Respected and Honored Madam:

Having long and vainly sought an opportunity to convey to you the expression of my sentiments, I now avail myself of the privilege of epistolary communication to acquaint you with the fact that the Emotions, which you have raised in my breast, are those which should point to Connubial Love and Affection rather than to simple Friendship. In short, Madam, I have the Honor to approach you with a Proposal, the acceptance of which will fill me with ecstatic Gratitude, and enable me to extend to you those Protecting Cares, which the Matrimonial Bond makes at once the Duty and the Privilege of him, who would, at no distant date, lead to the Hymeneal Altar one whose charms and virtues should suffice to kindle its Flames, without extraneous Aid

I remain, Dear Madam,
Your Humble Servant and
Ardent Adorer, J. Smith.

[(return)]

FOOTNOTES:

  1. Sough.
  2. [1]
  3. Stagger.
  4. [2]
  5. Fire, or fireplace.
  6. [3]
  7. By-and-by.
  8. [4]
  9. Careful.
  10. [5]
  11. Inquires.
  12. [6]
  13. News.
  14. [7]
  15. Makes.
  16. [8]
  17. Diligent.
  18. [9]
  19. Dally.
  20. [10]
  21. Half.
  22. [11]
  23. Into the spence, or parlor.
  24. [12]
  25. Gossips.
  26. [13]
  27. Cows.
  28. [14]
  29. Bashful.
  30. [15]
  31. Sheepish.
  32. [16]
  33. Rest.
  34. [17]
  35. Porridge.
  36. [18]
  37. A white-faced cow.
  38. [19]
  39. Wall.
  40. [20]
  41. Chews her cud.
  42. [21]
  43. Saved.
  44. [22]
  45. Cheese.
  46. [23]
  47. Twelvemonth.
  48. [24]
  49. Flax was in flower.
  50. [25]
  51. Gray locks.
  52. [26]
  53. Chooses.
  54. [27]
  55. Increases.
  56. [28]
  57. Pope's 'Windsor Forest.'
  58. [29]
  59. Pope's 'Essay on Man.'
  60. [30]
  61. Spirited fellow.
  62. [31]
  63. Fool.
  64. [32]
  65. Hurrying run.
  66. [33]
  67. The plow-spade.
  68. [34]
  69. An ear of corn in twenty-four sheaves—that is, in a thrave.
  70. [35]
  71. Frail.
  72. [36]
  73. Build.
  74. [37]
  75. Aftermath.
  76. [38]
  77. Bitter.
  78. [39]
  79. Holding.
  80. [40]
  81. Endure.
  82. [41]
  83. Crevice.
  84. [42]
  85. Alone.
  86. [43]
  87. Dust.
  88. [44]
  89. Peeped.
  90. [45]
  91. Shelter.
  92. [46]
  93. Barren.
  94. [47]
  95. Fellows.
  96. [48]
  97. Thirsty.
  98. [49]
  99. Road.
  100. [50]
  101. Ale.
  102. [51]
  103. Gates or openings through a hedge.
  104. [52]
  105. Good-for-nothing fellow.
  106. [53]
  107. Nonsensical.
  108. [54]
  109. Chattering fellow.
  110. [55]
  111. Grain sent to the mill to be ground; i.e., that every time he carried the corn to the mill he sat to drink with the miller.
  112. [56]
  113. Nag that required shoeing.
  114. [57]
  115. Jean Kennedy, a public-house keeper at Kirkoswald.
  116. [58]
  117. Makes me weep.
  118. [59]
  119. Fire.
  120. [60]
  121. Foaming ale.
  122. [61]
  123. Shoemaker.
  124. [62]
  125. Roar.
  126. [63]
  127. Rode carelessly.
  128. [64]
  129. Ghosts, bogies.
  130. [65]
  131. Owls.
  132. [66]
  133. Was smothered.
  134. [67]
  135. Crevice, or hole.
  136. [68]
  137. Twopenny ale.
  138. [69]
  139. Whisky.
  140. [70]
  141. Drink.
  142. [71]
  143. Frothed, mounted.
  144. [72]
  145. A small old coin.
  146. [73]
  147. Window-seat.
  148. [74]
  149. Shaggy dog.
  150. [75]
  151. Made them scream.
  152. [76]
  153. Shake.
  154. [77]
  155. Spell.
  156. [78]
  157. Irons.
  158. [79]
  159. Mouth.
  160. [80]
  161. Stared.
  162. [81]
  163. Caught hold of each other.
  164. [82]
  165. Old hag.
  166. [83]
  167. Reeked with heat.
  168. [84]
  169. Cast off.
  170. [85]
  171. Clothes.
  172. [86]
  173. Tripped.
  174. [87]
  175. Chemise.
  176. [88]
  177. Greasy flannel.
  178. [89]
  179. Manufacturers' term for linen woven in a reed of 1700 divisions.
  180. [90]
  181. Breeches.
  182. [91]
  183. Gallows-worthy.
  184. [92]
  185. Wean.
  186. [93]
  187. A crutch—a stick with a crook.
  188. [94]
  189. Quoted from Allan Ramsay.
  190. [95]
  191. Barley.
  192. [96]
  193. Short shift or shirt.
  194. [97]
  195. Very coarse linen.
  196. [98]
  197. Proud.
  198. [99]
  199. Bought.
  200. [100]
  201. Cower—sink.
  202. [101]
  203. Loses.
  204. [102]
  205. Fuss.
  206. [103]
  207. Hive.
  208. [104]
  209. Unearthly.
  210. [105]
  211. I cannot conceive what made the accurate Niebuhr fall into the strange error that "apparitions are unknown in Arabia." Arabs fear to sleep alone, to enter the bath at night, to pass by cemeteries during dark, and to sit amongst ruins, simply for fear of apparitions. And Arabia, together with Persia, has supplied half the Western World—Southern Europe—with its ghost stories and tales of angels, demons, and fairies. To quote Milton, the land is struck "with superstition as with a planet."
  212. [106]
  213. Zoë mou, sas agapo: "My life, I love you."
  214. [107]
  215. Homer.
  216. [108]
  217. Anacreon.
  218. [109]
  219. "Certaminis gaudia"—the expression of Attila in his harangue to his army, previous to the battle of Châlons.
  220. [110]
  221. Milo of Croton.
  222. [111]
  223. Sulla.
  224. [112]
  225. The Emperor Charles V., who abdicated in 1555.
  226. [113]
  227. Dionysius of Sicily, who, after his fall, kept a school at Corinth.
  228. [114]
  229. Modern Besançon.
  230. [115]
  231. Modern Auvergne.
  232. [116]
  233. Modern Le Roüergue.
  234. [117]
  235. Inasmuch as he was not a Roman, but a Gaul.
  236. [118]
  237. The Ubii were situated on the west side of the Rhine. Cologne is supposed to occupy the site of their capital.
  238. [119]

Transcriber's Note

A number of typographical errors have been corrected and these corrections highlighted. Otherwise, editor's archaic spelling and punctuation style preserved.