seeks. Etch ol these letters produces several offers. One advertiser, who signs herself “ Ella,” has had such a number of answer* that we have had the curiosity to search seven! numbers, and see what style of beauty has proved bo greatly attractive, but without finding her. No less than ten advertisers are dying for her.

The letters from " male readers," aa tbe kdiesatmoit invariable call them, differ from tbose of tbe other sex, being a great deal more buisness-like. The writers usuallv, though not quite always state, their means and position, and the qualifications they seek; good k»b, we are happy to see, being tbe uaual sine qm m. Thev are generally very young, from eighieea to twenty, and one gentleman, who happens to be tntrtytwo, signs himself " Old Parr," and w.ites i ft* history to explain why be has waited so long! He evidently considers his enormous age a seriws dnwback, and looks for a serious "dame" instead of a giudj girl. The latter half of bis letter is really a cuneiitf: " My age will tell you that I have more sens* inan » youth of eighteen, and consequently 1 want a practical, steady-going, sweet tempered dame for a wile. I W* as many pounds as there are days in a Year (vbicb W not to be spent in finery, but provided for a rainy MH, saved by dint of self-denial, hard work, and stW habiu. I began life in my ~rolessioa at 18*, M **** and by ability and perseverance have risen to m » year, rising every year. That, I think, is sufficient U keep two persons from starving. ' Blanche. MKwill this suit you? If so, let me hear through l" columns of this journal, and tbe matter *»«» attended to im m ediately,"-like that last orisJJ bobbin?. Several advertisers insist that tbe person" replies to them shall be "a girl aud not a young: «J> declaring that young ladies cnst too much maraud are too much giv-n to flirting, and a l «•» consider economy an excellent recommeodaUon. oddest feature, however, about these .Mf"*" glimpses here and there given of their writer* » and social position. Tangent Dispart is a w*« * a month ; R. B. Jones has £3OO a year; ' KgJJ a wild Irishman, with a home on the usKillarney," baa £bo a year, "but wdla* affection whar be want* in money ; liuDl { i "u nl; ' "expectations;" A. J. G. is a "ep«<» JfgJ,, Timothy Thomas is a book-keeper; three u have each £100; Walter Lovel has £2OO a J an annuity of £!SO more; « Arthur" a '° de & means ; Augustus Jones is a clerk in tbe uj> fc Charles Downs has a year, ano ; W u expectation. We have not gone hall througn in the two papers we have named, but tney hj a single class-verv young clerks, and shop i % established in buisness. The ladies, we «WB» r little lower in grade, generally servant girls » women ; but they, unless the letters are profited by the national schools. Indeed tbe a schools and phoiography may be said to nave p the system of advertising for wives. We repeat, there is every reason to belief* letters are genuine, aad that the offers on are made in good faith, with no hoaxing, or-aa many will be inclined to wj ( , deliberate betrayal. So considered, they ' 0 and a very curious feature io English lite. *£feJf number, the class of applicanti must M » large, and one is puzzled to discover wbe e • Who are the men who, with ability to *•»»■ cannot in a country where 800,000 women » & and die single, find suitable helpmeets r. oUt certainly not shy, and though one geninr Wm ignorance of female nature, does advertisei m of a meek and submissive disposition, m TW | have a remarkably good opinion of * m J*T lt> tf | j do not belong to the very limited class *'»%,, aj>|J'' were chained to the desk, and they are «u w • a step or two below their own level, » Q^oitf 1 ' always widens the matrimonial horizon. , ike they all believe the great rule that any d w bj any woman if he only takes the trooble, with so strong a belief in themselves, au g |t tbe book a view of matrimony, they snou j, trouble to advertise, is, and must remain, j, their own grade, matter of hopeless to'JJ.rfcl it possible that the rising generation is g" » for die courtship, and failing back on a Eastern device of emplolying the •»««■ very truth true that there are thousands fof woman in the world who only remain sin, of some moment's opportunity-the urn - , w ykto ■ favouring circumstances which most »« . tt give them courage to offer? Tbe quest*" g answered by more statistical beads than oqW, wbo le fact remains, that in England, as » classes are beginning to avoid ' nde P e . B T f , eBB y &** and make their proposals through a na»»' . paper.