COURTSHIP.

Waikato Times, Volume VII, Issue 364, 12 September 1874, Page 5 (Supplement)

COURTSHIP.

In Scotland it is difficult for amm ti dvu the lino between courtship and a connubhl cvmuti -i. That which in the Englisnman in bul, a flirtation would become in the Scotchman rank matrimony. Most people in Scotland are married ; but they are not aware of the fact, as Monsieur Jourdain did not know that he had been talking prose all his life : the distinction is drawn when they do become aware, and then the marriage is avowed. In Wales, courtship take* a material form — among the humbler classes at least, — and resolves itself into what we call romping. In England, there are diffei-ent ways of doing the same thing. When Lady Clara Vere de Vere has a pretendu in her own rank of life (and she has not always trifled with the " foolish yeoman" of Mr Tennyson's poem), the arrangements between the pair are conducted with inference to a certain degree of etiquette ; but etiquette does not rule entirely, and the Lady Claras have the same tendencies to make the most of the situation as ladies and gentlemen who are not quite her "equals in rank. She is not restrained to the extent that she would be in France ; and it is hard if in the course of walks, drives, anil dances, croquet, cantering, exhibitionseeing, picnicking, and all the various incidents of town and country life, the pair do not manage to meet some seven days in the week, and to give chaperons the go-by. In the lower grades of society it may bo supposed that courtship is equally delightful ; but appearances are decidedly against it. There is nothing approaching restraint in the code of etiquette here. When Miss Jemima Higgs has " her young man," and he is on such terms with her family as not to be turned out of doors, he may go to the house and take her out whenever he pleases, and no one dreams of interfering. Jemima is probably a presentable style of girl — girls of her class are far more so than they were, and especially dress better than they did, albeit in rather an exaggerated style, — but her betrothed is decidedly rough. See him when he comes to take her out to walk in Battersea or Victoria Park, or it may be to go by the steamer to Greenwich. He is far from being on a par with her, either in manners or attire, especially if the latter be his holiday costume, He is tolerably sure, too, to have a pipe or a cigar in his mouth ; for this appendage, among certain classes of young men, seems to be considered a necessary part of full dress. His talk is sad slang, and not over-refined. The girl goes off gaily with him, but one cannot help wondering at her taste ; and the question inevitably occurs, — of what do they talk when they are alone 1 She has read a few novels and has picked up a certxm vocabulary of sentiment; but he cannot have an idea on this head, and his range of subjects must be a very narrow one, — very different from the world of beautiful fancies open to Lady Clara Vere de Vere and the " young lord-lover " who pays his homage to her shrine. It is not to be supposed that humble station and want of culture prevent people from loving as deeply as our aristocratic friends.