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Tous les autres exempiaires originaux sont filmAs en common9ant par la premiere page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la derniire page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaftra sur la derniire image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbols — ► signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbols y signifie "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre fllmte d des taux « a reduction diffArents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul clichA. 11 est filnA i partir de I'angle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut er bas, en prenant le nombre d'Images nAcassaire. Les diagrammes suivants itiustrent la mAthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 f Wa iil N? (^ '^» f . Marriage and HomE; — OR, — PROPOSAL ANB ESPOUSAL. A CHRISTIAN TREATISE ON THE MOST SACRED RELATIONS TO MORTALS KNOWN LOVE HOME YOUTH, BACHELORS, LOVERS, HUSBANDS, WIVES PARENTS AND CHILDREN. A GUIDE TO OL!R SONS AND DAUGHTERS A COUNSELLOR TO PARENTS. COMPILED AND WRITTEN BY A CLERGYMAN. BRADLEY, GARRETSON & CO., BRANTFORD, ONT., PORT ADELAIDE AND MELBOU-.NE, AUSTRALIA 1888. ' "^ L? v\Qi^A . n-b5 X': ! ill I Entered according to Act of Parliament of Canada, in the year one thousand, eight huidred and eighty-eight, by T. S. Linscott, in the office of the Minister of Agricji/tnre. % ^■^ ' Press of Watt & Shenston, Brantford, '-% ■ m- •« t f »!- i^ 1 T: ^e»eranlioii^^ ;^f >*-vl ^^[p^^Sd^^^ o28i COPYRIGHT, 1886. 'C; '/• '/ PBB88 OF WiTT & SHKRBTON, BBANTFOBD. (rablishers' (rreface. HE publication of a book on this subject has been con- templated for years, and the present volume is now completed, and offered to the public with the same hopes and motives of which the conception was born j^ —that the book will have a large sale, be read by thousands '9 who contemplate the marriage relation, as well as those who have consummated it ; that its mission will be to do good, to furnish entertainment, to give instruction upon a subject not often attempted in books ; in short, to enthrone in the hearts of its readers a proper respect and reverence fui the holiest relations of human beings, the relations suggested by the words, love, courtship and marriage. The natural relation of young men and women embraced in the term courtship, it is feared, is more often thought and spoken of with feelings of mirth and jest, than otherwise. How often has the unmarried reader heard this subject discussed with seriousness? How often read in our current literature good and wholesome advice on the subject, or, for that matter, an attempt at it? Has he ever heard a sermon on this theme from his pastor, or has the good man ever dared to speak of it in his pastoral visitations ? He has in- quired about your health, your spiritual welfare and worldly pros-. VI TREFACE. perity ; but the subject which occupies most of your thoughts, and which more nearly concerns your present and future happiness than any other, he does not touch ; and, if he does, he has unusual cour- age and wisdom. Parents, as a rule, do not attempt to give advice to the.r marriageable children on this subject until it is too late and ,f one has the temerity to ask advice, he is often laughed at or snubbed. ^ What books are there on our centre tables, or in our libraries to which the young may have access, wherein they may get solid and pure counsel to regulate the emotions that find a place in the hearts of all who are worthy to be called human ? " Love is blind " It IS said, and there is but little effort made to got off the bandages Our sons and daughters receive careful instruction and training on other matters-we do not leave them to chance, to blind nature o arcumstances-why should we do so in a matter with which their destmies are associated ? There arc no more serious or holier relations than lover, wife mother ; or lover, husband, father ; there are n6 relations of more practical importance to the Church and the State, and we insist no one of them is a subject for neglect, much less of jest ; but on the contrary, should be regarded by young and old with the profound- est and most serious of feelings, and the duties, laws, and conditions of each state should be persistently studied. Why should it provoke a smile to propose the. establishment of chairs in our ladies colleges for the study of matrimony ? What ^sson of more practical or philosophical importance could a young man study in the university, than how to choose a wife, and hovv o trea her PRerwards P What study could possibly have a greater fascination for young men and women than the study of the phil- osophy of love ? What philosophy presents greater difficulties to be mastered facts to be explained, or problems to be solved? Where are there more subtle influences to be fathomed, or complex laws to be elucidated P The study of this subject would 3ur y TRKFACE. vrr serve the double purpose to the student of mental jiymnastics, givin- the mind a vigorous training, enabling it to grapple with the profoundcst of subjects, and what is even of greater importance impart knowledge that can be used to great practical purpose in the journey of life. Is it too strong to state that a man's wise or foolish love will have a greater effect upon his career than anything else ? We think not. and therefore firmly believe it is the duty of parents ministers, and all other educators, to impart to the rising generation as much knowledge as they may be able on this subject. Many a noble life has been blighted through ignorance of the nature of this emotion, that might have been saved if such books as the present volume had been freely circulated, and if more attention had been given this subject by those who have the training of our boys and lirls It is the earnest wish of the publishers that this book will to some extent accomplish the good work they have designed for it and yet be but the forerunner of other books on this same theme' that shall more nearly approach their ideal than this volume does. Those who expect to find in these pages anything to minister to prurient tastes will be mistaken. The writer of this preface who IS a father, has sought to furnish such a book as he would wish his own sons and daughters to read, and, at the same time, a book to be helpful and entertaining to parents. THE PUBLISHERS. Y _j/w^®p's (Jppefage. tl P'^^nccd guilty of an mern,;,„.s„. who, on nsmg ,o address an audience, 3aid, " I vvi,| ' a few words before I begin ;•■ he being onll second in proverbial "bull-„,alci„g..,o hi. who on puTasin a pa,r of new boots, and finding the.n too s.all, dec bred as he threw himself back in his chair ■• I .h„n , ' °™^'^«<'' =* them two or three davs b,.rnro t i ' ''^'"' *° ""' inrce aays oelorc I can ffet them nn " \r„ free to confess that, in this crisis of ou^ histo v we , ' "" "'" With both these individuals ; for we "oo wolTl, ,'" ''""'""'^ words-explanatory, if not apoteLTcallv befo "^ " '"' themainsubiectofth ,om. P°7'="''^">'-''efore we commence and also, .0.^:^ ^rtistr ri- "' ''''""""•- '""'"'' ■ anceofthesame before it sTfr /r . '""'°" ""'' *^«P'- ■■^possibility, Wet::;, ;:!rs ,;a.th- ''"^^'^'^-^ ""'' our unexplored way as delicJr ll u ^"""'"■''' ^""^ f^"^' >ve have heard who 1^ nltdT ^ " ' "^' e^""^"-™" of whom a state of afBuLle t^ he , '" ".^'""'^'--=. -"^ "riven from '-..ving,prrsri?;rb;Tv:::L^r:"' r"^ -..Wng, and after ever, ,„..ering :Z::t :;:;r -^ X PREFACE. wares, she shrank back within herself, and cov .ringly exclaimed : " Oh ! I hope nobody will hear me." Before opening our " contents " we would fain bow to the -ritics iwho stand without, waiting at every corner of literary communi- cation, and with ubiquitous and argus-eyed observation keep the scribal world in awe), and inform them that we have made no at tempt at being profound. Believing, with a heathen sage, that " wisdom (of a certain kind at least) at proper times is well for-ot " we have written with great plainness of speech. "All truth is simple," and precept, to be obeyed, must, \\V^ prescription or direc- tion, be writte.., as it were, "on tables, that he may run thatreadeth It, or, as we sometime misquote, " that he who runs may read "— like one that passes a guide-post or mile-stone in his course, who can at a glance take in the meaning of the pronounced inscriotion, even without slacking his running speed therefor. We hav^ written a " running hand," if we may venture a pun on that chirographical phrase, and trust that we have not left our intent obscure, or our meaning at all indistinct ; but have striven to profit by the sage, though quaint advice, administered early in our pupilage, " Make your ideas to stand out like rabbit's ears, so that the hearers may get hold of them." And if we have sometimes just for variety's sake, turned aside to kindred subjects-as indicated on the Title Page-we hope that we have not gone wholly astray, nor so far out of our way, as to divert the mind from the main topics of discussion, but rather have a:ted the part of the preacher Bramwell, who. according to one authority, did not sufficiently 'stick to his text," and u-as charged with wandering from his subject. " Yes," said another, " he docs most delightfully wander— from the subject to the heart" Our wanderings, which we confess are not few, are, we flatter our- self, after the same benign fashion. These pages attempt to mingle the instructive wfth the enter-" taining, and the entertaining with the edifying, and herein our I'REFACE. xi heavenly or 6mJZcZ. T ' '"'" '"" "°* ''" '*'-' °f .he majesty and fe, c^"'o7irb r"'=""'"f "^ "'"^"■'y. '' not Bethe. ladder, as raptV "en b, the h"" T'' °" *= *'"'•"»' ■■-cend/ngand descend/nro„'t" ^ heave„.drean,ing patriarch. wna::rs:tTt:e.t eXtrr^d'd" -- -•- - CerjttiTir^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ --- -cat: ^h.e, b.t a pa,atL',e l: ;°t'::':rf,!"->- -' 0-ya profif: miraculous and phenoraenallv J, ", r ''' "P""'"J' ^-^h attempt at rur„isi,j-rrsi::t.: "r r^ .onourisH^ndst;:;r:^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ -. and p;."~c:i:t:rd:rrttr^ ;-«;^CourtsHip and Marriage,., and ofrnrl^rd ^ canriTat7r?::i;;xrt^™^''"^*^""---pH.»^^ in the infinitely varied rnd^acrl T'" "'" ''"™^" ^«'«'»"' ^i-ply play the part of Sol mo s ma'™' °?" "'"'"' ""'' '^ '° arrows and death' and .hen sTys Am ttT' "=^^''«-^-"^^. that we find on these matte !^ '" 'P°'' ' ^"-J. ^1^^ ! ^isht .vay.and ■•..l^l^^^lZ ''"''''"" ''"""><' "« earthly gift ,o n,an, and the g"l ! V°' 8°°^" ^od's best . ■nany cases rigorously ignoretoTuS^LrrT T"' ^ '" "" a thmg of no practical benefit and Positively spumed ■shirking the burden of domestic re!„ Jr ^'■"™^ """""'y ''n of the marriageable fair To adTT ''' "' '^^""^ ""-""'^ inutile, unproductive life a, th , ,T'°""' ^"^ <:°mparativelv • ^' '^^^ '"= '■''■= gloves that have lost the.^ XII PREFACE. mates, on the shelf of non -appropriation. Let the candid and gen- erous youth of our land remember that no man liveth to himself, and no man dieth unto himself. One single life compels another of the like kind, somewhere. Every voluntary celibate means also an involuntary one of the opposite sex. All unsupporting men leave an equal number of unsupported women. And woman was made for man, and not for herself; she being but a "help— meet or fit— for him." She is the weaker vessel, and should be honored by grateful recognition and delightful protection. '• Two are better than one" to fight the oattles of life-a fact proved by the follow- ing striking, yea, startling statistics, which we earnestly submit to the celibate's perusal : — " According to M. Lagneau, the well-known statistician, there IS a lower rate of mortality among bachelors under twenty-two years of age than among married men. Above that age the con- trary is observed, and married men live longer than bachelors. Among bachelors 38 per 1,000 are criminals, among married men 18 per 1,000." Thus it will be seen that bachelors outnumber the "benedicts" —so called— by over two to one in our prisons, galleys and places of penal retribution. Men that refuse to be transported by the pleasures of a wife, and love, and home, are the more frequently transported at the pleasure of the State. And yet with these truths before us we find that such is the growing aversion to matrimony on the part of ou"r progressive youths in this advancing (?) age, that no less than two millions of celibates are found in France alone, and that the French legislature, to encourage matrimony and the raising of large families, have adopted a law which provides for the free education and board of every fifth child. Many men and women remain unmarried, not because the op- portunity is lacking of making an eligible choice, but. rather. PREFACE. ' XUl ine Djesaing m this, as m many other thinp-s l<=^^e * -^ • • T^ahlp f^iie ^* . . tnings, leads to its reject on. another gets in L Ice" Thf "°"" '"'^ "'"■ ^' ""^ *an Proverbs, yearns over theTofT ' °' '" ""= "'^"y'°n?ued »iic.-.ud:,Lshe\T::;:r::ri;ter r- r^"^ virion for .he future ; to trust in the LoTd vTth 111 th h'"^ """ lean not to their own undersfandin.. to J ,, '^'"' ^"^''^ '"'d own cistern, and „„„,-„, wa:e:::ut';f tt iTr 'to"' ""=" early, or in other words, to rejoice with .he wife of ^h ' ""7 and also urging then, to a sp edy co.-npliance L ^T' ' to an immediate issue vm L./ . ' P^ssmg them .he lingerin, Lot^rhl^h r '"andt: XT ^'Vf^ ^"^^' rise, and laying hold upon'his ha n'd. ad p t :a:d f^ T and upon the hands ofhis two daughters LX I ""*■ and setting them without the cit:;^lrrst™^'"^ "^ ^-"^ a mert°h L^Tr Godt"'^^" ^'''r '"' """^ '^^ -•- -■'" y neart , lor God now accepteth thy works ^ ■ . ^ ,, with the wife whom thou lovest all the davsJf hIVr 7V°^ "^ which he hath given thee under the sun fo that t ' ''"'•" this Hf. .din thy lahor Which tho;::i:^::;i;\^^^^^^ For how shall a young man cleanse his way But by taking heed, as the Scriptures say. To the Word of God. which will guide his feet lo the path of life, "Youth Guide Compl i^i'-tC. XIV PRKFACE. And, now, having met the reader thus in the porch of the Pre- face and given him the clue to the labyrinth of our good intent, we would kmdly invite him to pass into the house and make himself at home ; believing, as we do, that : The preface of a book like a porch should be, Affording ready passage to a dwelling fair. The author being the porter, who benignantly Extends to all a welcome who would enter thsro. The pages turn, like leaves of folding doors, to rooms Prepared and ready furnished, of various form and size • Or like gardens giving forth, from their incense-breathing blooms. Delectable perfumery, upwafting to the skies. While the poems are the bells, which with many changes ring Responsive at your pleasure, whene'er you bid them play ■'' Or like minstrels in a tower, or like birds that blithely sing ' Where fruitful trees rejoice, or glad fountains toss their spray. Their golden feet glide onward, as the rhyming measures flow Like wings that twinkle sunward, or like doves that " homing '' go While the Index points their numbers, and the head-lines lead th-^' way ;— But ere the verse encumbers we will, brief, conclude our lay. Yours philanthropically, I. THE AUTHOR. 're- we self ns, o, (©Tifeei^fesi. 't Love and Uti^ Z. ?' ^"°— " F^'se Lights ■•_ -Pairing season-Love ttXrf'^r^"--" ''"-'edge to prove his love-Love the Z^^r^ZT' '''""'' ^"'""~'''''' BACHELORS-Meaning of na^e , ' """-^°'''''''>-" 'ove, taxed-Taugh, by nature-The blTh J ^'■"""^~^'''" '^'y >«= Amiable- Wise-Beau-Cei hi? i ^™°"«' '"'' <'""''' f^nds- apostolic celibates-Cehbate frch"'.^'"""^^-'^''^ -""^ »« Home,ess-Joh„ How pln= Ad T'~^'"">"'e " •><>".-=- Maidens or Shnsters Vh '^'' °' "«"°*- daughters make the best ^"0 ""'""'" ~ ''''™'« " «<">« and matrimonial methods ''"""^ °''~^'°""''^ daughters MATCH-MAKINO-The hVht t„ 1, . Marriage a lottery-Stylish l^^.XnZ.r^''"' ''"""'~ warning. ^ ^^^'^'^>^'"§^ ^or love— A friendly PROPOSAL-Every man original in In Karenns propose-The Indiansiwh^av Jo;" "'~"°" ^'^ Embarassn.ent in proposing. ^ '''°"'^" P^'^P^se ?- i6 CONTENTS. I! BETROTHAL-JewJsh-Grecian-Modern-By lot-Coming of age-Early betrothal-In England-France-Canada-Hindostan — Dispensed with. EsPOUSAL-Hu-nan _ Divine - Description of metaphoric bridegroom and bnde-Christ and the Church-Marriage felicLs- Uedded oneness-Devotion-Woman man's best helper-A better half bnngmg better quarters. The Unequal YoKE-Thistle and cedar-Vulture and dove- Bird^ beasts reptiles, and insects avoiding the same-Mercy and M. Brisk Forbidden alike by both law and gospel-Cainites and Seth tes-Cain s wife-The land of Nod-Cain's mark-Unrequited affection-Indifference-Beauty and the Beast-The unhallowed RiNGS-Origin, design and use thereof-Ring money-Why the nng IS placed on the fourth finger-Spurious engagement rings. The Wedding SHOE-Of ancient and modem times. WEDDINGS-The honeymoon-Husbands and wives-Wrong beginnings in married life-Driving gently over the stones-Hovv wine becomes sour-Quarrels, pleasant and foolish-The marriage bond, dowry and song-Nuptials, meaning thereof-The wife a sister— Half-sisters. Marriage CusTOMS-Marriage in strange places-Eccentric bridegrooms-Wedding presents-Bridal outfit-Presenting hair at marnage-Embroidered hair-long hair-Short hair-Samson's KISSING-Philosophy of-Love's kisses-Universal-Formal- Patnarchal— Ecclesiastical— Political. BEAUTY.-Beauties-English-American-Rabbinical-Apoc- ryphal-Traditional-Scriptural-Use of-Alluring. Marriage Etiquette. (See fourteen page Index for full contents.) ,Bxie. EGIN ^yeth.s Look where all things be.an-vvithr . yea, With God in Christ, who is L h. ""^ ' beg.-nning of the creation of God" 'f ""-^-"^he things (not he z.as before all th. k '' ^'^°''" ^" alignings), and h, hi. all :L:g^^^^^^ orfla.,thesun ::di^::^::;::---^- ^--^ ^^- ^--^ -urce. Though burning a leTrd Hand" " '' "^''"^^ '^^ P''^^' coal, and wood, and various o,s and d " ^"°"" '^"^ ''"- •stances, where it is, so to speak •' Jnt T' '"'^ammable sub- a'l these things have been Luched J'hl,!' ^ r^^^' "-■ >- Pnmarily. hot from that central so! r?"" ^"^^"^ ^"^ '^^de. -o-here.nothinghidrihrCt^^^^^^^ orb of da,-_ o^ w w is Mttf o:;";::^t '^-^ ^^^ -- ^- -ent,ons it in one chapter-" God if W" ' '"' ^"'^^ ^^^n It is the voice of wisdom ir, *u a -other of fa,T ,ove an7 f™ In^' ,ZVf'~'°'' ' " ' ^ ">« therefore being eternal am len o r ^' ''"' ''"'^ "^"P- ' na™edofhi„,,,,,h„senofhta . ' "r™"" "'>-'' - thtngs I was beautiful and stood uo beautif,,. h r '. '" '^"^ the unity of brethren ; the love of L^u ""'^ °°^ '"'I "'an, that agree together." °f "<='Shbors ; a man and l,;s wlfn "4 17 tS PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. Yea, love is the firs;: lesson of Wisdom's school — the very spirit and controlling genius of her divine institutions. " I love them," she says, " that love me, and they that seek me early shall find mc. Al! them that hate me love death." Blessed school of the heart or soul where love is the principal thereof, and also the principal thing taught therein ! Ye children then hasten and come to Christ's school, Where Wisdom your teacher shall be ; Her lessons are pleasant and kind is her rule, " 1 love them," she saith, "that love me" "Receive my instruction," she cries, "and not gold, Obey my commandments and live ; My precepts shall guide you in youth, and when old i a fjood understanding will give." Her " house " is before you ; go, knock at the door, And it shall be opened to you ; O, wait at her portals and wander no more. Her counsels are faithful and true. If we can only persuade men to love aright the great work of life is accomplished. Man will always go whither his love directs, whether rightly or wrongly, be it observed. We would seek to guide the reader, therefore, in "the way of Nis precepts," and instruct him to love only what is lovely, and what will assi.st him in the best enterprises and associations of the soul. We would admonish him, then, to " keep his heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life ;" and how is a house to be kept or guarded but at the entrance or avenues leading thereto ? So how can the heart be preserved except at the senses ? " The five senses," says Adams, " are the cinque ports where all the traffic of the devil is taken in." Here temptation chiefly presents itself, and here man needs to set a double guard to prevent unlawful Intrusion. LOVE. The senses God has given Are inlets to the soul, Fair doors that ope to heaven Or yield to sin's control. And Good and Evil scek For mutual entrance there, Vea, constant watch they keep, Man's sympathies to share. ' Dark fiends hold earthly court In unbelieving breast— ^';;'^^J^old. "the strong man's "fort - % house." he cries-hell's rest.' Go, summon heavenly force, Lest they thy soul should win- Keep gua.-d : nought lurks so close ^s thy besetting sin himself. This it was tliat n.ade Z '' ^"^ '™'>' ™J°y' vdis, that they n,igh. „ei he t'.„7"^ ^°-'- '^eir faces with betemptedwiththeco^e; ™s of th? "" ""=" '^^"'^' "°^ the world take notice of the holy ooL of 0^"'°" ' ""^ "^^^ how with their lives and conver J^ !, *^''"'"»'. ^nd observe -" their gestures changed" *" """""^ °f "-> '=yes and Hence it is that thp r where it chiefly entered, puTout'L"'" 'T'''' "'" "' ">^ P-t^' °"- Zaieucus. the lawg.Ve of the lT" "" "''""■"^"y '-"vi- a ren^arkable manner on his ow- son ,'v'' '"''"''" ""^ '^- '" ■•edeeming one of his son's eveJh """g^'t-ng the sentence and • hecoming a memo.ab le ex21''^,"° '" "' "'^ °™- ^° -' once 'f. as the Scriptures ,av" ' """ '"^'^y" '- ■'h.d Of sin, w'hat .:^'Z::T.::^-' [-" -^ ""-^P-ticu. - - -matching these watchers of 1.9 n 80 I li PROrOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. the body, and of looking after these lookers on the meretricious and ever-tempting forbiddji. If Job found it necessary to make a covenant with his eyes that he might not think of another than his own fair partner, so let • every man in his early life devote himself to one alone, and not continue to live at all hazard and peradventure ; but pray the prayer, rather, " turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity." For though " the wise man's eyes are in his head, the fool's are in the ends of the earth," and better is the sight of the eyes than the wan- dering of the desire, literally, " the walking of the soul." "It is most true that eyes are made to serve The inward light, and that the heavenly part Ought to be a king ; from whose rules who do swerve Rebels to nature, strive for their own smart." Their eyes but met and then were turned aside ; It was enough ! that mystic eloquence, I'nheard, yet visible, is deeply felt. And tells what else were incommunicable. — Derod'"' "The darts of love, like lightning, wound within, And, though they pierce it, never hurt the skin ; They leave no marks behind them where they fly. Though thro' the tenderest part of all, the eye." " O the eye's eloquence, (Twin-born with thought) outstrips the tardy voice • Far swifter than the nimble lightning's flash. The sluggish thunder peal that follows it." Man has preeminence above the beast not only in being possessed of a soul, or an immortal principle, but also in having an extra muscle to his eye, a fifth, fine cord, to roll it upward, called by the ancients the heaven -string, and it is a fact that such string, cord or muscle, lay useless in Nebuchadnezzar all the time that a beast's LOVE. 31 2 I heart was given unto him • for «;,in, i. • to man's estate, ■• And at luT' T. !"' '" ''"'^^''"^ "^ '"'^ ^'^"vcry ».o heaven, :.al:T,:l:'J^: "T ' T "" ™- ^^'^ b.es.d the most High that,, crr:r::f,r:r, ,''"'" ™- - > " Behold Plato's man » .^-j .^•udents a chiclcen stripped of ,.s"Ltt '" *^"' ""^ '^'■"^ >■" ™ore was needed thanTe po Ltn o7:' '7'°" "■"' ^°'"^"""^' w call « man." Possession of two legs to malte the biped H.-™;ft::;t^ea:;Tht:'fr:'''"^ "°"" -- - -« p-« on the initial letter ^TyluCe/' T"'' "" ™'°- ''■•^'"'•= ^0' .He e,es, and the „ f^rth^rLtTth^rfat ''' "™ "'^ ^•-'' ^ Jven as Dante, in deserihing the gaunt face of a starved man. Vr. " ^^^ ""^^ds the name For man upon his forehead there, the T Had traced most closely." « '"^ '^^■e^ region of the will and understanding " The eyes, considered only as tanalM u- ""^'''^"^'"S- ;;.Jorms, the windows of th^e IT!^ ZlZ ^^^^^ .He'^etSp:-^^^^^^ >vh.ch seem affected bv and to nT , ""^ °"'" oi-g™ ; P-- sensations the n^XX^^^::^:^ ^" '" '"""'""^ '«' '"gs the most delightful and ,^'„^ """' '"■""""ou.s feel- "Lot thine eve! thel' o "' ""'' '''"^'"'■' eyelids straight 'on." The dov?"',, "'' "^'" ''°™'"'''' ^^ ""•»« ^« one mate, but she has eve h"' """' *>™- "■«• 'ove, has So the purity and faithfuneTs of he°rt' '"' ^"^ '^^ «" ■'-th. compared to this bin " . -^.^ ' ?""^- '""' "' Christ himself. are "hou ■ast dove's eyes within thy 22 PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. I i locks." " His eyes are like the eyes of the doves by the rivers of water." 1 Jic question was once asked, which was the most beautiful eyes, and the answer came direct and appropriate, " The eyes of compassion or love." So Love's eyes arc dove's eyes, beside the crystal river ; Love's eyes are dove's eyes, that sweetly beam forever ; Love's eyes arc dove's eyes, so constant meek and pure ; Love's eyes are dove's eyes, in rocky dwelling, sure ; Love's eyes are dove's eyes, that seek the quiet bower ; Love's eyes are dove's eyes— fair innocence their dower ; Love's eyes are dove's eyes, beside the crystal river ; Love's eyes are dove's eyes, that sweetly beam forever. Pericles, when Sophocles showed him an extraordinary beauty, and seemed pleased with it, said, " it is not enough to keep clean hands, oh, Sophocles, but you must keep your eyes clean, too." And well does the judicious Hooker exclaim : " Shall we suffer sin and vanity to drop in at our eyes, and at our ears, at every corner of our bodies and of our souls, knowing that we are the temples of the Holy Ghost ? Which of you receiveth a guest whom he honoreth, or whom he loveth, and doth not sweep his cham- ber against his coming? And shall we suffer the chamber of our hearts and consciences to be full of vomiting, full of filth, full of garbage, knowing that Christ hath said. "land my father will come and dwell with you ' ?" Bacon, with a depth of penetration peculiar to his own philo- sophical mind, has not lost sight of the power of si^/i ii; .if, b;'t says :—' " The affections, no doubt, do make the spirits more powerful and active, and especially those affections which draw the spirits into the eyes ; which arc two, love and envy, which is called oai/us mains. A.? for love, the Platonists (some of them) go so far as to LOVE 23 hold that the spmt of the lover doth n. • . person loved, which causeth the , • ^ V"'° '^' '^''''' °^ ^^c "'hence ft was emitted. Whereupon fin' uT"" '"''^ '^^ ^°^'>' -act and conjunction whlchrro, ~ ^^ T''^ ^^ ^^^ wise, that the aspects that rm... , '^ observed, like Klancing., and dartings of the e" TT ""'^a^ings, but ,„ddc„ mahgn and poisonous snirits .1- f ^ '""y' "'at emitteth some another ; and is h^ewlVrglrXc'e? '^'^ °' ''= ^P'"' "' is obhque." greatest force when the cast of the c>e ^^^^ ^:C:^t^'s^"'' ^'H ""^^ -" "-' '"e Lord poets :- ""■ ='"2'"e »"!' the best of our Christian Thee conclude my song iTJ''"^ ^^'"' ^"=" "" °" Thee, with - nm,^so,, ^ ^' *"'' '"' ""^ "'^^'■^ "«or stray from Thee. As also saith St. Paul • " For nf u- -™-in tv:nr.:„:hr/c:h:rtr"'^^' - "-^ tions, pursuits and actions Zl„ T !'''"""" ^" °"' ^^^'"^- acknowledge and teach. ' ^^""'" 'li<=msclves did Hereby you shall know whether J w,;,„ • when I write in earnest I h.„ , "^ '" =""<^" °'- "ot ; for ' "ite not in earnes do 2' "^ 'T "'"' °"' ^°<'' =■"« "'hen Sods._Pto,. "^ ""^e'" "'>' '"ter in the name of many '^^^Xttrarar^f™!^' '"-^ '^ °- =°''. »^ >"- But he that lacketh ,7 ! P'^'^ence over all.-^^,i.,,,,„. ofr,a„dhath rgo, 't farhe '^-^ ""n^. and cannot see afar Anoint thine y:;:L:r ''T'"':™"'''^*^'-->"'« W,«,i„. '^'^' "'"■ '^>"=-^alve that thou mayest see.- Jie 2!- PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAI.. I ! \,' "Pure, sweet, serene, The light of heaven in her eyes. She moved about our lower earth, Oft bringing- a glad surprise To others who found their dail}- h'vcs Only dull cankering care ; For one of God's angels seem to stoop In their homely tasks to share. Bright wings she wore, But folded out of our sight ; To serve in lowly, simple ways Was sweeter to her than flight. But ever she welcomed with ear attent Voices from heaven still and small, Till gladly her spirit upward sped At her loving Father's call." Ye are stars of the night, ye are gems of the morn, Ye are dewdrops whose lustre illumines the thorn ; And rayless that night is, that morning unblest Wh'ire no beam in your eye lights up peace in our. breast. "O eyes, which do the spheres of beauty move, • Whose beams be joys, whose joys all virtues be ; Who, while they make love conquer, conquer love ; The schools where Venus hath learned chastity. O eyes, where humble looks most glorious J^rove, Only loved tyrants, just in cruelty ; — Do not, O do not, from poor me remove, Keep still my zenith, ever shine on me ! For though I never see them, but straightways My life forgets to nourish languished sprites ; Yet still on me, O eyes, dart down your rays I And if from majesty of sacred lights LOVE. '■^ tnurnphs be which love hfgh set doth breed." "Magic, wonder-beaming eye • In thy narrow circle he All our varied hopes and fears, Sportive smiles and graceful tears • i-agcr wishes, wild alarms Rapid feelings, potent charms. W.t and genius, taste and sense. Lend through thee their influence. Honest mdex of the soul Nobly scorning all control • ^ilent language ever flowin<. Every secret thought avowing. Pleasure's seat, love's favorite throne. Every tnumph is thy own - "They say the brunettec, ^..^ ^ . That they break h!. '°^"'"^^' But that eyes o blu '' ''"' ^°^^ ^'^^-' Asfh.T ? ^'''^^"^^'■^"dtrue As the sky that bends above them ^ Andf '''' '"' '°^^ '-^ -'-blind, ^nd he comes with as IfHi„ uiuc as the morning 'Vo/.t"''";"" "= "°' •'- '^™""'os. Oh ' o'er fh ^ '^* ^' "^""'^ """"^ Exp-css. ^^" ■ oer the eve Dpafii r^ ^ 25 r . ! i LOVE BETTER THAN LATl N. fNE pleasant evening in summer I sat talking with a .^ mother, who held upon her lap a restless, teasing child. ^^ ^ ^^^^ hopefully of the future, and chanced to touch ^^ upon my future course of study. She wearily replied : (s " The time was when I, too, looked forward to the future,-my whole aim being to study Latin ; but I gave it up for what-^/r..^^.;:,. O, I was foolish." " No, no. mamma," said' the httle sprite. "Not foolish, for if you had studied Latin you wouldn't had me now." Sweet comforter ! The mother drew the httle one to her bosom, saying : " True, darling, you are better than Latm. How I longed for every complaining mother of the land to witness with me this little scene ; each one to hear the child's rebuke. LOVE BETTER THAN KNOWLEDGE. "Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edirteth," t. e. buildeth up Chanty envieth not ; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up. — Paul. ' ^ LOVE BETTER THAN GIFTS. But covet earnestly the best gifts : and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and cymbar '^^' ' ^"^ ^"'"""^ ^' '""""^'"^ '"'"''' '"' ^ ''"'^'•"g And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mystenes, and all knowledge ; and though I have all faith, so that J could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing 86 ^' ing with a ising child, i to touch \y replied : ird to the ;ave it up, ima," said Latin you r drew the )etter than f the land the child's ildeth up. lot puffed ito you a gels, and I tinkling stand all li, so that thing. Whof » . , ^"^ "6 come ? *^ia guide him to our home ? i 13 LOVE. V nothing. "^ ""' A^x,Ky, ,t profiteth me Charity never failrtht but whether fl,., u ^hall fail; whether there be tong7e!th't^ '"°'"'"'"' ""=^- be knowledge, it .hall vanish awa^' ' "'''= ' "'«^"'=^ '"ere Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts.-« L0V2 THEGR^EST COMFORT. If there be therefore any comoteion in Christ -r of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit , fin k ', '"^ "'"^°''' Fulm ye n,y joy, Z ye b hr^i^d^.^-^'^r" "■"^'■=^- being of one aceord, of one mind. ^"^ "" '""'' '°*-=' LOVE, ITS EXPULSIVE POWER. Such ,3 the power of that sweet passion, -hat .tall sordid ba.seness doth expel And thefined ,nind doth newly fashion Unto a fa,rer form, which now doth dwell wv'l .'^ u""'"«'''' '"^ """'d i'^tf excel ■ Wh,ch he, beholding still with constant sight Admires the mirmr ^^f t. . ^'sot. nurror of so heavenly light.-i>„„;.. LOVE'S HOLY INFLUENCE. .He !C:" :f r;'it~r? °^ "'-^""-----'^^^^^ -eetened, all the injuri "rthe t n """ ="P "^ '«««-" fl-ers plentifully stie::: tngTbe „: ^^r ' ""' ,""^ ^"^^'-' Ztmmerman, ^ ^"^* ^"^rny paths of hTe— 28 PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. 'Tis love combined with guilt alone, that melts The soften'd soul to cowardice and sloth ; But virtuous passions prompt the great resolve, And fan the slumbering spark of heavenly ^xq.— Johnson. LOVE A GIANT POWER. Love is such a giant power that it seems to gather strength from obstruction, and at every difficulty rises to higher might. It is all dominent— all conquering ; a great leveller which can bring down to its own universal line of equalization the proudest heights, and remove the stubbornest impediments. There is no hope of resisting it, for it outvvatches watch— submerges everything, acquir- ing strength as it proceeds'; ever growing, nay, growing out of itself — Neivton. Love ! what a volume in a word ! an ocean in a tear ! A seventh heaven in a glance ! a whirlwind in a sigh ! The lightning in a touch— a millennium in a moment ! What concentrated joy, or woe, in bless'd or blighted love ! ■ — Tupper- LOVE'S YOKE EASY. Life without love's a load, and time stands still ; What we refuse to him, to death we give ; And then, then only, when we love, we live. — Congreve. Almighty love ! what wonders are not thine ' Soon as thy influence breaths upon the soul. By thee, the haughty bend the suppliant knee- By thee, the hand of avarice is open'd Into profusion ; by thy power, the heart Of cruelty is melted into softness ; The rude grow tender, and the fearful ho\A.—Paterson. LOVE. 29 S;:E?Sr— -~i'i": ADAM'S IMPRESSIONS ON SEEING EVE. Venus— by her shanP or a. ^ H'«-^ent ner— Jike a Grecian Grace was in all her steps, heaven in her eye ' In every gesture-dignity and love." LOVE'S ECSTASY. Oh ! speak the joy, ye whom the sudden tear Surprises often, while you look around And nothing strikes your eye but sight! of bliss ; All various natures pressing on the heart An elegant sufficiency, content, Retirement, rural quiet, friendship, books Kase and alternate labour, useful life ' Progressive virtue, and approving heaven • Those are the matchlessjoys of virtuous love.-^W,, LOVE'S FLAME THE PUREST. Affection lights a purer flame Than ever blazed by eivt~.Cow/>eK \^oT"^^^'^'"'''^^^'^b>'^'^-^aint. Who leaned on Immanuel's breast • 30 PROPOSAL AND ESI'OUSAL. When love waxeth cold, then the heart growcth faint, And man is a mourner unblest Love is the dwelling of spirits new-born ; Yea, love is the home of the soul : And only the reprobate treat it with scorn, For love makes the wounded heart vhole. LOVE'S ALACRITY. Love brooks no restriction, and is impatient of delay. It is ever "on time," and anticipates the sun, saying as in David' " Mine eyes prevent the dawning of the day." It sets the clock forward, and would fain do the same with lagging opportunity. It is alert, eager, watchful, as it cries in the Psalms, " Thou boldest mine eyes waking," and exclaims with the spouse in the " Song of Songs,,' " I sleep, but my heart waketh." ' It counts the days, hours, minutes, seconds. It invents no excuses, for it needeth none. It sees, hears, moves ! It has the eye of a lynx, the ear of a mole ; it sleeps like a deer, and wakes like a bird— agile, thoughful, tuneful, hope- ful, glowing, mighty love ! Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe, or to a young hart on the mountains of Bether.— Can ^ic/es. It is the voice of my beloved, behold he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hi\ls.—//>id And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter : and he was more honorable than all the house of his father.— Btd/e. Then said she. Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall : for the man will not be in rest until he have fin- ished the thing this dsiy.~Rui/i. And there was set meat before him to eat ; but he said, i will not eat until I have told mine errand. And he said, speak on.—Geuesis. The king's business requireth haste.— Bi7>/e. LOVE. 31 Send Ipfnrcnla quickly forth with me, Hymen is now propitious, all things wait 1 o grace the solemn gladness of this day • rhe holy ;vater's ready, with the cakes. ' ro cast upon the fire, the calves are brought. Whose blood in grateful vapors must arise, r atone the breach of chaste Diana's rites. —Potter's Antiquities. "Tis love that makes our cheerful feet In swift obedience move." And they ran and returned a« fh« . Hghtning.-Zi.^,XV./. appearance of a flash of 1 IS love dat sot me free 'Ti3 love dat died fc^'.^^...., ,^^^^,.^ ^^^^^^^ PAIRING SEASON. n 4. , Now 'tis nought But restles. hurry thro' the busy air Beat by „„„ ber'd ,vi„gs. The slvallcv sweeps 0( hf. f : ''"' '"^°"' ""= "'•'=l<=- baek S eal f T r°' • "'"■ °f'' "h'=" "nobserVd C !! ;r ' '"" ^ '"•^"- ^ »"" »ft «nd warn, Clean and ccplete, their habitation grows.- ;::„.,., LOVE AS A MARSHALL. ^^O^ND Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, ^^P ^^^" ^^^^' ^"^ ^^''^ '^'"^ ^°"'' hundred men. And he ^^ ^'''''^^^ *^^ children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and ^^ unto the two handmaids. As ' And he put the handmaids and their children fore- most, and Leah and her chilcjren after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost. *^ And he passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him : and they wept. And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children and said. Who are those with thee ? And he said. The children which God hath graciously given thy servant. Then the handmaidens came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves. And Leah also with her children came near, and bowed them- selves: and after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves. And he said, What meanest thou by all this drove which I met> And he said, These are to find grace in the sight of my lord. And Esau said, I have enough, my brother; keep what thou hast unto thyself. And Jacob said. Nay. I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand : for therefore I 32 LOVE. n i, behold, And he Lchel, and Iren fore- d Joseph :lf to the II on his children, children Iren, and d them- / bowed h I met? rd. lat thou grace in reforc I God hath deal. ,raciou.ly with ,„o. and because I havl' .„o", And he m^s-l him, and he took it '" SO beT:hr' '" "' '''' ""'-'°"'"''- ^"' '^' - S°. -" ' 'vili And he .aid unto him, My lord knov.eth that the eh.ldren are tender, and the floeks and herds >vith youn.- are with rlT Tr n>e„ .hould overdrive them one day aU the^floe,:. lil^r Let my lord, I pray thee, pas, over before his servant ■ and t The r, ,°" f "r "^"'■"'■"^ ^' '"^ ""'-^ "«'S-* befo emeand the chddren be able to endure, until . eome unto my lord umo Sel Beh^n ■*' T T'''"'""' '^ '''"^ '■" ""^ "">™"'ed emergency Behold how he places the dearest the nea,v..f f„ .,■ """''"'^y- how Rachel and her children move 0,76 twe him i„''r''' '"' TH.a.theehiefroTrx^^^^^^^^^^^^ ::»t:h:^^^^^^^ are almost the only men of the Twelve that h. J ." ^trwr:rh;:^ry;:;trfr-^ --d Of ™a„y orlewhra^Jtsoor^t — ^ '^ n: »»«»!.V!5W»3WI 'M^ LOVE AS A CHARIOTEER. t^Iuitl T "^'^"Z^,'^"-' -^hing) my soul made ?• me I,ke the chariots of Amminadab.-G/;///,/... ^"^ .aZ " :r''' " ;'^ "^''^^ of my Te^^b^in their W^r chariots.- JA;,;^./;,,,/ yi-^,,,//,,^, ^- Then she saddled an ass. and said to her servant Dnve, and go forward ; slack.ot thy riding for me. e.xcept I bid "SLACK NOT TIIV RIDING EXCEPT I RID TIIEE." "Whate'er may chance us on the way, Whoe'er may wish our course to stay, Thy riding do not slack ; For salutations now no time, To pause were little less than crime, Be lightness driven back. Our cause demands the utmost haste, A life is lost if time we waste, Thy riding do not slack :"— That Shunnamite. my soul, is thee, Thou rid'st the Truth ; j}/acn/:j, The lad that holds not back. A thousand ills may thee beset, Obstruction block thy pathway.' ye^, Thy riding do not slack ; 8i er servant LOVE. The God, who bids thee forward go, Will lay proud opposition low, And drive the oppressor back. God's arm directed David's stone, When he Goliah met, alone,— Thy riding do not slack ; The Lord, a "man of war," is known, Thilistia soon was overthrown. Dread Gath was driven back. See Gideon's troop, with trump and lamp, Surrounding sleeping Midian's camp : Thy riding do not slack ; The "pitchers" break-the lights outflare! A sound of " sword " and " God " in air. Hurls th' alien armies back. See Jericho's high-standing wall, Her " Gammadim " in towers tall •. Thy riding do not slack ;— The trumpeters go round and round — One last, long blast— it shakes the ground. The giant hosts fall back. No lion treads the " narrow way," No ravenous beast may thee waylay, Thy riding do not slack ; They roar and rage, but strong their chain. Ihey fret themselves and howl in vain, Christ drives e'en devils back. 35 "Would you not be afraid to goto heaven as Elijah did?" asked one of a little bov "Nr." k i- . ^"jan did? the driver." ^' ' ^^ '^P''^^' " "«* if God were i 'I 'DKVIL, J NEVER STUCK FAST YET ;" OR SAMMV HICKS. pMUEL HICKS was oneof .he men of "„„-gh,y fai.h » ' f T Y'l' '"'' "' ^ P""""''"' '""°"S the Methodists *^r '^ '™''' ='"' unbounded liberality. U ■■ At one time he attended a missionary meetin<. near Harrowgate. •■ We had a blessed meeting," said Samuel "Iv, ToZ happy and gave all the money I had in my poeket." A ter th mee7 had T Z"'"""' "= "°™'==' "'^ horse to'return homo K nj had offered to pay his expenses-he had „.: a farthing in his pock" n,^ht-alone_t>venty miles from home. Think of the lone "ubcnis L.orcl. But he strup-o-loH • thn f.-;oi i • .L '^'•' "ijj3i1.11 tne trial was shnrf nnri fi,^ ■ v,c,ory complete, for said he, •■ Devil, , never stuck fl TyL. • tJu.rVT'" """-^d, a gentleman 'took his horse bv I have not wanted for any good thin- and could .1, ' with Tnh 'TU^ T J -^ J " """t,, "'>- »Hou,d=sttho„ destroy .JlTf ^'"""^ ""' '"""'""''y '"f fi'-^' ^'="'•"2 out. Take the cool of the day Begin as you can hold on. I knew a Udt I i:r -ngTl?:;""' "••'.^='' "-^^^ "ounces^xtir .:::.■ ou.,-de h i,, ,. ,, rtr^;:"!b^:;rrrearpttrr .uffice .t to say, that she was a conceited an.inomian.- r'^; "' ri I. You will I that they proved by t any rate sitting still souls that on. Your preach the that you ittle room ore to be lore than, sh — drive Tishi, for but not destroy akc the \y who, lot wear 2s were rade of ularize, LOVE'S COYNESS. j|OVE is the embodiment of Shelley's poetical " Echoes," going flying on, ever on, but still crying, '• Follow, follow." It is the dusky maiden, mounted on her %r ^^'^^'^ '*^^^' ^^^^ (seemingly) hastens her escape (5, from her pursuing lover, but halts to be caught and would not for the world distance her pursuer. It is the '" fox that feigns sleep to catch the chickens." It is the Spanish friar that says, " I don't want it ; I don't want it, but drop it into my hat.' Yea, it is Solomon's shrewd buyer, who voiceth, "It is naught It IS naught, but when he is gone away then he boasteth " So is It. so has it ever been, and so will it be, so " long as the grass grows and water runs." I find she loves him much, because she hides it. Love teaches cunning even to innocence ; And, when he gets possession, his first work Is to dig deep within a heart, and there Lie hid, and, like a miser in the dark. To feast alone. ^ i — Dry den. "Love me, love, but breathe it lov/, Soft as summer weather ; If you love me, tell me so, As we sit together. Sweet and still as roses blow- Love me, love me. but breathe it low. 89 40 PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. V\'orcls for others, storm and snow, Wind and changeful weather-' Let the shallow waters flow Foamin^^ on together ; But love is still and deep, and O ! Love me, love, but breathe it low." 1 !'.; I. " ^^^ sweetest grapes hang highest." " "' ''"' ^''^' (disparages) my mare would buy my mare " " • ^^our grapes,' said .he fox when he could not reach them " " ih. figs on the far side of the hedge are sweetest." " Every fish that escapes appears greater than it is." " Far away fowl have fair feathers." She wad vote the border knight, Though she would vote her love'; For far-off fowls hae feathers fair, ' And fools o' change are fair.-W;';w. • "She lookit at the moon, but lichit i' the midden " ■• Ve see, ,„.,„. „. .He ^1^^:!^ Z^^:;^ ''^ ' LOVE. 41 1 hough the laws of propriety are so rigorously strict in Mexico that a gentleman may not ride in the same carriage with the lady to whom he is betrothed, yet most desperate flirtations are openly indulged in to an extent which would put to blush New York, Chicago or San Francisco. Following a senorita up and down the' promenade, and staring intently in her face is an accepted mode of compliment gratifying to the recipient, but fraught with danger to the adorer if she happens to have other devoted swains, and it not unfrequently happens that duels are the result, she being pre-emi- nently the belle who can boast the greatest number of such encounters. A romantic love story is at present going the rounds of the Italian papers. In 1881, a young merchant in Boulogne fell in love with a beautiful girl, who reciprocated his feelings. But the young man was so absurdly jealous that the girl concluded the only way to make him more reasonable would be to break the engage- ment, and keep him at a distance for a while. But this only in- creased his passion, and one day, after being again refused, he pulled out a revolver and shot her. The shot was not fatal, but the girl was ill for a long time, while her lover was sentenced to twelve years' imprisonment. Recen'Jy the girl has been visiting the pris- oner, and the other day she informed her parents that she had made up her mind to marry her lover, notwithstanding all that had hap- pcned, and in prison. The ceremony was performed without op- position, and a petition is now in circulation to secure a pardon for tac )oung merchant. I ■'11 i ii I LOVE'S YOUNC OREAM. 'OW ,^en love dreams-especially wo-»„,. How ,ur- 1 2""'^^ ^y the halo of romance, manv of our yo " ™rea. away in useless reverie, their uJZl As idle as a painted ship, Upon a painted ocean " and beguiling slu^U and Tleai;:;^"" "^""-P^'-ged " "■ ""s be a dream, let me sleep on, And do not wake me yet." is e^h''''' '?'" ""'' '' ^'■°^^"- " E'--'- has no future." Fancv IS ephemeral— a mere, dancine- dav-flv r '• ^ Dre-sihlP h,-^h fl "'^"cmg day-fly. Imagmation, that irre- rdt';h^r:^~rr "- " ^^^■■-- — ■ future lifeT!- ^ " " "^'^"^ ""^ P^^"' ='"'""a " Truth known too late is hell."— You,,^ TUere'8 ngtUing half so sweet in life as Love's young Oream." m, i 1 ir ' 1 '- ■ 1 fi 1 LOVE. 43 Casting down imaginations is one of the mighty offices of the Holy Spirit in these " last times." And where is the youthful soul that is not too much committed to the wild wings of a " vain im- agination ?" All evil begins there— in the image making faculty of the soul. That is man's idol manufactory— his false-god shop. They set up their idols in their hearts, and the stumbling block of iniquity before their face, and shall I be enquired of by them.— Bzekiel. But the emotion of youthful love, chaste in its virgin freshness, and beautiful in its primal and implicit trust, is a most glorious and enchanting thing ; almost justifying the poet's musical and hyper- bolical expression : — "There is nothing half so sweet in life as love's young dream." But, alas, like Ephraim's piety (as reproved by the prophet), "it is like the morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away." The morning cloud is golden or ambient, bright and fraught with sunlight—" full with the glc y of the day,"— and the early dew sparkles again with the gathering lustre— brightning yet as the beams of the sun increase— until at last it mirrors the face of the " king of day " in all his mounting splendor ; but the warm bright- ness consumes it — it dies in its own glory — " it goeth away." So with young love, it is too fair, too sweet, too pure and delectable, too ethereal for earthly continuance, and we join with another poet in exclaiming : — " Love ! oh young love, Why hast thou not security ?" Oh ! how this spring of love resembleth The uncertain glory of an April day ! Which now shows all the beauty of the sun, And by-and-by a cloud takes all away. — Shakespeare. Yes, young love resembles an April day, where we find " shadow and sunshine intermin^linp- auick=" 44 !J PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. A FACT. Miss Fanny, in a dream, Was heard distinct to say. "True Courtship is life's cream. And love will find its way." They listening, gathered 'round, And said, " What is't you say ?" Out flew on wings of sound, "Sure, love will find its way." O, pleasant was that dream, It was the first of May : Well launched on life's young stream. Her countenance a-beam. Said, " Love will find its way." And blest that happy youth, Who hears, his heart to stay, From Fanny's lips, the truth, " To you love finds its way." "Bright is the froth of an eastern wave. As it plays in the sun's last glow ; I'ure is the pearl in its crystal bed, Gemming the worlds below ; Warm is the heart tii3t mingles its blood • In the red tide of Glory's stream ; But more flashingly bright, more piire. more warm, Is ' Love's first dream,' Hope paints the vision with hues of her own. In all the colors of Spring, While the young lip breathes like a dewy rose Fanned by the fire-fly's wing. I :;! LOVE. 'Tis a fairy scene, where the fond soul roves, Exulting in passion's warm beam ; Ah, sad 'tis to think we should wake with a chill, From ' Love's first dream.' But it fades like the rainbow's brilliant arch, Scattered by clouds and wind ; Leaving the spirit, unrobed of light, In darkness and tears behind. When mortals look back on the heartfelt woes, They have met with in life's rough stream, That sight is oft deepest -hich memory gives To ' Love's first dream.' " 45 There was a time, fond girl, when you Were partial to caresses : Before your graceful figure grew Too tall for ankle dresses ; When " Keys and Pillows," and the rest Of sentimental pastimes. Were thought to be the very best Amusement out of class-times. You wore your nut-brown hair in curls That reached beyond your bodice, Quite in the style of other girls But you I thought a goddess ! I wrote you letters, long and short, Hort' many there's no telling ! Imagination was my forte ! I can't say that of spelling ' We sha'-ed our sticks of chewing-gum. Our precious bits of candy ; 40 PKOPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. Together solved the knotty sum, Aiid learned the ars amandi. Wljcne'er you wept, a woful lump Stuck in my throa?:, delayed there I My sympathetic heart would jump— I wondered how it stayed there ! We meet to-day-we meet, alas ! With salutation formal ; I'm m the college senior clas;?, You study at the Normal. And as we part, I think again, ' And sadly wonder whether You wish, as I, we loved as when We sat at schopl together \-Century BricBrac. BELIEVE ME Believe mo. if all .hose endearing young charms, Which 1 gaze on so fondly to-day Were ,o change by to-morrow, and fleet in my arm.,, Like fairy gifts fading away • Thou wouldst still be ador'd, as'this moment thou art, Let thy loveliness fade as it will And around the dear ruins each wish of my hear- Would entwine itself verdantly still. ' It is not while beauty and youth are thy own ' And thy cheeks unprofaned by a tear, That the fervor and faith of a soul can be known. To which time will but make thee more dear Oh I the heart that has truly lov'd, never forgets And as truly loves on to the close • As the sunflower turns on her god, ^hen he sets The same look which she .urn'd when he rose •• LOVE. LOVE AND LOVE "There s a bvc that only lives While the cheek is fres! and red ; There's a love that only thrives Where the pleasure-feast is spread It burneth sweet and strong, And it sings a merry theme, liut the incense and the song Pass like flies upon the stre: i, It Cometh with the ray. And it goeth with the cloud, And quite forgets to-day What yesterday it vowed. Oh, Love ! Love ! Love ! Is an easy chain to wear When many idols meet our faith. And all we serve are fair. But there's a love that keeps A constant watch-fire light ; With a flame that never sleeps Through the longest winter night It is not always wise, And it is not always blest ; For it bringeth tearful eyes, And it loads a sighing breast. A fairer lot hath he Who loves awhile, then goes. Like the linnet from the tree. Or the wild bee from the rose. Oh, Love ! Love ! Love ! Soon makes the hair turn grey ; When only one fills all the heart, ' And that one's far away." 47 I 48 PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. ■■Never forget our loves"Ibu"t alvvays ciing To the fixed hope-.ha. there will be a time- With the full happ,ness_of certain love." _, . , . ■' Let conquerors— boast The,, nelclsoffame; he, who in virtue, arms A young, war™ spirit-against beauty's charms Wo feels her brightne,,,, yet defies her thrall, ' 1- the best, bravest conqueror of them all." THE PROGRESS OF LIFE. "I dreamed_I saw a little rosy child W.th Ha.xen ringlets-in a garden' playing Now stopping here, and then afar off s.ra;ing. As flower, or butterfly-his feet beguiled. Twas changed. One summer's day I stept aside To let h,m pass ; his face-and manhood seemin f And that full eye of blue-was fondly beam,' ,g On a fa,r maiden, whom he called, 'his Bride <■ Once more; 'twas autumn, and the cheerful fire' I saw a group_of youthful forms surrounding The rooms-with harmless pleasantry resoundin. And m the m.dst, I marked the smiling Sire "• The heavens were clouded I and I heard the tone Ul a slow— moving bell— the whim i,,- , » "i-ii tne White haired man was gone." LOVE'S VAGARIES. OVV when «„,, „a„ had held his peace, the third of then, • who was ZoroSabel, began to instruct them about To n^en and about truth who said thus : ■ Wine is l™" ^, . as ,> the l iici oeauty, and procure it to ourselves W« .i i ather and mother, and the earth that nouris e s a^d f T orget our dearest friends, for the sake of women , l"t "^ ^ hardy as to lay down our lives for ,h„ J^f " ■ Nay, we are so you take notice of the , ettl " " ' 7 '' ""' ^"'^^^ '"'^- we take pains, and endu^ a^ 7Z t n " '°"°''' ' °° "°' ■and and sea, and when we hfe ' tured ' ! \" "'' '"" '^ our labors, do we not bring ther^ toTe "' *= '■™'' "^ and bestow them upon thfm ? Nav , " '° "' '""'""'^' lord of so many pe^le, s^ tL o'nThe'frbXl^'"- ''"' ' 49 Apamc, the daugh- 50 PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. when .,,„,.,, ,, ,„,,, ar;r::t\r4r:ets'sar and according to thn riio.-.^ r i ""s'y. "t- was sad ; and ... '^J^z^::^^:a::i:z^-'' ':■ ^"^ to he. ,T a. any ti.e he sa>v he^^.eC a.Tta;. °" "' """-'' LOVE VERSUS THE SHOTGUN si>;pV:z, Be'~ ,:;:i7^;'^""' '^^ " ^°^'^°- "'^ -- Tnd thL '' ^'■°"" ""^ '■" "^'= '°™ ™^ "■a'-ried or engaJd ana there were over two hnnrlrA^ k^ i i . ^"f>agea, married state Th. bachelors desiring to enter the servant Before thTvTn T '"■' '° '^^P ^ ^^'■°°' '-'^'^^ " ^ married. O r^eTe ptiarhaV'"' '""" ' "°""' *^^ "'- this cause. EverTlX T^' '^P'="^"«d annoyance from soon as she lellS th L ^f tTho Tu"" '° "= '"^"■•"='' ^ usefni. 't was necessar;t::v?r ttTatf 3e: nrrnd'r""^" =:he^lterreeTo-= ::2n:'^:s::t-:&»E~-^::^ asked. " Nothing "said Zfu T ^°" '"^"' '^^''^ ^" ^^^ i^uining, said the fellow, co bring- un a l/ffU .< .1 • much. I was just calh'ng on th gir, L th Je Sl^e 3 friend of my family." nVell fn, . r j f ' ^" "^ said the farmer, no the el thTt I d"", '°'" ''"'"^' '°°'" if Xou don. .eep away fr,!^ ,'mtd ; yo"; T ^^1, -" ■' "- manner was so menacing that the young man : n. a Jav 77 fewdays later the gir! was missing, andfhe farmer earn^ thltV ^^rpSro^-XT^etdt^rr'^'^^^^^^^ -uhtless .new, was due to r^g^:; ^ ^ZXl^;^- LOVE. 51 * FAIR COMPLIMENT. Franc's dc Harley, Archbishop J Paris under T ™,k Yn. remarkably handsome, and affable in his mann r Wh ^ ' "'' appointed to his diocese, with several Du hesse „ho ", H "" hi,n in a body to congratulate him, „as t^e'^ih^ ^ 'mX burgh, who addressed him in the following words • •• Th„,, hi vveakest, we are the most zealous portion of ^ 'flo^i; • The a ^ bjshop answered, .■ I regard you as the faire't p rt on of It " The" vS;i^rei%:tr=-;^^^ Formosa pecoris, custos formosior ipse" (Fair is the flock, the keeper fairer still.) l^ORD bOLINGBROKE's CHOICE ner the following tender lines, beginning .- "Dear, thoughtless Clara, to my verse attend. AnH , . '"' °"'' *''" '°^^'- ^"^ ^he friend." ' -fVnd concluding thus : I 52 PROPOSAL ATSTD ESPOUSAL. "To virtue thus, and to thyself restored By all admired, by one alone adored ; Be to thy Harry ever kind and true. And live for him who more than died for you." A series of calamities totally ruined her vocal powers, and she afterwards subsisted by the sale of oranges at the Court of Requests. DIED TO PROVE HIS LOVE. The woman whom a Swiss wooed was ten years his senior, and she had a fortune, while he was indigent. Under these circum- stances she would not believe that his love was genuine, or his offer of marriage disinterested. In order to convince her, he committed suicide under her bedroom window. A BEESWAX MARRIAGE FEE. Many of the first settlers in Illinois were rude in speech and rough in manner. Money was scarce with them, and service was paid for in produce. Governor B used to illustrate these incidents of frontier life by the following anecdote : — One day there came to his office a young man accompanied by a young woman. " Be you the squire?" asked the manly youth. " Yes, sir." " Can you tie the knot for us right away ?" "Yes, sir." Hovy much do you charge ?" " One dollar is the legal fee, sir." " Will you take your fee in beeswax ?" " Yes, if you can't pay cash." " Well, go ahead and tie the knot, and I'll fetch in the wax." LOVE. 53 J.ttlc fun bnng ,„ the beeswax first, and then 111 marry you " Reluetantly the youth went out to where was hitched the hon^e V/al, =a,d the anx,ous groom, "tie the knot, and ni fetch more wax next week." Slowlv thld"'' '™"^ """ " '^"■"'' "■= ""^^ °f «>is office," n,ar:;:r:srfthTr:.^tt.!^^ — ^ -• ■•-' - '■ Ves, I can, and will," replie^e squire, laughing, and he did. NOT A FAMILY MAN correspondence stopped there. THE FICKLE KNIGHT. "Gallant and tall, and a soldier withal, Sir Harry goes courting the fair • He has burnished his curls, and his' white hand twirls Ihrough the tresses, with tender care He is whispering low, but don't let your hearts go • Maidens, just watch, and you'll see, That Sir Harry can smile, and mean nothing the while i'or a gay deceiver is he. Scout him and flout him, with pride and with scorn. For l,c 1, sue you, and woo you, and leave you forlorn. 54 PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. He holds up his head, and tells of the dead And the wounded his beauty has left, Lightly he'll boast of the love smitten host By his charms of their peace bereft. Oh ! heave not a sigh at the blink of his eye, Though melting its beam may be'; He seeks to entrance your soul at a glance, But a gay deceiver is he. Scout him and flout him — he worships a stone- For the image he dotes on is only his own. This gallant and gay Sir Harry, they say. Has reckoned his worth in gold ; Sir Harry is not to be given away. He's only a thing to be sold. Maidens, don't fret, though his whiskers of jet Right daintily trimmed may be ; Oh ! give him no part of a woman's warm heart, For a gay deceiver is he. Scout him and flout him with pride and with scorn, And leave him and his beauty to live forlorn. >&mmmmmaimmmmimm-jMmS> vt;fr^ ;3^3a LOVE ^ND ROSES. pEN Prince Albc-L, at the Royal levee, received from her Majesty- own hand the rose, which marked her preference and sealed his bUrothal, the happy Ger- man Pnnce at once sh't a hole in the breast of his splend.d uniform, and inserted the star-like flower as near^his heart as he could, while he thus stood the envy of all rVal consTrfhe'""^^ ^'''""°' °' "P"'"' ''''' ^^"^^'"^^ ^is present royal consoit. he was m constant communication with her. and sent her every day some new and precious, and oftentimes surprisinT o token, equally exquisite and emblematical. On one occf ion it was abrilliant rose (love's chosen emblem) on a golden Tr n ablaze with jeweled petals, with great ruby heart At another voTk 7 ' ^\^^^V'"^^'"'"^ ^ ''^'' ^^^' -^^ ^-losing a X: yolk, and ravishmgly unfolding a bright, blazing diamond-the d:::.;:" ^'r^^^^''^-^' -' - ---^^ '-- beautiful ::: allv"^!!! Ir ^'^7 """'"''"' ""^'^'^'^ ^'^'^-^ ^ ^°'d- -- annu. b LwalTn"'' '"-^'"'^^ "'^ ^^PP^"-^' ^^ *^- period of is bestowal, to be most in favor at the Vatican. THREE ROSES. Three roses, wan as moonlight, and weighed clown Lach with ,ts loveliness, as with a crown Drooped in a florist's window in a tov, n, ' 55 5^ TROrOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. The first a lover bought. It lay at rest, Like flower on flower, that night, on Beauty's breast. The second rose, as virginal and fair, Shrunk in the tangles of a harlot's hair. The third a widow, with new grief made wild, Shut in the palm of her dead child.— Thomas Bailey Aid, ic'i. WHAT THE FLOWERS SAV. The red rose says, " Be sweet," And the lily bids, " be pure," The hardy brave chrysanthemum, " Be patient and endure." The violet whispers, " Give, No grudge nor count the cost.'' The woodbine, " Keep on blossoming In .spite of chill and frost." And .so each gracious flower Hath each a separate word. Which read together, maketh The message of the Lovd,— Susan Coolidge, JOY ROSE.S. "Pray rail me a pretty name," said he. One night to his darling Carrie, The girl he had courted so long that she Thought he never meant to marry. Up from his bosom she raised her head, And her cheeks grew red as roses, " 1 think I will call you ' man,' " she said, " For they say that ' man proposes.' " ist. ' Aid lie!:. age> LOVE. "The rose in her cheek-., is red to-night, lier eyes are filled with a. ender light And her heart brims over with happiness I-or her lover's proposed,^nd shefansvvered "Yes." FATE AND THE ROSES. Roses gather but to wither Odors blow in summer weather ; Wealth finds wings of migrant feather. Pleasures fly like bloom from heather, f ^^^'"^ss succeedeth laughter Joy finds grief come quickly after • Koll the years and what is left us ^' Ruthless time has clean bereft us • In Jesus, then, be thy chief treasure. Salvation knows nor time nor measure. THE LAY OF DEATH. ."I breathe in the face of a maiden. 1 kiss the soft mouth of a rose • My black wmgs are spread iorth aboJe them And round them my pinions enclose. ' I love them so well that thev die, A T T ''''"^ '^^'' '^^'^^^ i^ laden And sad with their cry. Yes. cruel my fate is and bitter, ThIu^'h'"'f^'''''^^°^^^^°"Jd decay. Though my fingers fall soft as the blossom J pluck, and would place in my bosom The petals drop sadly away tven gold in my hand becomes rrst And no gems on my forehead will glitt'er But change into dust, ^ * s; 5S ! I rKOPOSAL AND KSl'OUSAL. Yet, oh Love ! thou art strong, I am stronger, Though thou shouldest strive, I p.cvail ; Thy footstep is fleet : mine is fleeter ; Thy kiss it is sweet : mine is sweeter ; I whisper the tender tale. O Love, thy dart pierces my wing ; Though thy reign may be long, mine is longer, Lo! I am king!" THE TOMB AND THE ROSE. The tomb says to the rose above : "The tears wherewith the gloaming sprinkles thcp- What dost thou with them flower of love ?" The rose says to the tomb : " Tell me What thou dost with the many things that fall Into thy ever-gaping maw? Dull tomb, Those tears I transmute all. Honey and amber blending, to perfume, Amid the shade." " Sad plaintive flower," The tomb in turn replies : "I make each soul that comes within my power An angel for the skies." — Victor Hugo. THE BITTEREST ROSES ; OR, ANOTHER'S ROSE IS WORN. My bonds are fast, and time has done What time can ne'er undo ; But though the chain may torture one It shall not fetter two. I've loved thee long — I love thee yet And blindly, fondly believed My earnest homage gladly met, And tcnderiy received. LOVE. I thought thy smiie s most joyous beam Was kept for me alone, And dared to let my spirit dream Of calling thee its own. Thou wert the first to hail and greet My presence with glad words, That came as blithely and as sweel As songs of morning birds. Rut now 'tis past— the cup of bliss Has fallen from my lip, The soft dew of thy honeyed kiss Some happier one will sip. ^y iRN. My flowers are lightiy thrown asidc^ Another's rose is worn, My proffered vow now shades thy brow With frown of silent scorn. I breathe farewell with aching breast— My "Good night" still deferred ; But while thy hand by mine is pressed. No kindred pulse is stirred. My soul still pours its incense firfc Upon thy cherished name, But findeth not the altar spot Give back one ray of flame. I would not breathe into thy ear A murmur to reprove ; But why didst thou once call me " dear ?" Why didst thou seem to love ? hi I ^ PKOi'OSAL A\D ESPOUSAL. Why didst thou fling upon my way Hope's rosebuds of Life's morn, With rich perfume ; then crush the bloom. And leave but cloud and thorn ? It may be sport to thee, fair girl ; But promise, ere we part, Thou'lt ne'er again weld such a chain, Then spurn the captive heart. THE PLUCKED ROSE. She plucked a rose, and idly pulled The crimson leaves apart. I whispered, "Tell me why it is That rose is like my heart." " What know I of your heart ?" said she " Your riddle is too deep for me." " IJccause my heart was full of hopes. As leaves upon your rose : You scatter them from day to day, Ad now you scatter those ; And soon my poor heart, stripped of all I'orgotten, as the rose, must fall." Ah ! crimson cheeks and bashful feyes ! My riddle was so plain ; She stooped and gathered' from the ground The fragrant leaves again. " ^^' '°^e '" I cried. " and can it be. Sweet hopes may yet return to me ?" THE LADY AND THE ROSE. rose atd shf "^ T°u'' '^' ""^ ^'''' -»'"°-'' °f - "eautiful rose, and she gazed w.th ceaseless longing on Its surpassing loveli- LOVE. ei new, and sighed and wept over it.i i-fn i,„ ^ • ».^ she did so the glow of 27 «' ' " '""''""« '^""'^ ■ »"'! face, and its exquisite odo"crf!rH'.° '"'° "" """ "^''-^ r..ra„ce ana it! bea„t;tc:::r owr^CrJ' -'"t ^" '•" :r^rs^?:;\-;-rrfr""-- Those tears are the tel of o!„f* °' "^-tion-earnest prayer She has pierced, and : '„ / r'^l:;' '"^ '°*= ™ Hi,n who. son, and is in bitterness for Him J T "'°"'""'' '°' ""^ °"^y first-born." ™' "" """^ '^at is in bitterness (or his The Hebrew mothers, it is said h=A , , » child, by so constantly look-in. „' ,.' . T™ ""P"''""™ '^at became like her in feature, „7h " °' "' ""'"'■ ^'^1""'^ practicable) chose tie ^Itrof t? "" "T' ''^ ^-^■=" ship of their little ones '"'' '^°'' ""= guardian- very clear) the glory of the Lord . J""^' '' '" ' ^■'^^•^' ^'^'^ image, from glory to glory as bv fU ^ ^"^'''^ '"*° *^^ ^^•^'* / ^iory, as by the spirit of the Lord." Would you find the fairest flower That ,n earthly garden grows? Lo_,t springs where wrath-clouds lower T.S sweet Sharon's blooming rose Would you smell the choicest odor (Ijree to every wind that blows ?l See ! ,t grows on heaven's border. T.s the deathless Sharon's rose I LOVE AND LILIES. LILY-CUP was growing, where the streamlet tide was flowing, And rich with grace and beauty there it bent ; And passed the whole day long in dancing to the song, Which gurgling ripples murmured as the went. Though rush and weed were there, the place was fresh and fair, And wavelets kissed the lily's tender leaf ; The lily wooed the water, a*nd drank the draught it brought her, And never wore a tint of blighting grief A strong hand came and took the lily from the brook, And placed it in a painted vase of clay ; But, ah I it might not be, and sad it was to see The suffering lily fade and pine away. The fountain drops of wealth ne'er nursed it into health • It never danced beneath the lighted dome ; But wofully it sighed for the streamlet's gushing tide, And drooped in pain to miss its far off home. Now human hearts be true, and tell me, are not you Too often taken, like the gentle flower ; And do ye never grieve, when fortune bids ye leave Affection's life-stream for a gilded bower ? Oh ! many a one can look far back on some sweet brook That fed their soul bloom, fresh, and pure and shining ; And many a one will say, some painted vase of clay Has held their spirit, like the lily, pining." 63 Im et tide was bent ; to the song, went. ill and fair, jrought her, ^, 1th )ok ing; And wil."!*^/™!^?- <,f the summer sea. Though iimes";;-."; lhruT«Z'-<-A I LOVE. WHICH IS FAIREST. What's the fairest flower that blows ^ Shall we say the crimson rose, vy.th her passion and her pain Drenched, for tears, in summe; rain On, when sunlight fills her cup. Offering joy's incense up To the Beauty-giver high > Crown her fairest ? Nay. not I. What, then, is the fairest flower? Wild rose, blushing in her bower, Ch. dhood's emblem fresh and free F"ll of shy simplicity. Vanishing like childhood, too. Quickly as the morning dew When the hours lead on the day P Do we hold her dearest? Nay. ^•Hes from some woodland nook, ^j;r^"^,/^-<^'er come to look? Golden bells that tell the hour, trom their lofty steeple tower, i^ortho fays among the ferns. Or upright with rose red urns. iypeot mirth Arcadian Dear unto the heart of Pan? Nay, not ye. though fair ye are. Beauty's he ven a brighter star Holds enshrined. For purity 03 I I ,vho sat at the bar, that he7 d he 1 rj"'"^^ "' '"= '^<"-. •Jen, if there were more nightingale! a'd fc uT '° ''" ^^" Love, like the nightingale, is partial to the shade And ever s.ngs the sweetest beneath the silver moon Her n,us,c wakes the silence in vale and lowl, gad^ An makes the gladdest echoes when night'if at ^t's noon. Love, hke the nightingale, brings summer on her wine ' And waiteth for the twilfcrhc umVi ,• ^' And happy he that heather*!:; f,™; '"»"!'- -"J "^1™ = H,-. ir • ^"^^"i and he is kinrr H. l,fe ,s one glad anthem, and every sound a i^lm" SSSSS^^^^ttti?^^!!^^^^'*^^ FALSE LIGHTS. ' t The night has a thousand eyes, 1 iie day but one ; Yet the light of a whole world dies VVith the setting sun. The mind has a thousand eyes, The heart but one ; Yet the life of a whole life dies, ^ When I0V9 '^ done. ^ly OVE casts such a glamour or meteor-glare over its object. ^% Tu' " ""'•'" '""'"'''' '" ''' '^^^ °^J'^^' ^" its true ^^;^ bnghtness. Nay. m the vain brilliancy of this sentimen- (s '"^ ^"^tre. even defects themselves assume the semblance ofbeaut.es. and grave faults are brightened into excellentttTes And the love-sm.tten maiden, of whom we have read, had at least the tender pass.on. if not more sober reason on her side, whe beino I would not have a man with two legs, they are so common " And who can read the following lines without being amused aTthe wondrouoly transforming power of elective affinity.^vhich can t find an argument for its existence (with an additional embellish ment of song), m the blemish of a blind eyeball ? Though a sable cloud benight One of thy fair twins of light. Yet the other brighter seems (6 9.m ^'fS-ia-^'iit-^'i^rtf LOVE. As -t had rubbed its brother's beams, Or both hVhts to one were run Of two stars, now made one sun. Cunning Archer! who knows yet l^ut thou wink'st my heart to hit ! Closo the other too, and all Thee the god of Love will call. 67 AN EFFECT EFFACED. by the relatives of a woman for bl,/ '"" °"*'''"' '° ''™ i-ce i„,u,-rea. a^on, othr ;":; ; Vh cTh: ^ "^"^^^■ handsome. «A most beautiful face "was the " ""' with this, he desired that she should ' b platd TZb '^"""' diatcly in front of the iurv Wh,„ I, ^ '^^'','" *= ^ar, imme- pathetic and eloquent ac Ires, I!l, T"' '^ '^^'" ^ ">°« .othe charms vvhich ,1= pi'a J " ?. "^ ^"=""'°" "^ *= J-^ «..>ving colors the ,„ilt of thf^ etcH I TuTdTn' ''"""■" '" beauty^ When he perceived their fcelingt Jor tV i r" """' ": a v" r ° whaTtrr;? t--" "-trr counsel retained by Itporp :.; rt" a^^ T'T'" ''' was impossible not to assent ,„ ,h. observed, " that it «end had lavished on the tro^thJ^Ir^t'^H" l!" """"' ten to say she had a ,...*„ /,^... Thfsrct „f r u'r'"' ''''^°'- no means aware, was established, to h t t'r If ^"" "' qucnce was thrown awav ■ and fi° [ "' ""'■ "''^ ^lo- effect it had P.-od„cedTp;„ hem irsu;;^ ''" '"'''"^' "^ '"= his client. ' "'"'"""y gave a verdict against 68 PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. ONE LEG AND BENEVOLENCE. "We were no sooner come to the Temple stairs, but we were surrounded with a crowd of watermen, offering their respective ser- vices. Sir Roger, after having looked about him very attentively spied one with a wooden leg, and immediately gave him orders to' get h.s boat ready. As we were walking towards it, 'You must know,' says Sir Roger, ' I never make use of anybody to row me that has not either lost a leg or an arn. I would rather bate him a few strokes of his oar than not employ an honest man that has been wounded in the Queen's service. If I was a lord or a bishop, and kept a barge, I would not put a fellow in my livery that had not a wooden leg.' "—Addison, in " Sir Roger de Coverly " t LOVE'S IDOLATRIES. Doubtless a great deal of love existing between the sexes is lit- tle better than downright idolatry, being a positive breach of the first commandment. If not, why have we so mati>- wrecks among us of love lorn humanity, of both sexes? The affections having lost their sober poise, sometimes the intellect itself becomes dc- ranged.and the wits are lost along with the unbalanced moral nature. We should never so commit ourselves to the keepiiii^ or to the power of the creature, as to lose cu- chiefest hold of the Creator This would then be the best corrective to our' too-restive passions.' and prevent the bitterness that must inevitably follow a disap- pointed, inordinate de.-ire. I-OVE AND TflK TELEPHONE. '^^M'^ r"?' '''■■ f " '""' " P"™"= '"'""'^ fo'- deaf mutes in mm >v o w,„ ,„„^^.„ ,^ ,.,^^^^^ ^.^^^^^ ^^^ yd. ^^1 ^ th,s lady wa, walking, she noticed that whcneve street penmentcd with sound boxes till h„ t i '"'" idea excited him very mu^ caused h™' 7™ ', "™ '■''^" '^'^'^ n.«h, and at ien.th r^suTed in h lepZn; T^^'^^V" capital to push his idea. He was 000^1, f '^ "°"^''^ ary as teacher. The way The ZuT'u ! ""'"'"gbut his sal- due to cau,,es wholly^ Julide^f ' wf ^Tri :^"™^"r ''" Hubbard, Of CambridffP Mass had . T T . ^^'^d'"^'- Green in Germany Becomh;; T I- . . """"'' ^^"^^'^'' ^^ ^^^ool ^ny. becoming di.ssati.sfied with her progress he h;,H h« come home, and employed Dr. Bell to teach her Th , vvas very Jovable and Dr Roll ^ ^"^ ^°""Sr '^^^ he had for her wis ver^dil T T""' ''^' ^'^ ^^^''"^^ h^ between teacher and pit „ 7 ^^^ ^^^'"^^^ ^-''"^ existing - position. whic^^^rB:::^'!:—:^^^ gracefully surren e e/ ^ Bel^ '^^^'""^^^ ^^ ''^'^ ^^^>' obtained as fatKer-Tn law . i!. I .''°" ' '^"'■'^'"^' ^^'^^' ^"^ 69 > rn,iL^ i r> ^ i t ^i^ LOVE THE MEASURE OF THE MAN. My love is ruy weight.— Augustim ^f HE measure and original of all passions is love ; and the object of love is that which is really or apparently good. If our love be right it regulates all our passions ; for discontent or impatience ariseth from the absence' of somewhat that we love or value ; and, according to the measure of our love to the thing we want, such is the meas- ure of our discontent or impatience under the want of it. He that sets his love upon that, which the more he loves the more he enjoys, is sure to avoid the danger of discontent or impa- tience, because he cannot want that which he loves ; and thou^^h he loves something else that may be lost. yet. under that loss he IS not obnoxious to much impatience or discontent, because he is sure to retain that which he most values or affects, which will an- swer and supply lesser wants with a great advantage. The great- est bent and portion of his love is laid out in what he is sure to enjoy ; and it is but a small portion of love that is left for the thin- he ,s deprived of, and consequently his discontent but little and cured with the fruition of a more valuable good. He that sets his love upon the creature, or any result from it, as honor, wealth, reputation, power, wife, children, friends, cannot possibly avoid discontent or impatience ; for they are mutable, un- certain, unsatisfactory goods, subject to casualties ; and according 70 ** LOVE. 71 to he measure of his Inve to them, h the measure of hi.s disco.Ucnt and ,mpa„e„ee in tl,e lo,., of them, or di.,appointme„t i„ them. He that sets his love upon God, the more he loves him the more he enjoys of him. In other things, the greatest danger of d.sappomtment, and eonsequently of impatience is when he ove, hem best; but the more love we bear to God the more love he turn.s^tou.s,andeommunicates his goodness the more freely to us. Therefore we are certain that we cannot be disappointed nor o so luently, have any ground of impatience or discrn'tent, in Z whrch ,.s our ,„„„„ „„^,„„„_ ,,,, „,,.„„ ^^^ ^|^._^^^, ^^^^^ He that sets his entirest love on God, yet hath a liberty to issue a subordmate portion of love to other good things, as health p ace opportun,t,es to do good ; wife, children, friends; and in the' he may be cros.sed and disappointed. But the predominant love of- ."ese toT ' '""' """ ''^°"""' """ ■■""=-•=-. -- '-" .. Becau.se the soul is still a.ssured of what it most values the ve o God returned to the .soul, which compen.sates and Ir o™ the other loss, and the discontent that may ari.se upon it hand ofhim'h"' "1"^ " "•""'" "'^" "-^^^ '"''^ "™'^ '""- ^bo ness he hlTh "'■ "' """"^ '"'*• ''''■"^'"-' 1°- •'•nd good- ness he hath assurance, and therefore will be delivered out in me^. ure, upon most just ground,,, and for most excellent en<" He we n„Th::i7'; r T' '^'■* ''- -"■ -■" "- »"■ -^^-''-.e " well in the rod of God as in his staff. ^tJnlZTZ "",'7' °^°°'' '"'""<' "P "'' P™-r>«l bent and the htgs i oT ' T "' ' ^"'* '"" ""«"="'= "«•-«- to me tnings it loseth, and consequently a trentlp phH o with them, or bein.'^ u-ithout thom TU '^' ^^'""^ that is mado in tU ' , ^"^ ^'^^^ *"'""'t ^"d ^'^order mey deserve, the discontent and impatience in the 72 PROPOSAL AND KSPOUSAL. loss would be very little. Our rh.Vfr.«f u i • . rame an, , ,„, „,p^„,^,,, .^^ ,^^^ ^^ _^^^^^^ .hi .'uf anit^ '^^'^i^^^rHr^^gp wording to 'eris. The ion of that dy to our true love, ^bert San* I •^V ....^J^v (D ^iGhelSF^. ^WM ^/^. '"^^'''•" '"^^'^'^ ''"^ °^ °"'- ^^''- '•eiders; "very ^^^S' ^""^^ '"^^^d ; almost dry enough to be dusty in fact and ^ : thtt: d "^ '^^ '■"^^""'■^^ °^ -^ -- ~' ^f r '" !^" ^',"^' ^^^'•^^ interesting. " Too true, gentle d. n-H r : '""^ ^'' ^" '''''' '' ^''1 be found not aho^ether dcvo.d of general interest. If nothing else can relieve the unprl .smg and barren topic, we will endeavor to make at l.!l , chapter ; and chat, after all. is the cheeriest ^rf ;f"Jr/o: ^ zZn : zi 'T'' ''\ "''' '''- '-'- - ^-^ -^ at; ?ul and "' "'''"'■ ^"'^^ ^""^^ «^the most power- ful and convmc.ng utterances of the present and the past orof ancient and modern times. ^ ' "' °^ V. e would, therefore, introduce you at once - the presence of these nobler spirits, whose counsels have (in some case^ fn and. I had almo.t said, oracular. ^"^'nui SufiRce it to say that the word " Birhf»lr.r " o- -c howeve,-, be used indifferently in these pagt ' """" '^"' TPJE BACHELOR. t# -"'"-. and how they p, ; : ; i^;:""^; .\"-^ ^d- ^^;|^^ .hinks, are diversely ^-LL If: ,; ft ™- ^ '^ common theatre or seene.-Z.W«, " " .ou.ards thel'vTerjzrth::^';''" : r''°' '■'"'™"°" '"" "-- k«. doth naturally spread\"se f ^ ^ "°' ''"'" "P™ ™= °' ^ become humane a^nd'cht'tltl',!";::* "''"'■ ="'" ™'^="' -" nvould„otwastemy,spn-„j;of,.o„t,, '" t" '"'"'""' • ' ™"''' Pl»"t neh seed, " hen I am old. -^;«„. "Averse to all the troubles of a nifc Wedlock he loathed, and led a single life • tint now when loving ao-c hi'; I.mK. i ^ '• Jusdy he wants whom he before despised • He dies, and his remoter friends Share his possessions." And serve him right 76 ^S>^^^ «^i^^ to provide :s and ad- 'hich, me- as from a id motion one or a keth men BACHELORS. 77 I was ever of opinion, that the ho.iest man «rh^ brought up a large family, did mo.e s r^ceThTn le h " '"' single and only tal.ed of a population Fr'^th loLTl^ scarce y taken orders a xr^^r K^r t , motive, 1 had ™a.ri/o„y. and tr™;:i e rie :f;L" ".h' ^='°"'^ "' for a fine glossy smfaco hZ? u . "^''*"S ^own, not -G.Ms„^,A '""' '""'''""' ^^ '™»M -^-^-^ yell. —..<>, • O..^ If "the woman be the glory ol the man "as <;t P r i, where. let me ask, is hi., gtery who hL no ivi e f Z^ """' And if it be true that "a virL, ^'"'^ ""' >'™''^ ' band,"ishe„otcrt';,ie:.s:rii:erai:'; ' ""™ '° "=' '- Pope was only twelve vpar^ r,f n,v^ u i h;« fi,- .f / ^ ^^^ ^^'^^^ ^^ wrote the verses of his fiist hwzan poem, containing the words :- Then let me live unseen, unknown, Thus unlamented let me die- Steal from the world, and not a stone Tell where I lie. thatiif :;rr„^tt?hr 1," ■'' "'" ™ '- '"-■ -^ --'-- also p,rt better compa ^^^ w, ^erd trXr^^'^"™^' '"' you have led an honest life in 7? ^'''"" ""= """'"■ ''< What .:nrdv common sense characterized the earlier a^c , the wor d in tf is DarHrnlars r»-j r , <-ariier age- ot / particular? Did any of the patriarchs or "fati-r." of the sacred race live bachelors ? n;^ *u ,.. '^^^1.^.1^ ;..e., .,.,ain smgleP All t^X do" tt ^LTt^f '^^ .t^b:'!: taTd :;tt: -'^ ™"' °^^ -"'--"" --- , "u ,. ].>, saia of them in succession thaf th^r \\,^a ■'years, and begat sons and daughter.,.- "ctsLt I'J -gnlTTf •wMttHiHIi 78 PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. .t>- cchbacy as it is of protoplasm ; and the one had made the world just as soon as the other. Think for a moment what had been the result if any of Noah's sons had been unmarried ! Or if even but one of the heads of the twelve tribes had lived a single life! In the former case there had been one whole raee fewer in the human family, and m the latter case, one tribe wanting in Israel. Why even Cain, himself, counted accursed, dwelling in "the and of Nod." or Place of Wandering, restless as a " wild ass. used to the wdderness. the range of the mountains for her pasture, and she gomg searching after every green thing ;" Cain, according to his ovyn testimony, "a fugitive and vagabond in the earth." (as one has sa.d. a vagabond on his own territcry), he being driven from the pleasant antful lands, called euphemistically, "the presence of the Lord, st.ll found solace in the nuptial state ; took his consort with h.m and called his son Enoch (rest), and builded a city, and called t after h.s son s name. If a murderer may find rest in the married life, who need despair ? Marriage is the best aid to quietude and good citizenship. Now, N.canor abode in Jerusalem, and did no hurt, but sent avvay the people that came flocking unto him. And he would not w.lhngly have Judas out of his sight, for he loved the man from his heart. He prayed him also to take a Wife, and to beget children • so he marned. was quiet, and took part of this lifc (livx^d together' with him).~Apoc. t-Ut^ccncr -mm,- It IS uncomfortable to want society, and unfit there should not be an increase of mankind, concerning which Plato has left these wonderfn vv.rds : "This is the encouragement to marriage, not only that the human race may be perpetuated, but a ma^ may ave cLldrcn s children behind him when he is gone, to serve God BACHELORS. 79 " -^ l^lp-n'eet " means fit for all the necessities and uses of life keeper, and not a mere hireling, as the Hebrew phrase-a, feZ /™-,mpor.s. being in every way answerable to hin, 6«ed or Wm S le shl , r °^ ""P'^""" '■""'"■^"'y »d friendship Ahe shall always be ready to observe and .serve him, as to "stand b<^. any one." in the Hebrew language, signifies to do wh^er His heart is a harp out of tune, Who, with woman created to bless him Ungrateful refuses the boon, xNor seeks tender love to caress him. Had Adam dealt Eve such disdain, When God the first consort provided. The race had been made but in vain, And the doom of creation decided'. Adopt, man, the course that is best. Undreaming of marital trouble ; ' One bird never yet built a nest,) And all ,ifc in the ark was saved double n I 3tl ^ 'v^> v r.*it^ L %^'.^itu SHALL BACHELORS BE TAXED? K1^ "^ff- ''^ ■•'Proposition on foot in several of , he Eastern States to have laws passed taxing bachelors a certain um each year. The object is two-fold. to raise money rom a non-prodncing class of citizens, and to place bach- elors under a ban and show then that their manner of ■v.ng, w,th no object in viov, is not believed to be of value to a con,n,u„ity. There are two sides to all questions and we do not know which side to take, and conscaucntk- ho,ce, w,ll fight ,t out on that line, and claim that thcv- had rather pay a reasonable tax, or even an exorbitant tax, tha,', to mar ' They w,ll , ustrate their position by pointing to thousands o" ' red men who would be willing to pay their las. dollar in ta« f they could bo placed back in the ranks of bachelors. and more" "'"; "'" ''°" '"'' ™ '"= ^^='^^0 they are happier, and more free from care, and enjoy themselves better than the to pay a tax They w,l, show that bachelors are, 'as a rule rot.md them. There may be certain alleged beauties about the life of a tot: old : '■=.''^^°™^™'' - "■' Pnn,e,butwhenh e ■; o g t old and pams rack his body, sickness confines him to hi onely bed and he has to be assisted by strangers and hired he p ure h,s l,fe has been. No wife or children to minister to his wants he bachelor ,s a most forlorn object. It is then that he begins to look careworn, cross, and as though something was eating /, J hi te BACHELORS. 8l he marr,cJ man who „sed to look- that way is happy and con- ented. ,t .better .o have some care., and discern J'as a ma . r,ed man at the front end of hfe, when one can endure them and seeap,eceoclearskyahead.,I,an to have a careless picnic „ early he, w,th a prospect of dark clouds all the time after the indi- v,dua becomes old enough to need kindly offices from oving r,ends, „,stead of hiring somebody to be sorry for him a. so m h a week. The most pitiful object in life is a sick old bachelor a a boardn,g house, a hotel or a hospital. It is then that he h nk over h,sl,.st of friends, n^ale and female, who have homes, and he won d g,ve the world to be an inmate of one of those homef He hmks of the g,rls he might and ought to have married year's ago and as a h.red nurse brings him .some pills to take, he thinks how -uc eas,erhe could take them from the hands of a loving wife oT aughter. .A bachelor with a crick in his back thinks the h o ■ ft hTndr'r tr"' " " - -""' =°-''' -^ '- thinks' 1° of if r?T r '" '"'■ '""" '^°- ="^ '- -"W give ten year of .s he ,f he had given to the owner of that soft hand the S o ,ub he cr,ck out of his back, but it is everlastingly too late he went searching for a wife now he would have to fake o who was as old and toothless as he is, and her hand would be so hlr* ad bony that she would produce two cricks in the back where oy one grew before. He realizes this when he tosses in pain ■ a,!d the ook on h,s face plainly shows remorse. Bachelor friends may make hu, tl a. kmd of fnendship does not till the bill. He dies ai^d "he achelor fr,ends act as bearers at his funeral, friends of "ihe 1 y deceased, but there are no tears, unless there is a sister who ou' tto ^^^V^'«™="«>-lor is in hard luck, and perhap.s h^ 82 • PROPOSAL AND lioPOLSAL. ill THE MATRIMONIAL MARKFT the nation, and n other countriP.; ;« r.cf u ■ existence of Clemen. ,o call for -specialTeXaZ , r°'™"^ " '"'°"' ^"°"«" .he fa. Ha. ,o,„ be'en labthl Ha u;,':::'::: r/':: 1'''"'' chrect,on .ntimated is, therefore, but to be expected An r this, however, it is now found fh.^ expected. Apart from mamly traceable to the fact tHa. the "better half *\.'™''^ \'^ I I' ill I BACHELORS. ^3 none the nes, there il market ^tencc of s enougli of things fair sex n. The )sequent ngcrous s in the ii't from to take nd this 5pcct it. : back " classes, ubie is of the igs and c clerk tid, the lat she sense, do not ion of ng all natter STATISTICS OF BACIIELOIUSM. A married lady has favored us with the following report- Bachelors henpecked by their housekeepers. 3185; petteed bV legacy-huntmg relatives, 1 796 ; devoured by enL and elfish cares 064 ; trou led and tormented by nephews'and nieces^ oX' MATHEMATICAL CHANCES, Much as we may dislike to thrust arithmetic .nto the poetrv of love, we feel that prudent maidens will fh.nl- r ^ ce«ai„ .a.,-s.ic3 of „a„,-a,e probabii; !L p. a ed Z ^^T^ man who is good on Hfruro^ A • ^ ^ "^"^ ^y ^" ^."grl'sh- abandon hope, for eleven and a half chan c" ^'i ,; . ""h "°' s;or:r::*"^---'-"--~ i NATURE TEACHING THE BACHELOR. UT ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee ; ai.d the fowls of the air, and they shall teach thee • Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee ; and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee_M Seek ye out of the book of the Lord, and read ; no one of these shall fall, none shall want her mate.-Zw" * '' There, well -pleased, i might the various polity survey Of the mixed household kind. The careful hen Calls her chirping family around, Fed and defended by the fearless cock Whose breast with ardor flames as on he walks Graceful, and crows defiance. In the pond Ihe finely checkered duck, bciore her train Rows garrulous. The stately-sailmg swan ' Gives out his snowy plumage to the galp And, arching proud his neck, with hoary'feet Bears forward fierce and guards his osier isle Protective of his young. The turkey nigh ' Loud-threatening, reddens ; while the peacock spreads His every-colored glory to the sun, And swims in radiant majesty alon- O'er the whole homely scene the cooing dove Fhes quick in amorous cha«e, and wanton rolls The glancing eye and turns the changeful neck " A r m and and no one IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARSST (MT-3) /> ^ J^^. "% A *V <*f V '0 I.I 1.25 lU ■it ■Utau Ui IM 1.8 U 1 1.6 ^4^ ^. 7 Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 \ "0| V \\ % V KV 6^ % "^ rM' MP. >^ :/. ^ ■'^4^ m£p ^ •;l .< . 'i ■'i ,1 BACHELORS. '■ THE PASSION OF THE GROVES. When first the soul of love is sent abroad, Warm thro' the vital air, and on the heart Harmonious seizes, the gay troops begin, ' In gallant thought, to plume the painted wing And try again the long forgotten strain, At first faint warbled. But no sooner grows The soft infusion prevalent, and wide. Than, all alive, at once their joy o'erflows In music unconfined. Up springs the lark. Shrill-voiced, and loud, the m.essenger of morn ; Ere yet the shadows fly, he mounted sings Amid the dawning cloud, and from their haunts Calls up the tuneful nations, Every copse Deep tangled, tree irregular, and bush Bending with dewy moisture, o'er the heads Of the coy quiristers that lodge within, Are prodigal -^f harmony. 'Tis love creates their melody, and all This waste of music is the voice of love. That even to birds and beasts, the tender art Of pleasing teaches. What is this mighty breath, ye sages, say, That, in a powerful language felt, not heai j, Instructs the fowls of heaven ; and through their breast These arts of love diffuses ? What, but God ? While thus the gentle tenants of the shade Indulge their purer loves, the rougher world Of brutes, below, rush furious into flame, And fierce desire. * * The trembling steed, With hot impulse seized in every nei-vc, 8? f 86 PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. Nor heeds the refn. nor hears the soundin, thong • Blows are not fe!, but tossing high h.-s held. '' And by the well-known joy to distant plains Attracted strong, all wild he bursts away. Nor undelighted by the boundless spring Are the broad monsters of the foaming deep, ^rom the deep ooze and gelid cavern rous'd X hey flounce and tumble in unwieldy joy Dire was the strain, and dissonant, to sing The cruel raptures of the savage kind: How by this flame their native wrath sublim'd They roam, amid the fury of their heart, 1 he far-resounding waste in fiercer bands And growl their horrid loves. Still let my song a nobler note assume And sing the infusive force of Spring on man ; When heaven .nd earth, as if contending, vie r°.'T% t ^^'"^' ^"^ ^^"-^"e his soul. C.n he forbear to join the general smile Of nature? Can fierce passions vex his breast U hUe every gale is peace, and every grove Is melody? .>' *> ^vc Then nature Wears to the eye a look of love • And all the tumult ofa guilty world. Tossed by ungenerous^ssions. sinks away.- 77.;.^.... WINGED "LOVE MAKING." Hence the glossy kind Iry every winning way inventive love Can dictate, and in courtship to their mates Pour forth their little souls. First. wi™S confidence weillfo;eed^an™at; " '"'T^ ™"'""">' f™ ''-™ ""^er ..r™, an ge:t,;rer;:o; hT -^tror: r' "-"^ "-^ *^'-^ prophe-v "noH,.-„ KM ,. ^ millenium, when, as saith And a. Old O* a^^t T^ ""'^^ '" ^" ">- ''°'>' "-"'-■" gun.forb,-dde° g „: frbi^rb'd"'""' ^rr-" '■- ^^ ''°»-»"''- our approach and i K ^ ""'""'' *'"'°^' indifferent to path .th a Ldedvte^n'^t :::uT:::;sr "™'™' I ODE TO THE CUCKOO. Lend me your soagc. ye nightingales 1 Oh I pour Into my verse, while I deduce Prom the first note the hollow cuckoo singa. The symphony of Spring.-rAomi,«o« IRMAMENT voyager, whence comest thou. And what are the tidings thou bringest ? The time of thy coming, who taught thee to know, As thy sun-seeking way thou now wingest ? Over seas, , ^er skies, dost thou wantoning roam. Ihat few of us ever may see ; But say. as in brightr ss we welcome thee home, What news dost thou carry with thee ? Wc knew thee in childhood and ran in to tell Our parents that " Cuckoo had come •" Bm where are the ears on which those voices fell? The lights of that dear vanished home ? Oh, say. bird of passage, in all thy long flight Careering the broad heavens through Hast thou seen that dear sister that left'our sight ? 1 hat father or mother so true ? They left us with summer and followed thy track 1 o some far away region in space ; 91. 9|* I'kOi'osal and espousal. But, say, will the absent ones ever come back f Again shall we see each bright face ? "O, questioning mortal receive my reply : There's nothing can perish that's true, The holy and pure are all hid in the sky, And soon may be greeted by you. Since I left the autumn's sere leaf has been seen, And winter's wild winds have swept o'er,— The spring's fitful change-tearful April hath been Whilst that I summered bright on yon shore. I knew not the blasts, I saw not the change, I followed the sun on his way ; So these follow Jesus, the sweet plains they range Of love, and of life, and ,of day. Their voices, like mine, though long silent, shall sing, When the ransomed of God shall return ; None aged, infirm ; but a-flight on swift wing To bid thee fore'er cease to mourn. I come with this greeting-the winter is past ; I give thee this signal— the storms cannot iLst ; The rains must waft over, and leave the sky blue': Be this voice sufficient. Cuckoo, sweet Cuckoo." e^^.^^^-^^^^^^-^----^^||$W^^ AN AMIABLE BACHELOR. HOBAGE WALPOLL. ^f ^^pROM the age ot twenty-five his fingers were enlarged and ^Wx deformed by chalk stones, which were discharged twice a year. I can chalk up a score with more rapidity than .^^^ any man in England," was his melancholy jest ;:|> In spite of all his infirmities. Horace Walpole took \^ no care of his health, as far as out-door exercise was con- cerned. His friends beheld him with horror go out on a dewy day: he would even step out in his slippers. In his own grounds he never wore a hat : he used to say. that on his first visit L ",>H T f '"'' '' ''^ ^^^"'"^^>^' -'^^ he saw every meagre h tie Frenchman whom he could have knocked down in I breath walking without a hat. which he could not do without a cer- tamty of takmg the disease which the Germans say is endemieal m England, and which they call /. caU/^ cold. The first trial he used totellhisfriends.costhimafeve,buthegotoverit. Draughts of an-, damp rooms, windows open at his back, became matters of mdifference to him after once getting through the hardening pro- cess He used even to be vexed at the officious solicitude of friends on this pomt. and with half a smile would say. " My back i. ^he . same as my face, and my neck is like my nose." He regarded his favorite ,ced-water as a preservative to his stomach, which, he said would las longer than his bones. He did not take into account that the stomach is usually the seat of the disease 93 94 PROl'OSAL ANIi IvSI'OUSAI One naturally i„q„i,es ,vby the amiabfc reeluse ne.er in his best days though, of carriage : a diffieult question to be an were^ frequent y explained the problem. I„ the ease before us no urh e^.planat,o„ ean be offered, Horaee VValpole had ,nany votaries many fnends. several favorites, but no known mistress. The ma ks of the old bachelor fastened early on hi™, more especially afret began to be governed by his «/« rf. ,,,„,,, ^he notable -cr tret o be fd d ^T K """' "" "''"""'' ' '" """^ -"'='' - •am in !h ; °'"'°'''' "• "'" "'^ '""''-' yi^'dod. Ser- vants, ,„ those days, were intrinsically thesame a, in ou, but the d.ffered ,n manner. The old familiarity had not gone out but ex Par m remember how stern a ri,le his factotum Sam exercised over h,m. Sam put down what wine he chose, nay, almost invited the guests ; at all events, he had his favorites amo g ,hem And ■ n the same way as Sam ruled at Hat.on, Colomb was "^ /.^' the master of Strawberry Hill. "^ ' " His engaging manners," writes the editor of Walpoliana " and Rnt.e, endearmg affability to his friends, exceed all praise Not .1 e sma les, hateur, or consciousness of rank or talent, appeared in rnst^TlhaT Tr ^ '"' "' ™^=^=^ ^^^" '° ^-'P^'e any constraint that m.ght occur, as imposing a constraint upon himself the meZ' *"' ^"^^^ '"''" '"'^'^'^^ -" almost'annihn the mental powers. Endued with exquisite sensibility i.is wit never gave the smallest wound ev»n to ,h. . th, ,„^M „ .1, wouna, even to the grossest ignorance of the worid, or the n.ost morbid hypochondriac bashfulnL" He had, m fact, no excuse for being doleful or morbid. How fortu'::rr; r" ?; ""^^ ^" ^^•'" "-"-"^i -ha. prosperous 'pLkuoaT, tt '^""^"/"-'^''^ --"ed m! hewasTnabL to To ho^f rT"l '"'"''■ '"" '° '^"= "'-^ "'-- behind." To how few of the g,fted have the means of gratification been per- liACIIELORS. 95 ..littcci ! to how many has hard work been MoVcd ( Th.n t ccnturv R.H r J T ^^''''^'''^''''' P^ss/ons ran riot in one ccncury: Hcckford s p- fts wero nnllnfr.^ k u- • . »«nai landmarks of each a^ Bu. 1 w ,"T '" ''"°"'"- dccorou.,, even re,poc"l|o 1 , !. ^''P°'" """ P""'="'' CELIBATES FOR CHRIST'S SAKE eunuchs o men and " T '"""' -""^l"'. -hich were made to receive it, let him receive it ' '^^^ "' ^^'^ ba.h" :rzi\rs r: f ^--^^^ 'Hatkee;:;u. covenant ; ' '' "' P''"'^ ""=• ='"'' ^ke hold of my .ve .hem an eveHast^^ r^hl^ l^], ^ ^ ^^-^ ' wH, SHiis^i THE Wist BACHELOR. PROVING A CLAIM. ! ill ^imk ^^^TIZEN of Jerusalem, travelling throu-h the country ■■•t> •-•lu.l. Ill- WUUIU not recover, he sent for the landlord, and said to him ^^ '■ I am going the way of all flesh. If. after my death (s> any party should come from Jerusalem and claim my effects, do not deliver them until he shall prove to thee by three vv,se acts that he is entitled to them ; for I charged my son before startmg upon my way, that if death befel he would be obli-cd to prove his wisdom by obtaining my possessions." The man died, and was buried according to Jewish rites, and his death was made public that his heirs might appear. When his son learned of his father's decease he started from Jerusalem for the place where he had died. Near the gates of the city he met a man who had a load of wood for sale. This he purchased, and or- dered ,t to be delivered at the inn towards which he was travellinc. The man from whom he bought it went at once to "the inn and said, " Here is the wood." " What wood ?" returned the proprietor ; " I ordered no wood " " No." said the woodcutter, " but the man who follows me did • I will enter and wait for him." ' Thus the son had provided for himself a welcome when he should reach the inn, which was his first wise act. The landlord said to him, " Who art thou ?" S6 BACHELORS. 97 and "The son of the merchant who died in thy house," he replied ^ They prepared for him a dinner, and placed upon the table five P-geons and a chicken. The master of the house, his wife, two sons, and two daughters sat with him at the table. " Serve the food," said the landlord. pnvi4'5' """"''''' ''""^ '"" ' "''°" "' "^^^^^' '' '^^ '^^y son " ' '"".' TT f ''" '''"^ • ''°" ''' "^y -""-^' the merchant's son ; pray help the food." The young raan thus entreated divided one pigeon between the ons another between the two daughters, gave the third to the ,na, and h,s w,fe, and kept the other two for hi,nself This was hi second wise act. The landlord looked somewhat perplexed at this mode of dis- tnbution, but said nothing. Then the merchant's son divided the chicken. He gave to the andlord and h.s wife the bead, to the two sons the legs: to the two St::::;*"^^'^"^-^^^^^-^^-^-'^ ™^wasi:: The landlord said : " Is this the way they do things m thy country ? I noticed the TT^z t:Tr ^'<'^';pp-'°" "- pigeons', but s";! : ■ng. But the ch. ,ken, my dear sir ! I ,nust really ask thee thy meaning. Then the young man answered : " I told thce that it was not my place to serve the food, never- heless, when thou didst insist, I did the best I could and I tWnl have succeeded. Thyself, thy wife, and one pigeon make thr e thy two sons and one pigeon make three ; thy 'wo d "ghter and also. Therefore .s ,t fa.rly as regards the chicken. I ^ave to fZ and t y w,fe the head, because ye are the head o, the fami J it .0 each of thy sons a leg, because they are the pillars of theVl;7y! 98 PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. preserving the family name. I gave to each of thy daughters a wing, because in the usual course of events they will marry, take wing and fly away from the home nest. I took the body of the chicken, because it looks like a ship, and in a ship I came here, and in a ship 1 hope to return. I am the son of the merchant who died in thy house ; give me the property of my dead father." " Take it, and go," said the landlord, and giving him his father's possessions, the young man departed.— 7^//;///^/. ANCIENT PROVERBS FOR THE VOUNG. " Young man, talk not to me with infant wisdom. What arc the sayings of the ancients. You ought to obey your parents. Listen :— ' The father and the mother are the first deities a child has to acknowledge.' Is it not said, ' Children who obey willingly are as ambrosia to the gods ' ?" " Were you my friend you would not act thus ; because, as the proverb says, ' True friends have but one soul in two bodies.' " " I am told you have been trying to ruin me: 'But will the moon be injured by the barking of a dog?' " "You have become proud, and conduct yourself like the upstart who must carry his silk umbrella to keep off the sun at midnight !" " You talk about your hopes of some coming good : what say the ancients ? ' Expectation is the mid-day cream of life.' " « Cease to be indolent ; for, as our fathers said, 'idleness is the rust ofV.e mind.' " ^^i^ *^\» 1 1 ! y^ m m ^ Wmmmm t m m m A BACHELOR BEAU. 11^^'^^^^ ^''^'''" ^'■"'^'^^"' the second son of this worthy iS^ "'^"' ^°"°''^^ by his birth the 7th of June, 1778 No M' r''"^"'"' °^^'' '^'^^'^"°^ ^•"^ preserved, except that ^^ he once cried because he could not eat any more dam- .. t . '°" *"''■ ^" ^^''•' ^'^'■' ^^ ^^°"*d P'-obably have thought damson tart " very vulgar." He first turns up at Eton at the age of twelve, and even there commences his distinguished career, and is known as " Buck Brummell." (n the life of such a man there could" not. of course, be much stnkmg mcdent. He lived for " society." and the whole of his story consists m his rise and fall in tnat narrow world. Though adn.,red and sought after by the women-so much so that afhis death his chief assets were locks of hair, the only things he could not have turned into money-he never married. Wedlock m-ght have sobered h.m. and made him a more sensible, if not more res- pectable member of society, but his advances towards matrimony never brought h.m to the crisis. He accounted for one rejection .'n his usual way "What could I do. my dear /.//.," he lisped when I actually saw Lady Mary eat cabbage P" At Another ^ he s said to have induced some deluded young creature to elope with him from a ball-room, but managed the aifair so ill. tha the ove. ^) were caught in the next s.ee, and the affair cJme to an end. He wrote rather ecstatic love-letters to Lady Mary and Miss s, gave married ladies advice on the treatment of their spouses, and was tender to various widows ; but though he wen It m- lOO PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. he could love were poodles. When one of h;« m ^ creatures Dhvsicianxd and evolv'd. a thousand sprightly ways. The ghttenng court effuses every pomp ; The crcle deepens: beam'd from gaudy robes, Tapers, and sparkling gems, and radient eyes A soft effulgence o'er the palace waves : While, a gay insect in /^^■s summer-shine, The fop, light-fluttering, spreads his mealy wings. — Thompson- %%%VsVAVWs THE FAMOUS CELIBATE. ST. PAUL. > ness pale-faced, of an elderly look, bald on the head His eyes lively, keen and cheerful, and shaded in n.rf h u \ which hung a little over R = u ^ ^ ^" ^^^^rows, fullv h.n. H K T °'^ '■^^''^•' '°"&' ^"d not ungrace- fully bent H,s beard pretty thick and of a sufficient length Td like h,s locks, interspersed with grcy.^JVicoMor.s. These are traditional accounts, and not much to be relied on though probably they had some foundation in truth Sol t. I ''^^l^;-^l^^sm.n,.e.k.olce, but this also onj^^^^^^^^ such had been the case, we incline to the opinion that ho 1 .n the flesh," referred to by him But thi, ,VI„ r™. .he truth, but eontraL.,:: he say ' ^ZTT '"''T unmarried and widows, ,t is ,.ia for^hem if th^' Ib^j: evn '" 102 '5? ^9 THE ASCETIC CELIBATE. CHRYSOSTOM (GOLDEN MOUTH.) 6-:|^^T- CHRYSOSTOM, to fit himself for the ministry, as ii-^ ^°°" ^^ ^^ ^''''^"''' ''^^'^^'' •'^^'''^^ '"*o '^ mountain, ^'iS^ where, joining himself to a Syrian hermit, he learned S^ austerity, continence, chastity and mortification ; in this "l^- condition he spent four years, and then to subdue the lusts of the flesh more perfectly, he absconded himself in a desert, where his lodging was no other than the bare ground, his table no other than a great stone, and his exercise nothing but reading and studying the Scriptures, and mastering his carnal desires and sen- sual appetites. And, indeed, about this time, A. D. 390, these exercises began to be almost universal, and we that have never used such seventies would scarcely believe that ever there were such men, or that they did those mighty things that are recorded of them in history.— Anthony Ho r neck Chrysostom not unfrequently illustrates his subject by an anec- dote. Thus to show how selfish men may become, and how insen- sible in their covetousness to everything but their own interests he narrates the following story : " A drought once overtook our city and all were trembling for the last of evils, and were beseechi ' lua "S lii li'l 104 TROroSAL AND ESPOUSAL. wr'Z'en'of': ° u" '"^- ''^^ °"= ""■S"' '- ">- "-' which was spoken of by Hoses : the heavens became brass and a deaeh abt . ou^f ■; ': ^'""" '"' ''°™"=' countenance, wen^ wh 2 „ l:'''"'"^'- ■■ ^"^ "■"- -any,-nq„,Ved .he.ason wnerelo.e, ,n the common joy of all men. he alone i- sorrowful h, rttrnr f tt^^H-^"""'" '"" ""^ ^-^^^ p-^^on.;::; : '; •Why sad he t "'"' '"'""'' '''■°" "■^™ ^" '^^ — wheat' I hi ""^ '" ""^ ''°""='°" "^" 'h™^''"'' "easures of wheat, I have no means of disposing of them left.' " * "©iS, A CELIBATE'S LIBERT'/. cm .t our Lord ? are not ye my work in the Lord ? for he se!l"°r '" '^""' ""'° °^''^"' >"^ ^°"^^'-^ ^ ^'^ to you : for the seal of mme apostleship are ye in the Lord Mme answer to them that do examine me is this • Have we not power to eat and to drink ? Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord and CepLs P-1" u-hich leath, aftcr- srpec- ntiful iving great Jding went ason 1, he d by ison. ;s of » C IJ p }U as ml. '"Adopt, man, the course whi^h is best Undreaming of marital trouble- ' % ?}[' ,?«y«' yet built a nest; -•na „J h,e ,n the ark was saved double." BUILD A HOME \KE root somewhere, fellow comrade, Look out for the rainy day ; Don't float down the stream with driftwood. 'Mong the slush that floats away. Cease your dreaming of a castle, With its lofty spires and dome. Steer for some prolific harbor, Go to work and build a home. 'Riches never come by wishing Nor are castles built of dreams ; They are only gay and dazzling, Like the bright sun's golden beams. Leave your wishing, dreaming, sailing 'Mid the bubbles and the foam, ^nd select some spot that's pleasant, Go to work and build a home. "Fast are autumn's days approaching. Down the river lies the bay, Where you'll find not many landings. After youth has passed away ; Then I pray you take root somewhere, It is time to cease to roam. Say you will, that's half the battle. Go to work and build a home." 105 io6 PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. V ; The French, if is said, have no word in their language for Home; even as the Indians (and we assume also that with them ;:•;!'„ . "'"'"'" "■'"'"'^ '"' "" "^""^'^"^ ^"^ ""^ ^"i.^''^h But this the rugged savage never felt, Even desolate in crowds ; and thus his days Roll'd heavy, dark, and unenjoy'd, along: A waste of time ! till Inuustrv approach'd, And rous'd him from his miserable sloth ; His faculties unfolded ; pointed out. Where lavish Nature the directing hand Of Art demanded ; show'd him how to raise His feeble force by the mechanic powers. To dig the mineral fro^ the vaulted earth. On what to turn the piercing rage of fire, ' On what the torrent, and the garher'd blast, Gave the tall ancient forest to his axe ; Taught him to chip the wood and hew the stone, Till by degrees the finish'd fabric rose ; Tore from his limbs the blood-polluted fur, And wrapt them in the woolly vestment wLrm, Or bright in glossy silk, and flowing lawn ; With wholesome viands fill'd his table, poured The generous glass around, inspir'd to wake The life-refining soul of decent wit : Nor stopp'd at barren bare necessity ; But still advancing bolder, led him on To pomp, to pleasure, elegance, and grace : And, breathing high ambition thro' his soul, Set science, wisdom, glory, in his view, And bade him be the Z^r^'of all below. — Thompson. I ' BACHKLORS. lo; HEW TO THE LINE. The glancing blade with a mellow ring Went back and forth with the hewer's swing, As it neared the mark that straight and white, Told vihere the stick should be hewn aright. ' " Hew to the line !" were the words he heard Ere the last chip flew like a frightened bird ; Some tiny shreds from the narrow strand. And the work was done to the builder's hand. It was simple all, but the words were fine, And an echo caught them, " Hew to the line !" Aye, "hew to the line," in the tasks of life, Let the chips briskly fly as you wage the strife. Yes, work with a will while the arm is strong. And the mark is plain between right and wrong. The boaster will rant and the weakling whine, Kut strike a mark and " hew to the line." __^j,^^__ — Chicago Inter- Ocean, HOMELESS. How often, with regard to this matter of « building a home " do men (to quote the words of an ancient s.ge), approve the bette; and pursue the worse ! Take, for example, the case of John Howard Fame, the author of " Home, sweet home," as given by some tour- istic reporter : Near Carthage, in a lonely spot rarely visited, sleeps a wander- .ng mnstrel of our own times, whose one immortal song has been hea, d everywhere the English language is spoken. Like the rovin<- smgers of lovely Provence, many times he had nothing but his Wp. John Howard Payne «s a gay Bohemian, extravagant in a„7 r '=?™<"'"-' "ving much, too much, .-mid pleas- h art He'd ;\r', T ' '"" "' '''"'''' <"'>™ ''-P '" his heart. He d,ed wh.le holding the oifice of consul, and a plain n,ar- I io8 PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. -^ -Ho. or : Hre:'s:.rHrro:: re:::- •^■■^r ■ windows'a d from e 2a"'" "•' '•°'"*— "y looking ,„ ,, ™. Eve,, the :; eVrrt,:::;:? '°°t*"^- '^ -^^ ^'^"■^'- lu)curious house the hn„ ""*' ''""■-° *'"' '''=™- At on» ment, and among the ov teens he "T. '"*^''"^°" *^ P"- holly, the tovs and Z'""™"' ^e could see the red berries of They da,Ked anrf h/ t'V •■ "" ''^ ^^^''^ ^'^^' °f children tnbu^cd nd he a" "'"'' "'^"= ">= "--"'= «'ere dis-' flight V^,e the r"' ""*/'>°"'^- '-ghter, and screams of ^ I. wnen the merriment had spent itself ;i l.^fu ffirl u'p- --rN «^K • ■^H'^iiL nhPii a little, one vouno- u oh,: ■ ;; r:;;i:r v;f " ''-'-' "°-" -''■"= "^^ I have this from Mr, r ,r """' ''°"^'^'^ =° """e'-? .on..r.er.hos:e!!ll^~;r--,,^^ America, and a beautifnl m amoved to the metropolis of .'.■te of their first LTut'e.""' '"' "' ""=''^ "'-= '» "-^ the HOME, SWEET HOME. deri:"c"ho"d7:f'thlT' "r' °"= °^ '^^ "^P-"' -^l ten. s.-.e lines :r:c %:"::.. t: ".^ "r" *^ «-- foreign lands, the s.ibr keeping ^a.ch It 7- f" """"'""^ '" deep, the soldier bivouacking up n the b^lTd T" "" ''''' ■n the populous city and the f,i , battlefield, the poor wail the subtle'power of ;i i ml?:,":: "^ T,"'" ""' '''' "'"' ^^" ' ^^' '°"8:- There is something in the RACIIELORS. 109 emotions. What precou n. ^^'^ "'^'^ exquisite vviidL prec'oua memories and hallr.,,,^^ • . cluster around our childhood's home I uL f ^^^°^'at.ons themselves like golden thread/ . " ,^""°"^^'°"^Jy they weave thoughts and reeling p?or;;^;^:^^^^^^^^ and . oof of our which inspire us with hope and coura^. '°"^^"^P^^*'-" of "•ties of a busy, rushing world TU 7T '"" '"^^^" '"" ^^e activ- .ore fondly LeherisV:hrmem':;trmr--- ^" ''' ''' Home I how that blessed word thrills the ear. In It what recollections blend ' It tells ofchildhood's scenes so dear And speaks of many a cherished friend. O! through the world, where'er we roam Though souls be pure, and lips be kind, The heart with fondness turns to home i^till turns to those it left behind. ' The bird, that soars to yonder skies Though nigh to heaven, still seem's unblessed • It leaves them, and with rapture flies ' Downward to its much-loved nest. Though beauteous scenes may meet its view And breezes blow from balmy groves. ' U ith wmg unt.red and bosom true It turns to that dear spot it loves'. When heaven shall bid this soul depart. This form return to kindred earth. May the last throb which swells my heart Heave, where it started into birth. i:o J smM PROI'OrsAL AND ESPOUSAL. And should affection shed one tear, Should friendship hnger round my tomb • The tribute will be doubly dear, When given by those of " home, sweet home." SERVE THEM RIGHT. Let bachelors their woes deplore, Full well they merit all they feeUnd more. ~Po/e. ^(^— — ADVANTAGES OF WEDLOCK. *' A word to the wise is sufficient." fn-entThen" burhr'"'^' T ''' ' '^^'"^ ''" ^'"^ °'^ ^^^ ' -ne has tnends then but he ; none but he knows and feels the solace of the domesfc hearth; none but he lives and freshens in his .reen 1 age, am.d the affections of wife and children. There are no tears shed for the old bachelor • ft, • hand n, ,,„ ,,,„,„ ^^^^^ ^,^ ^n^tttl^inn'r^r/ and r ' : " r ""^ '" "'^''" '^" "= -" -= himself reflect d and from whose l,ps he can receive the unfailing assurances of care and love. No, the old bachelor may be tolcraterf for h s „one'/ he may eat a,,d drink and revel as such do; and he Jly sickL nd d,e ,n a hotel or a .arret with plenty of attendants abou hta hke o many cormorants waiting for their prey ; but where s he n,s last farewell ? He w,ll never know what it is to be loved and to hve and d,e amid a loving circle. He will go from thrworid ■gnorant of the delights of the domestic fireside and „" .Le erords of humanity his life is noted-a blank. une records I 'pe. me has : of the en old ready reave- lected, >f care oney ; Ji'cken : him, is the ;ceivc !, and ivorld :ordii ^Sf%^p I; ■r i ^^^^^^^mmmm 1 ■ i: ""W^^^^^ r""' ^''""^ ^'"'"'' ''''^ " '^"g"age-framing capacity • \q^--^ :^"^ P°^«^^sed of a philanthropic and generous nature M 'nvent a new word wherewith to designate that very ^ use ul-oftentimes beautiful-and utterly indispen- (. sable class of persons found in every community (ex- c vH.zed hfe . puzzhng to census-takers, and destructive usually of fam,ly reg,te „ who are known to the world as " maiden aunt " -., old ma,ds/' or what is more euphonious indeed, but mu h ^orecrcumlocutory and inconvenient, "ladies of an age uZ tarn ? Such a man would be a benefactor to his race a>Kl would earn the gratin,de of all the unmarried belles, who ha'; p s d t^ .ures of the ripening, slowly-rising " teens."' and me X' h e mn „^ ,,,,,.„^. ^., ^^^ ^^^^^^^ browning) "'ues.' ever sp.rus are, m a true and proper sense, "left," while many of ly l';Th:7r' T' T^ '-•'■■^'^-^--^••^^••ng sisters aTerTal hyP Who r "; ' ■■"^-'■•■'--^e^y appropriated. And wny ? Who will solve this social problem ? Of fh. , nay .ca.ce„ .Hat, unwon bcautles^Ilce Gree^l rveTpTn^' i, ^siernood, await the coming of the magical word. I I.H SPINSTERS. i n A. child no more ; a spinster now — A graceful maiden, with a gentle hrow ; A cheek tinged lightly and a dovelike eye : And all hearts bless her as she passes hy— Mary Howitt , HERE is no sweeter or more interesting character, whether in fiction or' real life, than the spinster who has for some good reason refused a lover's proposal, and has now reached the hour of old maid. The ordeal through which she has passed seems to have refined her feelings, and of itself insensibly 'draws to her the regards of all who k-now her history. Such a one is eminently lovable and sympathetic, forward in all good works, the warm friend of married men and women, the confidante of many a tender passion. Age does not wither the beauty of her disposition. She never slanders, never retails ill-natured gossip ; but, on the other hand, though prompt to put in a sensible word on a crisis, does not deem it her mission to set all the people around her right. She makes an ad- mirable aunt, and is very necessary to a large circle of cousins. Many a young fellow on the threshold of life bears a kindly remem- brance of the good nature and tact with which she helped him to steer clear of the shoals where he might otherwise have been wrecked. Formerly it was a maxim that a young woman should never be married till she had spun herself a full set of linen. Hence, all 114 MAIDENS, unmarried women have been r^n„^ • . still retain in .ecC an^ '^ ^Z^IZu 7 '"'''"'""" '"^^ titled to it." oceedmgs. though many are not en- INCREASE OF SPINSTERS of j™:::tT-„:;:d i:?"/:"?""^ .•ncreasr„,„„„,er have ,o earn .heir own iivin, Tp ace of "'.'"'"' "' ™™™ the earnings of n,en. Tlicvoa,. tT ° .'P'"'''"^ and husbanding separate existence of their own n T", T '" '" '"'^^P''^"^ ^-^ ..-Shin, the existence of :;r 7r rth^ersltr"^ ^ '; women thousands take servir^ fn r . ^^ number of - ..-paid ran. Of neerirr:::^^:^ '— - -.Td r::ra;eXror:;r^"= '---'^ - -- their daily bread, have ye. to seek T "'"'"'^ °^ '™*"'S for in life, .0 relieve the tedCm „ f t."'= °""P^"°n. some interest st.e pleasure merely thou" h,." ^^"""""■='™^^- ^ome pur- others take to charitrblp:°,-*l;:r "'": "•'°" *= ^pp"''=.- or ffood and mischief. ThC hos SsTelt T'^ '""'' '"'""" or artistic pursuits, are perhaos th. ! ! . *"" '° "'""/ dancy of unmarried wome ex ''"'.'"""^PPy- That a redun- regarded as caused who^.o rlK, r ^^ ' '" " '""^' "°' "» °f ">e sexes. This diffeLnce ^^^ ^.^ 'I"''^ [" *= """-^ per cent., whereas .he number of "'°" ^"'°""' '» « -untsnot toa,butactuat.o3rp~ ^T" ■" ^"^"-<^ tvvo out of every three women are marrfcd.'" " '° '''' ""'^ f ^^^i^^!^^±^:^t^^^st^^ ^3 : ^^^ MM Mm! ^ m i' MAIDEN AND HERMIT. * # * i. |ND ah ! forgive a stranger rude, A wretch forlorn," she cried ; "Whose feet unhallowed thus intrude Where heaven and you reside. " But let a maid thy pity share. Whom love has taught to stray, Who seeks for rest, but finds despair Companion of her way. "My father lived beside the Tyne, A wealthy lord was he ; And all his wealth was marked as mine, He had but only me. "To win me from his tender arms. Unnumbered suitors came. Who praised me for imputed charms, And felt or feigned a flame. "Each hour a mercenary crowd. With richest proffers strove ; Amongst the rest young Edwin bowed, But never talked of love. Uii nomoo i' MAIDENS. in humble, simplest habit clad, No wealth nor power had he ; Wisdom and worth were all he had. But these were all to me. "And when beside me in the dale. He carolled lays of love. His breath lent fragrance io the gale And music to the grove. "The blossom opening to the day, The dews of heaven refined, ' Could naught of purity display To emulate his mind. "The dew, the blossom on the tree With charms inconstant shine ■ Their charms ^.ere his. but woe to me ! Their constat y was mine. "For still I tried each fickle heart. Importunate and vain ; And while his passion touched my heart I triumphed in his pain. ■'Til! quite dejected with my scorn He left me to my pride. And sought a solitude forlorn. In secret where he died. "But mine the sorrow, mine the fault , And well my life shall pay ; riKseek the solitude he sought. And stretch me where he lay. Mnd there forlorn, despairing, hid. ' 11 lay me down -md die ; "7 118 rUOPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. 'Tvvas so for me that ICdwin did, And so for him will I. "Forbid it, Heaven !" the Hermit cried. And clasped her to his breast ; The wondering fair one turned to chide— 'Twas Edwin's self that pressed. "Turn, Angeh'na, ever dear, My charmer, turn to see Thy own, thy long-lost Edwin here, Restored to love and thee. "Thus let me hold thee to my heart, And every care resign ; And shall we never, never part. My life— my all that's mine ? ''No, never from this hour to part, We'll live and love so true ; The sigh that rends thy constant heart. Shall break thy Edwin's X.Qor~Goldsmith. ii CHARACTERISTIC MAIDENS A BENEVOLENT MAIDEN. 'SS ST. PIERRE, ,he Tennessee heiress, thinks she ■^W "," t^"""' l*"" P"" "*'■"= P^"'''^ "' 'he South. She .' -:^ ,nt.„ds to for,„ colonies, »nd ,i,e the poor whfte ^ house d work. She will give each fa.niiy timbe •^ to build a house anH a f^„ . , '■"uuLr acres of land. ''" ^"^''^ '^^^^ °" twenty A TOILSOME MAIDEN. Miss Elizabeth Marriott, a cultivated youn.. ladv of Sf.nf , v.llc, Duchess County N Y ou-nc . r f ^ Stanford- of .he work upon it a'' her hL; In s"^^;^ t """^ ''^ ""'^■' ;ng, and loading hay, so.eti.et Tepioi i^ ZT"'' ™'- horse which is the terror of ail the blackstZnear and;' '"""^ .mpossibie to have it shod unless its mistrT u " """'^ the safety of the man's lirnbs " °' '""'' '° '"'"" A VAIN MAIDEN A number of young girls were d.scussmg the deh^ht. nf .i • summer outings ^nci ron^,,. • aeiignts of their -ncin, boa.ifg,rin:rZur :z '"Lzt °' r was enthusiastic about the mountains, :hich shetdtili.Lr I^ i 1 V i PROPOSAL AND KSPOUSAL. first time, and where she remained all summer. "Girls," she said " 1 made a great mistake in having both my mountain' dresses in grave colors. One ought never to go to the mountains without one bnght-colored climbing suit, for the bright colors set off the moun- tams so well." -«0'> -•—.»- li One of the innocent tricks of the Philadelphia shop girls is car- rying their dinners disguised in a music roll. It looks as though they belonged to the conservatory, and were going for an eaHy music lesson. VVHV GIRLS DON'T MARRV. "A great deal has been said," remarked a lady clerk in the Treasury Department, "about why girls don't marry. So far I have only heard the men quoted, and they say a great deal about the g.rls losing their charms and becoming less feminine by mivin- w.th the business w^rld, and about wanting to better their co.idit tion by marriage. Now, if you reporters really want to know some- thing about the matter, why don't yoi. go to the women themselves? 1 II just tell you one things and it's what I believe to be an impor- tant reason. When a girl is kept at home, and surrounded by girls, and hears of the greatness of the masculine part of thc^'-^w^,- homo, and only meeting him at picnics and in the parlor, she con- ceives rather an exalted idea of what he really is. Then when she secures a position, and meets them as they are awav from the -as- l.ght's uncertain glitter, her idea of the actual fact falls considera'bly from what it was in her inexperience, even if she still retains the Ideal in her mind. The fact is, we are like Diogencs-wc are hunt- ing for an honest man. We know more about them than we did and so the right man is harder to ^n^r -Washington Republican ReHfiotivft and thoughtful and Hohpr ami Hwn«f. mie liAH .•o„i,, i„ a place where two roailB luoet • And which Bhe will take, the reftdor may gueas By tke love in her eye and the " home " in her drew FAMOUS SPINSTERS. rf|g|^OK at the list Elizabeth of England, one c ^ «r:.r..?'.™'"''™— g-. Her rule of the most w,.,fo- . , sovereigns. Her rule over Great ^ age or .He E„g„-3h-spe"a.,-„; ZX^ ^^.^^^ other ^n,er Z^h: "^ 'T 17'- ^^ " '^^ °X" '. »- .his woman's Iri iT; ' .^ Tf ^""'\"^-" * ■"-■«■ writing similarly .o Sir Wahe S Itt H 'T ' ""= """'^'" o* called the .o.her of .he wJl^yto.." u^pTl "^" "^ died an old maid Th^ rhu ^. ' °'^^'^- J^"e Porter lived and Of war..,., an^- ^'t::^"^^^:^^^"'''^' hear.s of millions wi.h exrifem.„. T' ^'"' ™°^«=' *<= -d P>ay writer, wa .o„ 'oT W.^'^f" 'T"' ^'""^- ^' gracious lady, heroine -.(V.L, u "^ Nigh.ingale, most written ..Miss-, befo hX nale Th '"''^' "" '° *^ P^^' might well erave to .ale the . "'"" "'^° ''«""'' "'^''O'her the brave .piri, of Ength n s r*^ "f "'■"^""=- ^'''" I^^- evangel, was the bride' he ™;^°:r' "*°"r""^ '' ^= =■ '^'''"" names could .he reader and the^ ?" °"'''- '^"<' ""=" what world may not ^not b„."wet oT fd th "Vr" "''°"' "'^^-• lage, the church, the family Lor^nd pi T 7'" "' '"^ "'" JVonA Briiish Advertiser ^ "^ '"=''™'' »" worlds.- 121 132 PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. FORTUNE AND LOVE. Let me live without Fortune if Providence will it, For Joy can be found where small treasure is shed • Those who bear a full cup are the aptest to spill it And oftentimes walk with the narrowest tread ' I care not though fate may deny me profusion, If earth will but show me some rays from above • Tell me not that such life is a dreamy illusion- I could live without Fortune, but not without Love! Oh ! 'tis pleasant to know there are beings above us Who tune the most exquisite strings in our heart, To feel that they would not be happy without us And that we, in our loneliness, sigh when ^ e part Oh ! there's something divine ,in the thought that we cher-'sh A star-beam within us that shines from above- To know, that if all which gold gives us should perish, The greatest of Fortune still dwells in our Love I Oh ! 'tis glory to feci that we live for some others. That Self is not all we depend on below, That affection yet links us to sisters and brothers Whose faith will be constant, come w^al or come woe. Though the vulture of trouble may harass our bosom, Ne er fear while our spirit is fed by the dove i Let the desert of Life give Eternity's blossom. And we'll live without Fortune, while favored by Love ! — £/tsa Cook. \ CELIBACY FAVORABLE TO AUTHORSHIP. thinl'^F-'W' ''"' "'''" '^''' '''''''y ^^°-- -^hows us two wcrech.ldless; and. second, that they have been generally long- MAIDENS. II \ !sh. JO d. 123 nved The I,,,t of literary spinster., includes Frederika Bremer Em,ly Bronte Hannah Moore, Harriet Martineau, Eliza Cook M,ss M,tford Augusta Evans. Jane Austen ; while that of ^hildic, women .ncludes Mr.s^Nichols (Charlotte Bronte), Mrs. Somerville, Mr .Cross ^^eorge Ehot), Mrs. McLean (Letitia E. Landon). Sev- eral had one or two children only ; forexample, Mrs. Barrot Brown- .ng had one son, and Madame Darblay one son, Madame de Se- v,gne t,„o chHdren ; Madame de Stael also had children It s no tal^rd r ■"" k" ""'"'" "f '"^"nguished intellect'ua talents, and who are active brain workers, are liable to be childless or to have but few children. The longevity of female brain-worke .s s,mply ,n accordance with the established fact of the longevity o ^m": "s "^^'"-.r^^'t Thus, Hannah Moore died a. the age of 88, Ms. Somerv,lle at the age of 92, Miss Mi.ford at the age o. mer S^M T, '".'"" '""^- '^ ^^"S"' ^^ ^o. Miss Bre' raer 64, Mess Edgeworth 82, Mme. Darblay 88. AMERICA'S STRONG-MINDED WOMEN. oroductl™"'"' ""'"' '"■' " """■ •'""We-quick, and where every product, from a comment downwards, is of the largest size there are crops of over-taught girlhood ripe already for our inspectir Womenof the middle classes there can di.,cu.ss the nebular h" m Hud r' '"'""• " °"" •^"'- °"— ^ »" 'he bat. Mr. Hudson, m h,s recent -Scamper Through America,' declares tha to converse ,„ the railway cars with ladie. returning fro-r con treaty But he adds that taough one could revere them, almost worship them, to love them was out of the question." :m^: '^.H t^xf DAUGHTERS. ERTAIN it is that there is no relation so purely angelic as that of a father to a daughter. He beholds her both with and without regard to her sex. In love to our ^ wives there is desire ; to our sons there is ambition ; (a ' but in that to our daughters there is something which there are no words to express.— Addison. — mm^ Of all the knots which nature ties The secret, sacred sympathies, That, as with viewless chains of gold, The heart a happy prisoner hold ; None is more chaste, more bright, more pure, Stronger stern trials to endure ; None is more pure of earthly leaven, More like the love of highest heaven, Than that which binds, in bonds how blest, ' A daughter to a father's breast.-/. W. Cunning/mm. MW- In a father's love, like a well-drawn picture, he eyes all his child- ren alike (if there be a parity of deserts), never parching one to drown another. — Ftdler. 12i -MAIDENS. a\UGHTER'S NAMES. 125 .he fee"/ K^' "' T: °' *' '"' J^"""^ ■■ ^"' *<= "-e of >nr.': ''"'"'•^"^-"f'he third, Keren-happuch.- drc dc tnc present day given to the women in thp Focf The firs, na™e ?.,„,„„, recording ,0 the Targu^ m an ■ dav " or may as probably have the signification of ^tur le or ■■ dot'" dered by the vL^: .rj I^'ltfo^^r-rr''^'"- rii-;:;;ta~'^^r f =^ which the name of fe™ , " ,T 7 ""' """"' "'^S'^' ■" agreeable and bLut,^" irlrlit Tu^s "7 " '°""'""' stones, and the hke Tl,. 1 ! ' ® ' P"f"™^». Precious one of the chac.er^tics'o ^o:,- ra,': ttt 7' T'""- " '^ the baclcground th- matcril 7 '' '^° "°' '''="=? '" ment, bu? obtrude. I'mont "■'"'' °' P"^™^' ^^°™- period as the name of Mh h i, ""''"' *' ''° "">' "="'>- » 't existed in th\7mrirt::nir;::rKrn/="7^™^^ among the ancient- v-„ r ^ "^^ ""• 3°) ; as also mummies as ::^'affor:h":ret^r'' "T '"t "^'""■"^^ ^"^ black powder and th. TJ '"'''^'' "'"' ''™*'"^ °f*e -e oL be;:t:: rt^erc^rmtr^^^'^r '" - rf i2e> PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. THE HEART ASSERTING ITSELF, OR THE CLOISTER. '" Look on the placid water'— The wily abbess spake — ' Look and receive, my daughter, A lesson from the lake. Upon its face no wrinkle Is made by br .s/o of even ; Bright in its bosot/: t v'inkle The far-off stars of heaven. 'Tis thus the Bride of Heaven Doth calmly pass her life ; Her heart is never riven By worldly sin and strife. Serene in her seclusion, In quiet dothther soul. Unruffled by intrusion, Look upward to its goal.' ' No, no, my Reverend Mother'— The lady bright replied ; ' Unto my heart, far other The lesson of the tide. If It were always sleeping. Devoid of fluctuation, Soon o'er it would be creeping The greenness of stagnation. ' The great law of Jehovah Is Action here on earth ; It is the only power Of spiritual worth. Then tempt me not, and think not To shake my soul with doubt ; God helping me, I'll shrink not ' But fight the battle out." i H MAIDENS. ACTIVITV Tilt; KAKI.:.ST JKWEL. Work is with enjoyment rife, Conscrvates both health and life • Merrily speeds on the day, Chases care and gloom away. 'Tis the bracelet on the wrist, Tis the brooch of amethyst, ' 'T«s 'he circlet on the brow.' 'Tis the fruit upon life's bough • 'Tis earth's blessing, not its ban, 'lis the assurance of a man. Honour to the men who toil. Though at common tasks they moil • Shirtless arm and gloveless hand^' Honor to the noble band : Let men rank however high, VVorl- is life's sole dignity. iic no aimless idler then l^ut a worker among men : I'lanning, building-every sun Something ended or begun— Filled with special toil thy hours As befits thy gifts and po;vers. 127 —S. IV. Partridge, QUALITIES-SURPASSING LOVELINESS. He. father's well-filled library-with profit And could talk charmingly Then she wodd sin^ And plav. too. passably,- * * ^°^'^ smg 128 rUOI-CSAL AND ESPOUSAL. She sketchea rrom nature well, and studied flowers. Which was enough, alone, to love her for • Yet she was knowing-in all her needle work- And shone-in dairy-and in kitchen, too- As in the parlor. — .I'fcVl, • — ^(^— When sailing on this troubled sea Of pain, and tears, and agony ; Though wildly roar the waves 'around, With restless and repeated sound, 'Tis sweet to think that on our eyes A lovelier clime shall yet arise ; That we shall wake from sorrow's dream Beside a pure and living stream." HUMAN waywardness; OR, HOW SHALL WE DLSPOSE OF OUR DAUGHTERS. Perhaps the native depravity of the human heart is nowhere more clearly discernible than in its constant longing, cea^^ e r,b"d7 t:"'"- '"°"""'"' "^"^"'"S >"- th.inh bitedlj forb dden. The story of the forbidden tree in Eden ■ the fable of he. covered dish "on the ample table; the old lege d o " u beards bloody room, that startled us in the nursery all poin" the natural heart of unregenerate man. Man's very instincts are ZZTV"' °""'™^^ '"= °"'^ "^^ '° Pursuade : to course of nght .s to impress him with the belief that it it is "very truth and strict morality. We have heard of a French women, who, while greatly eniovin-. herself m a legitimate and ordinate way, yet compltined that thlr^ I MAIDENS. 129 OF :» wa, no, a touch of .he h,ord,na,o abou. i,, cclahnin.: ..Qh ' .hat there were a tt e s n in i> " c ui- i ' sweet morsel." tongue as a so, for ,-. is almost lure to ™„ a t , irT 'T "'""' "'" "»"'^"^ contrary to the course of good c „!■ Th:"' ™'' ^'° '"''''' cannot quite recommend. '^^ liROWN'S MATRIMONIAL MKTIIOD, as .L'lT"' ! f °" ' "' ''"'' " " *=" >'°"^ K'* =>" "'arry off as soon as they are old enough, >vhile none of ,^i„e can marry » wheifstL:::^:^^""™'"" ' ™">->'»"^''-«^o„.hebuc.. " But what is that principle ? I never heard of it before " m. I ^''!; !, "?'' '° '"'"' ^ S°°'' ''^'l "f buckwheat, and it puzzled njyhu^h t.,.„ ;--,:f,°r:arfet\rrt f t::' dtzrrtd tetr;:::rs;:ar v:^ " them away and put up the fence a few times but the , ^^ them away, the more anxious they be^aJe ^ 3^: t" .h.shadbee„_re.,eatedafew times, the cattle dl™!:;; .0 ^a" I ' I.^O PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. the .straw, and cat it they did. every bit of it. As I said. [ marry my g.rls off on the same principle. When a younjj man I don't i'kc begins calhng on my girls. I encourage him in every way I can I tell him to come a. often and stay as late as he pleases, and I take pains to hint to the girls that [ think they'd better set the.r caps for him. It works first-rate. He don't make many calls, for the gnls treat him as coolly as they can. IU,t when a young eliow that I like comes around, a man that I think would suit me for a son-m-law, I don't let him make many calls before I give him to understand that he isn't wanted around my house. I tell the g.rls, too, that they shall not have anything to do with him. and give them orders never to speak to him again. The plan works first rate. The young folks begin to pity each other, and the next thmg I know they are engaged to be married. When I see that they are determined to marry. I always give in. and pretend to make the best of it. That's the way to manage it." Nothing needs a he.— mis/wio-zon. Buy the truth and sell it not-SoAmo^i. i V ! %Mi ■Ul' cr. MISSES. JjEIpOTHF.R word in the Icsso . ., • ., im will ,„is, H,e n,ar. " „r '" "' "P'-'=«'°". " he f S sne„, and looked a lle.le confLd 1. r„: o' e7? (9 low, sure that- hn h^A *i 'cngtn one fel- thereb, of ,eUln, .0 1 .op'ro'e^C;^ :7^' ''" """-' and, impatient to reveal and profit 1^"^' °"' '"^ '°™"''- tended arm, waiting for my si™ to . '■'■^' '"""'^ '^'^ =- with a look of triumph hrsj;:; TtThrt'^'ft ^''^' '^'■™"' ■nean. a woman that hasna gotten Zl rlK^ ^X^' MISS NIGHTINGALE. "Miss Nightingale forever i" ^h they gave the herofne of hZ' a, f mT ''°'"='' '" "^'^^ation, as England. " Nay, not MiT^tt : r ""^ «'""°"^ "^^""n » significant and graciouf lu f T °' ''"" '"' '^P"'"' -"h a not natural norlngen Lurira h'""/'""- " '""^ "^ — •■ Missed " for ever. ''™'' ""'' '°""S nature ,0 be :©;•©: -vfERCVs DECISION. :i3e& Mtmummi^ PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. Change my nature, and to have one that is cross to me in this I Bountiful that was married to one of these churls ; but he and she could never agree ; but because my sister was resolved to do as she had begun, that is. to show kindness to the poor, therefore her hus- band first cned her down at the cross, and then turned her out of doors. Prudence.~And yet he was a professor. I warrant you ^^-cy Y 3 h a one as he was, and of such as the world is now full, but I am for none of them ^\\.~Bunyan. IRGINS IN HARNESS.—^ RUSSL\N CHARM. The Village of Minussinsk in Russia, has been deeply troubled by the pest among its cows ; anc^ the conscript fathers of the com- munity held a meeting to decide upon the best means of putting a stop to the calamity. It was agreed that resort should be had to the old Slavonic custom of " round-ploughing." The Sveit ^W^s an account of the process. Seven virgins, two old women, and a young bachelor of good character are elected. At midnight a pro- cession of the peasants is formed, led by the two old women carry- ing pictures of saints. In the rear of the procession the seven maidens are harnessed to a plough, which is guided by the youn^. man. A light furrow is ploughed around the village ; and thereby according to the belief of the local agriculturists,' a barrier is pro vided against the evil spirit which causes the pest : he, has no power to pass over the mystical furrow-.S/. yames Gazette. We are ready to vouch tor it. that seven maidens, with an eligi- ble young bachelor behind them, will never be able to plough a straight furrow. i- i^ ^ Love's watchfirea buro with a steady l'Iow f ^^^ff '^^ '^'^T 'l*""'*'"'' «'"' "'« '^iltl winds blow ; And affection's feet go at equal pace Thouth aestiuction drives in the teJnpest'H trace ^•mmttrnmi^ MAIDENS. THE VILLAGE BELLE. He was a robust man and strong, And she of slender mould, They married young— too young, in fact, To love real well when old. He was a popular boy in town, And she i country belle ; Such contic .tsmate and learn too late, As more events will tell. He set his heart on rapid gains. And she, to do her part, Slaved, worked and saved, took extra pains To get an early start. ^ Long winter days, in timber woods. She kept the camp and store, And rapidly they gathered gold, As (ew have done before. She cooked the meals and made the beds, Did washing for two score, And proved a helpmate true indeed— A wife and something more. To crown their labor and success And do a double part, She raised his children one by one. And gave them each a start. He, foreman of the lumber woods. And buyer for the store, She, salesman of rude, clumsy goods, Is now a belit> no more. 133 134 PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. The camp has brought her overwork, And undermined her health : The wrinkles thick upon her brow Show how they use their wealth. 'Twas once his manly, honest boast That she was very smart ; That from her savings long ago He got his early start. 'Tis said that miserly he grew And scrimped and pinched his gold, And every hardship gave to her, And every luxury sold. His frequent trips to city With buoyant hopes and pride, The sight of many handsome ones Made him neglect his bride. And now his heart is harder, And now her face is old ; While larger grow their riches. His iron heart grows cold. Dame Gossip tells a story — A woman in the case — But he rides on in glory, And wears a smiling face. A deacon and director — A man of solid make — He would — but she is in the way — High social standing take. . MAIDENS. And now, would you believe it ? He bribes a wicked one To claim he's been too intimate^ Confesses what he's done ! A bill details the muddy lines, And words unfit to say, That he would break the wedded bonds, And cast his wife away. His wife who toiled so faithfully, Whose wrinkles tell of care, Who bore him four bright children. Who wears, now, silver hair : Ky threats and low devices, He gains her name to deeds ; Poor soul ! In agony like death. What knows she what she reads ? The lawyers hear her story, The bill is quickly do ne. He gets his eight-tenths of the wealth. And s/ie gets barely one. The press has heard the story. The press repeats her cry, They raise a furore on the street? They will not pass it by ! With ample wealth from banks and stocks, He fetters not the press ; The more he tries to hush it up The less it stops, and less. 135 13^ PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. Blind justice with her even scales Stands silent, listening by, As tempting gold is tendered her By agents ever nigh. But sturdy sense is at the helm. And justice will be done ; The deed's revoked, the Courts undo The wicked work he's done. And she applies — and prayers are heard, To save a reckless wreck ; And he — flies with his heart's desire, Whose charms ensnare his neck. So parted, yet so ddsolate, She bears the cruel shame , The woman ever bears the cross, While man is most to blame. — Detroit Commercial Advertiser. hmmmmmm tft JvHatcK-^ytakim HOW TO CHOOSE A WIFE. E SURE and have plenty of light on the subject. Look before you loup, yc'll ken better where to leet. — Scottish Proverb. No hght Hke candle light. Choose neither jewels nor women, no>- linen by candle light. By candle light a goat looks a lady. The night shows stars and women in a better light. If you want a wife, choose her on Saturday, and not on Sunday Nice feathers make fine fowls. No woman is ugly when she is dressed. ' Handsome is not what is handsome, but what pleases. Never seemed a prison fair nor mistress foul. He whose fair one squints says she ogles. The swarthy dame, dressed fine, decries the fair one- The fairer the hostess the fouler the reckoning. A handsome landlady is bad for the purse, for this among other reasons-that if the landlady is fair, the wine too is fair A bonny bride is sune buskit. (Buskit-dressed. She needs little adornment to enhance her charms.) ROYAL MATCH-MAKING. When the present King of the Belgians, after an absence of some year., paid a visit to his former friend, the Duke of Orleans ISO '.Wifes 140 PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. (Louis Phillippe). his Majesty of the French said to him "Well now, you will want a wife. I have three charming girls. My Louisa IS fair and flaxen; my Maria is brown, and black-haired- my Clementine is, perhaps, too young for you : but you shall see them ah, and it is a hard thing indeed if one will not please you " l!n.r^' T k"^ ^^^'':^ ^^ ""^^^ ^'' "'^°'^^> ^"d the fair and sweet Louibd soon became Queen of the Belgians. COMPLYING, YET DENYING. Banker Goldschmidt-«'Judge Ingersoll, my son would esteem It his highest good fortune if you would bestow upon him one of your girls." Judge Ingersoll-" And which of my girls does your son fancy ?' Banker Goldschmidt-" I will call him, so that he can say for himself." ' ^ Judge Ingersoll-" And I will call my girls, so that he can make a choice for himself in their favor." (Calls servant girls.) Confusion and disappointment. — "rn'm^ — LOVE THINE EQUAL. Oh ! wisest of the wise is he Who first within his spirit knew And with his tongue declared it true, That love comes best that comes unto The equal of degree ! And that the poor and that the low Should seek no love from those above, Whose souls are fluttered with the flow Of airs about their golden height. Or proud because they see around Ancestral " crowns of light." —Elizabeth Barrett Browning. MATCH-MAKING. The end is to have two made one In will and afifcction.-^^;, Johnson. 141 In the nch woman s house she commands always, he never. He that marnes for a dower, turns his back on freedom. She bauds up her head like a hen drinking water Your svxic and your nag get from a neighbor. y nere is an ugly cunning in that word quickly. CONTENTED POVERTY. Cleon hath a million acres-ne'er a one have I • Cleon dwclleth in a palacc-in a cottage I • ' 9eon hath a dozen fortunes-not a penny 'l ■ But the poorer of the twain is Cleon, and not'j. Cleon t,, p,3,^3^^^, ^^^^^__^^^ ^^^ ^^ ^ Half the charms to nu it yieldeth, money cannot buy • Cleon harbors sloth and dullness-freshening vigor I •' He in velvet, I in fustian ; richer man am I. Cleon is a slave to grandeur-free as thought am I • aeon fees a score of doctors-need of none have I ' Wealth-surrounded, care-environed. Cleon fears to die - Death may come-he'll find me ready-happier man am I Cleon sees no charm in Nature-in a daisy, 1 ; Cleon hears no anthem ringing in the sea and sky Nature sings to me forever-.arnest listener, I • State for state, with all attendants, who would change ? Not 1 — Charles McKay. imMi 143 PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. VIRTUK BEFORr': RICHES. Themistoclcs had a daughter, to whom two men were wishing^ to make love ; one was very rich, but a simpleton, and the other prior, but a very wise man. The father preferred the latter, saying, " I would rather have a man without riches, than riches without a man." " The primal duties shine aloft like stars ; The charities that soothe, and heal, and bless, Are scattered at their feet like flowers ; The generous inclination, the just rule, Kind wishes, and good actions, and pure thoughts. No mystery is here, no special boon For high, and not for low, for proudly graced. And not for meek of heart. The smoke ascends To heaven as lightly from the cottage hearth As from the haughty palace. He, whose soul Ponders this true equality, may walk The fields of earth with gratitude and hope." AN UNEQUAL YOKE. Those excelleiit, well-meaning, and highly philanthropical youn women who, with marvellous temerity, marry men — as they ex- press it — to reform them, vainly imagining that they will have more power over them after marriage than before, generally grossly miscalculate their influence, and find that tha forming is done from the other side with a de, rather than a ie, prefix. In -other words, the would-be reformer of another is herself deformed by another. These good Samaritans " reckon without their host," and strongly remind us of an enterprising American farmer who, doubtless with a very laudable intent, conceived the idea of training a call to early labor by first putting his own neck in the yoke with it ; but the bovine brain not being capable of apprehending the very benevo- lent design of his owner, and being somewhat alarmed at seeing a MATCH-MAKING 143 human face in such close proximity to his own, at once took fright and incontinently ran away, dragging his disconcerted and unequal yoke-fcllow along with him into some very unfrequented paths, and at a remarkably unusual rate of speed withal r the man having all the disadvantage when thus bound neck and neck with the brute, and all that he could do under the curious and self-created circum- stances was to solicit the commiseration of the by-passers, and ask their aid, as he expressed it. to " head us of. head us off" Moral : Don't yoke yourself with a calf Neither should any light and trivial reasons determine your course m such an important matter as this ; such as merely to " grace a holiday," and " make a sensation," or to " form a second couple at a wedding," and "surprise somebody ;" or from a mere pique at being jilted, which is merely cutting off the nose to spite the face ; or for testing the bare novelty of the marriage rHation just out of a mere love of variety, like the fair and fickle French woman, of whom we have heard, who -'wished to die just for the change ;"-rushing into this grave situation as lightly as did th. young man who, when asked why he got married, flippantly re- plied, " So as to have something to look at on Sundays." Oh ! a thousand unworthy motives have led persons of both sexes to assume these great responsibilities, and to glibly "tie a knot with their tongue which they could not undo with their teeth " though we have seen them " set their teeth" hard enough afterwards It was not till the important and indissoluble contract was made and the solemn and inviolable compact entered into, that they fully awoke to the gravity oi the inexorable situation ! 'Ye maidens fair, consider vvell, And look both shrewd and sl>, Ere rev'rend lips make good the knot Your teeth will ne'er untie." usmmsssari 3^@W£jSi;-Ki,i^oo^3i,^s5^JJ^,^._ KICII AND I'OOK MAN. "So goes the world - -if wealthy you may call This, friend, that, brother ; friends and brothers all ; Though you are worthless— witless— never mind iti Vou may have been a stable-boy- what then ? 'Tis wealth, good sir, makes honorable men. Vou seek respect, no doubt, and you will find it. But, if you are poor, heaven help you ! though your sire Had royal blood within him, and though you Possess the intellect of angels, too, 'Ti all in vain— the world will ne'er inquire On such a score. Why should it take the pains ? 'Tis easier to weigh purses, sure, than brains. I once saw a poor fellow, keen and clever. Witty and wise :--he paid a man a visit, And no one noticed him, and no one ever Gave him a welcome. 'Strange,' cried 1, 'whence is it?" He walked on this side, then on that. He tried to introduce a social chat ; Now here, now there, in vain he tried ; Some formally and frce>;ingly replied, and some Said, by their silence—' Better stay at home." A rich man burst the door, As CrcBsus- rich ; I'm sure He could not pride himself upon his wit. '"#P^PfiC^ uTi- w; '5- PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. And as for wisdom, he had none of it He had what's better— he had wealth. What a confusion 1— all stand up erect— These— crowd around tb ask him of his health ; These— bow in honest duty and respect ; And these— arrange a sofa or a chair, And these— conduct him there. ■' Allow me, sir, the honor ;"— then a bow Down to the earth— Is't possible to show Meet gratitude for such kind condescension ? The poor man hung his head, And, to himself, he said, ' This is indeed beyond my comprehension :' Then looking round, \ One friendly face he found, And said, ' Fray tell me why is wealth preferred 1 o wisdom ?'-• Thafs a silly question, friend !' ' Replied the other—' have you never heard, A man may lend his store Of gold, or silver ore, 15ut wisdom-nonc can borrow, none can lend ?' " SIR WALTER RALEIGH'S VENAL LETTER To' HIS SON. "Believe thy father in this, an-! print it in thy thought that what v,rtue soever thou hast, be it ever so manifold if ,hou be 1 wtthal, hou and thy qualities shall be despised. Besides, pove ty .s oftenfmes sent as a eurse of God ; it is a shame among,^ men an tmpnsonment of the mind, a ve.xatio„ of every worthy spirit : thou Shalt ne,.her help thyself nor others ; thou shalt dro.™ thee „' all thy Virtues, having no means to shun them ; thou shalt be a MATCH-MAKING. 153 burden and an eyesore to thy friends ; every man will fear thy company : thou shalt be driven basely to beg and depend on others, t(. flatter unworthy men, to make dishonest shifts ; and, to conclude poverty provokes a man to do infamous and detested deeds. Let vanity, therefore, or persuasion, draw thee to that waste of worldly miseries. If thou be rich, it will give thee pleasure and health ; keep thy mind and body free, save thee from many perils, relieve' thee in thy elder years, relieve the poor and thy honest friends, and give means to thy posterity to live and defend themselves and thine own fame." Ik sure thou marry for love, but mind that thou lovest only what is lovely. Tears arc shed on God's altar for the one who forsakes his first love. The children of a man who marries for money will prove a curse to him. Love thy wife as thyself, honor her more than thyself He who loves his wife as himself, and honors her more than himself, will train his children properly ; he will meet the fulfilment of the verse, and thou shalt know that there is peace in thy tent, and thou wilt look over thy habitation and miss nothing.— /'/vz^^/'^V chiefly from the Talmud. " A good wife is like a snail. Why ? Because she keeps in her own house. A good wife is not like a snail. Why? Because she docs not carry her all on her back. A good wife is like a town clock. Why? Because she keeps good time. A good wife is not like a town clock. Why ? Because she does not speak so loud that all the town can hear her. A good wife is like an echo. Why? Because she speaks when spoken to. A good wife is not like an echo. Whv ? Because she docs not tell all she hears. »54 { ! PROPOSAL AND ESl'OUSAL. ROVAL MATCIIMAKKR OUTWITTED. Go.ns: one day .rem Pot.dam to Berlin. Frederick, writes Col- onelBraekenbury.inhKhiofjraphyofthe Prussian monarch, saw comuv^ towards him in the opposite direction a magnificent .irl young, handsome, and of good figure, superb In the number of' mches. He was at once struck with admiration for her. stopped to talk and found that she was unmarried, and was on her way from Berhn to her Saxon home. " Then." said Frederick WiHiam, "you vv.Il be passmg the gates of Potsdam, and will no doubt give this note to the commandant, receiving a dollar for your trouble " But women, even when tall, are not easily outwitted. The girl knew the kmg by sight and reputation, and. knowing that to refuse the note would probably bring her a shower of blows from the ratan accepted the commission. Arriving near the gate of Potsdam, she' found there a l.ttle weakened hajV. to whom she entrusted the de- livery of the letter, giving the dollar with it. Forthwith she sped away towards home. The commandant opened the note, and found h.mself ordered to marry the bearer to a certain gigantic Irish grenadier named Macdoll (? McDowall). He rubbed his eyes but there could be no doubt about the clearness of the command " ' The grenadier was sent for, and then began a curious scene. The man was m despair Such a mate for one of his thews and sinews seemed a horrible mockery. The proposed wife, on the contrary was quite ready to submit herself to the orders of the king There' was no escape; to refuse further would be flat mutiny, and the soldier was actually obliged to obey. The mistake was not disco^- cred till the next morning, when Frederick, finding himself thwart- ed in h.s designs for the development of giants in Germany, con- sented to the divorce of the ill-matched couple." A young girl. Who seems to know what she is talking about objects to the criticisms which make it appear that those of her sex MATCH-MAKING. I5S Who arc true and womanly arc scarce; and she wishes to know whether it is necessary, when a younj. lady is receiving company m the parlor, that she shall lug in beefsteaks, washtubs. scrubbing brushes and smoothing irons, in order to convince a lot of ninnies of young men that she can work in the kitchen. My daughter, when you note that the man who wants to marry you IS just too awfully anxious to learn whether you can bake a loaf of bread or wash a shirt with Chinese dexterity, before you close the negotiations do you just fly around and ascertain if that man >s e.ther able or willing to earn enough flour to bake a biscuit and .f he has naid for the shirt he wants you to wash. Nine times' out of ton. daughter, the man who only wants to marry a house- keeper can be kept more economically in the workhouse than he can m your father's hoxxsc—Bitrdeite. A FRIENDLY WARNING. Ye maidens be not " thralls," By Mammon bought and sold ; Nor long for marble halls- While love is stark and cold. Consider, ere you say, The acquiesing " yes," The gold that makes you gay, May bring you sore distress. The body's more than meat : And life is more than style ; Hard toil with love is sweet Compared with splendid guile. The classic lantern take And seek an honest man : '5^ I'ROPOSAL AND KSPOUSAL. The horny hand may make More bhss than riches can. Yon lordhng, puffed with pride, Forbid to charm your eye ; ' He'll win you, then deride, And pass you heedless hy. I sec a shining net Prepared for beauty, sweet , Back! back!! I say, nor let ' That snare entice your feet The matrimonial yoke May prove the lariat's noose : And fairest "gentle. folk," Will foulest vice-traps use. Look well before you leap ; The gates lock fast behind ; Your heart bid prudence keep, And grace control your mind. PLAYING ON THE GRIDIRON. The //edrew Leader tells a good storv anH . "A ,ou„, ,ad, or U, acco^p'^Lr Z. T^ ZZ absence ofthe servant, stepped to the door on ^C ■' ,. announced a visit fron, one^of her ad^irt: On te^rL"^" g ancng at the harp and piano which stood ," th apalent " or.e..^,pa„,.shf:e:L-^^r-t:iirc";^ |l: MATCH-MAKING. >57 and . -, 1 Zd ; :: '"'":'T in».r„.c„., soo„cr or la.c, « part , ' , ;, rfjJZTT .-l^:'''"' ' '""''^ °' '='™"^-" Thi the fal.e pr.u. of ,X ° i ■ '",5,.°"' '""'' ' '°"""=' '""•"se in the bi,tK- rofVhr ^ :"■ '''" '" '^''P'"' ''^'- "hich v-as ton, in >vn,cn they "ftT ■ T "''= " ^ ''°'"' '° "-'^ "onest relatives are s n L™ V ™! " ""f ' "' '° ""'■'" '" '"=" -o.. contemptible of a,l" ' "^"^hroom, aristocracy and tl.e — 'm'^s^ — . TIIK MODERN liKI.LE "She iits in an elegant parlor, And rocks in her easy cha.V • She is clad in silks and satins, And jewels are in her hair ;' She winks and giggles and simpers And simpers and giggles and winks : And though she talks but little, 'Tis a good deal more than she thinks. She lies abed in the morning Till near the hour of noon. Then comes down snapping and snarling i^ecause she was called so soon • Her hair is still in papers, Her cheeks still fresh with mint- Remains of her last night's blushes, Before she intended to faint She dotes upon men unshaven, And men with 'flowing hair ;' She's eloquent over moustaches! They give such a foreign air. ' ■■jtrilMijl I i i! 158 IKOl'OSAL AND ESl'OUSAL. She talks of Italian music, And falls in love with the moon ; And if a mouse were to meet her, She would sink away in a swoon. Her feet are so very little. Her hands are so very white, Her jewels so very heavy, And her head so very lieht • Her color is made of cosmetics, (Though this she will never own) ; Her body is mostly of cotton. Her heart is made wholly of stone. She falls in love with a fellow Who swells with a foreijjn air -. He marries her for her money. She marries him for his hair ! One of the very best matches — Both arc well mated in life ; She's got a fool for a husband. He's got a foo! for a wife i' — Christ inn Giia i -i Ua n. « °" a man. Diffidence, lik-e everv- ^ thing else, mcreases ivith nourishr-cnt r,„„ •. ? ^ Now the tide of life is at the floo Lose n tll Z '' " ma.es aU .ree.es .e.^^ ^h Jjl^^ t'^tHL^d t;' ^1 -w; and he that re,a,„cth the clouds shall not . ap " 1 young man. Every captain need, a mate. ,tt dr ';v wo, " ' J a one. We never see a bachelor, b„t .c seem "1 " j Of the sohtary. sea-tossed : ^" "Alone, alone, all, all alone! Alone on the wide, wide sea l" Don't ^o forth on the untried deep without eompany. Commence your voyage m a craft with a doubl. name If not m,/? Of ^e heathen, .« Castor and Pollux.--the name"o1 th^ A^ home-gom, boat-yet under the., classic, but more Christian i6o PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. I name of " Thomas and Mary)" or •' Richard and Sarah," as the case may be. Come, friend, pluck up heart. Reason urges it. Custom favors it. Instinct prompts it, and nought but self forbids it. Now is the time, With youth in its prime. — -^f^* — " Begm, be bold, and venture to be wise : He who defers this work from day to day, Does on a river's bank expecting stay, Till the whole stream that stopped him shall be gone, Which runs, and as it runs, forever shall run on." O, fair is youth's bright morning. Hope beguiles j-ou ni the distant horizon. Hope! of which, in its Christian acceptation, Adams says : " Hope is the sweetest friend that ever kept a dis- tressed soul company ; it beguiles the tediousness of the way and all the miseries of our pilgrimage. It tells the soul such sweet stories of the succeeding joys ; what comforts there are in hea\en : what peace, what triumphs, marriage songs and hallelujahs there are in that country whither she is drifting, that she goes merrily away with her present burden." Youth is buoyant with expectatation, bright with animating hope. Old age (so far as this life goes), has done with it. Know, then, your time, ye youthful band, and " whatsoevxir your hands find to do, do it with }'our might." When you see a duty, do it ; When you find life's beauty, know it ; Joy is offered, don't forego it. And do not mourn away your time, and lose one half the da>- of most inviting opportunity at the instance of your own fruitless in- decision, as did he, of whom himseir hath sung : |^''*a»iiaai^Maiiii4W»i.*i^,.. lOi MATCH-MAKFNG. " I reach a duty, yet i do it not, And therefore see no higher." My view is darkened, and another spot Seen on my moral sun. For, be the duty hght as angel's flight J^ulfil it, and a higher will arise, E en from its ashes. Duty is infinite. Kecedmg as the skies. And thus it ;. the purest must deplore Their want of purity. As fold by fold In duties done, falls from their eyes, the more a wedded pair ! How Bweet the burden Inyn ilofli bear ■ How brigat the badge fair lovers wear I K»;!S»!;^!%S!».'?;i8»»!$ai (j^p©p©gal. 'T IS oftentimes said of love, that it is not under the control of the will, nor at the option of any one, but that it simply "goes where it is sent." We would that some oracle would tell us by what power, and by whom it is sent. We certainly cannot for a moment a low that the '• tender passion," as we see it to-day is ever and always under the guidance of a divine will, or that it can boast a celest.al origin. It is too wayward, carnal, headstrong for ht; ^^J"'^^"^^^"^' capricious, contradictory, variable and pur- .h M . °;^^^--'>' birth. Well may Cupid be painted as a child and with wings, for who knows what trick he will plav next or whither he will fly, or where alight ? Behold how love dotes in the o d I How it vapors in the young ! How it vaunts itself in middle age ! How it unites the dissimilar ! How it couples the incongruous! How it merges the incompatible ! How it babbles all It knows m Samson ! How it loses its head in Solomon ! How It forgets Itself (to use a euphemism) in David ! How it chan^^es cdor and suddenly transforms itself in Ammon ! How, on ^he other hand, it makes the time to go in Jacob ! How it sports itself m even the venerable Isaac e ! How it creates a world of its own and crowds its universe into the compass of one fair object, even as' a certain philosopher conceived that the whole globe might be com- pressed into the dimensions of a nutshell. Love knows no law brooks no restraint, heeds no counsel, feels no age I .^W^f^'SS'^fgSxFi^ ^SffN*.="''' ' ''■" "■'-••'' of ealling you by that name, therefore say a day when you will take that of madam. Your most devoted, humble servant, Richard Steele.' She fixed he day accordingly, and Steeled her name instead of h" ' heart to the suitor." The celebrated preacher. Whitfield, proposed marriage to a young lady ma vety cool manner-as though Whitfield meant a ni the ••H ""'''"^^='' ^ ■^«- '° her parents, without consult- mg the ma,den, n, wh.ch he said that they need not be at all afraid of offendmg -:„ by a retusal, as he thanked God he was quit fe ttrth : fi'e Id T ""'' T °' '""'-"= "" '^^y ''' -' --"* that this field, however white, was the field for her." 1 .n% ^ .^ v^. "' -'^^■ ^^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT 3) 1.0 l.i 1.25 Hi §2.8 1112.5 lAQ 1^ 1^ mil 2.2 s.«" I" f.4 IIM 1.6 V] ^ m ^ '^■ ^-dy ?» >^ ''71 '¥ ''^^^ ''' Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WE9STE><, N.Y. M'80 (716) 072-4503 >J^ ^%^^ rv <^ 168 PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. ar doubtless known to many of our readers. Kere exceedinglv at- ta. ,ed to each other, and had no desire to be married. But it was be the one to enter the bonds of matrimony. A suitable lady wa, act as h,s agent. W.lham consented, but soon found that he was .» love, and wanted the lady for h.m.self. He could not think however, of depriving his brother of such a treasure, and kne nt how to act. An aunt kindly relieved him in his difficulty by tellin. Ja Ob who w,ll,„gly resigned the damsel to his brother, and wen^ out a the way fll she had been made IMrs. William Grim.n." — ''.fJI^A— I .ri,n,;V?°"'' """t "■" *' ™= ""° P'-P"^" "" 'l"=^'ten in „,e Snmmes manner. He took his sweetheart into the graveyard and shown,g her a dark corner, said, ■ Mary, my folks lie there Vol )-ou l,ke to he there, Mary >• Mary was a sensible lassie a, d e7 pressed her willingness to obtain the right to be buried r:! I^ beadle s relations by uniting herself to him in wedlock." •!©<><• — •• .A similar unromantic view of the subject was taken by another thee, Jean, she rephed, ' Man. Jock, I would be muekle obleegcd to ye if ye would !' " ^"i«-tj,ca -«©.^-{ — ,, — .J-^nmi-, now THE KAUENNS PROPOSE. thc'eelrrt" "'%'';^=""f °f ""™»". "'""ages must accompany the celeb,at,on of funeral .ites. These are attended by the mar- riageable „o.en and eligible bachelors of the village in whic It ,e TROPOSAL. 169 ™lr"°K "J'"'- ^P"'''°" °f ''°«' -«^ "■"= ■•" great monial market. There are, of course, number, of old people ores net T, °- ""' '™^'*^ *^ """odox way, is not ap- aomgs of their young charges. The marriageable youn,.; men and maidens separate into two ha,r, and seats themselves on opposite sides of the remains, a I of .l.em bemg dressed in their gayest. The opening of the f nera the Karenn ma.den m general, her charms of movement and mod- a er cir?'" ^'^ '"'' "^"""^ '" ^ f-'-«° "^ *= "»-! Tar- accr, calmly acceptmg the eulogy of their graces, and making dehcate allus.ons to the fifteen hundred desires'to some of which i' IS not impossible they may succumb. This preliminary being over, the actual business begins, and the young bachelors, each in his turn, delivers himself of alove-strkk n h::;rcttnf "'"■ -""- ^'-'-^^ ^- - -■ -o hast: The matter of the proposals thus publicly made is not, as a rule very violently original. The gi-l is compared to a flower to he hare in .he moon, .0 the stars, to a rosary of emeralds or rnbies to a maid of the palace. I, is asserted that she would run, the' peace of mind of a hermit, and bring him back to sober house- keeping. Ivo painter could copy her charms ; his picture would be a failure, a,,d he would be infallibly knocked in the head by the singer for his impudence in venturing so hopeless an attempt The once rejected suitor usually adopts the plaintive line ; he is so dis- turbed in mind that he can neither eat nor drink ; he perspires so much with agitation that he will die before morning; he is like the illii ill 170 PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. water-lily that fades away when the sun shines upon it • he is like the sun itself, for he cannot rest in peace, but roams about vauntin- the praises of his love through all the city and country side Tt may naturally be thought that the girls thus publ cly wooed ought to feel embarrassed. If they are, Karenn maiden . show more than femmme tact in keeping concealed whatever awkwardness they may feel. They look as if they liked the situation, rather than otherwise. The answering of the proposal is a different matter. Ladies all the world over, in such circumstances, give answers which, common report says, ought not to be taken too literally. It is the same with the Karenn belle. Her answer, as a rule, is stereotyped. All the praise is appropriated as little more than her just due. She d'^- clares that it is a shameful thing not to be married, but it is a worse matter still to be divorced aftei^wards, * to be like a dress that is washed ;' but she will do what she is bid, though she cannot think of bemg aught but afraid of men yen all of which makes the aspir- mg lover grin with satisfaction. Occasionally, however, a sprightly damsel strikes out a line for herself She hints that the song directed to her is rather niggardly in its praises. She is not goin- to sell herself under cc3t price. If people like to say she is mad after a husband, let them say so. She is not like day dim with the heat-haze, nor like a diamond that has lost the foil below to set it off; not like a peacock's tail dragged in the wet, the signification of which is that the wrong man has proposed, to her,' and the lucky swain will be a foolish man if her eyes do not let him know that his suing will have a pleasanter answer. Now and then a man gets a direct refusal, and as it is difficult to invest a blunt ' No ' with melodious merit, the rejection is couched in somewhat the following fashion :-' Come to me when the full moon appears on the first day of the month. Come dressed in clothes that have never been stitched, and dress and comb before you wake. M PROPOSAL. 171 Eat your nee before it is cooked, and come before daylight ' Such episodes are, however, rare, and generally occur through a swain's applying for ihe hand of one who is generally known to be reserv- ing herself for some other." -*—♦—•*- ONE FORM OF PROPOSAL AMONG THE INDIANS. Among certain tribes of the Indians, the following manner of proposing is observed. If a young man resolves to marry, h.^ rela- tives and the minister advise him to a young woman of the tribe He enters the wigwam where she is and looks upon her If he hkes her appearance he tosses a chip or stick into her lap, which she takes, and with a reserved side look views the person who sent .t. yet handles the chip with admiration, as though she wondered whence it came. If she likes hi., .he throws the chip at him with a modest smile, and then nothing is wanting but a ceremony with the minister to consummate the nuptial tie. But if she dislikes her suitor, she with a surly countenance throws her chip aside, and he comes no more. '• Love," says one, " rules a kingdom of contrasts. Heine, dream- ing of angels, marries a grisette. Freytag turns from a court to a kitchen. Bacon, master of philosophy, is joined to a woman with a loud voice, and dressed like a chamber-maid out on a holiday And what is more pitiable than Keat's pouring out all the typical language of his soul at the feet of Fanny Brawn ? He a poet she a common-place. Idolatry on the one hand ; a mi.xture of va'nity and curiosity on the other." — mw ; In Northern Siberia if a young native desifes to marry, he -oes one-half ot which ,s then paid down. The prospective son-in-law 172 PKOroSAL AND ESPOUSAL. the next visit of the JZ uZ^ ' "' "'">' "" '"'"■"<^'' °" n„» J ■ "' '"= Pfieit. " ne does not want to marrv he neeH not, and s.mply loses the halfhe paid a. the start. LEGAL COURTSHIP. been**car™w "'"" " ""''°'' "' ^ ^™"« ^"°™-r wh° had been cany.ng on a correspondenee with a young lady in which he had always as he thought, expressed himself wi^h the g "alesrcau on^ F,nd,ng, however, that he did no. perform what e h d Td proti : 'of ;:;.'" '■- '-"''■ -^^ ^^^"^ - -tion IrlVl duceZ the M ^'^' "'""'' "™- '^■■" '^'^ "="<^- -=- pro- duced on the trial, ,t appeared that he had always concluded "thi u,Mo,a pyejudice, yours faithfully C D " Th^ """"f ''- "'"'■ left it to the M,r„ , A . "^' ^- "■ The judge facetious y beil^ tl ^Z '"™""= "''"'"='• 'hese concluding words be,ng from an attorney, did not mean that he did not intend anv prejudice to the lady ; and the jury found according^ — '.'»■ > > A UNIQUE PROrO.SAL. A gentleman had long been paying attention to a young lady whom he was very anxious to marry, but could not .screw hi cour Now ,t .s very easy to hold converse with the person who sl'n x. n th,s case the lady was on the opposite side of the table H ' however, equal to the occasion, and^earingoutataftL";r; llii PROrOSAL. 173 Dook. wrote on it. under cover of the table, " Will you be my wifo ? Write 'Yes- or 'No' at the foot of this." Calling a servant, he whispered to him to take the note-which of course was folded up-to the '• lady in blue opposite." The servant did as he was directed ; and the gentleman in an eyes, with badly d.sgu.sed eagerness, to try to judge from her ex- pression how the quaintly-made offer was received He had forgotten one thing-namely. that ladies seldom carry pencils about them at a dinner party ^ cle "andTft"' '7'^' "'' '° '^ '^"^^^ '^ ^° ^^'^'"^ ^ obsta- cle , and. after reading the note calmly, the lady turned to the mes- senger and said, « Tell the gentleman, < Yes ' " They were married in due course. TOO BASHFUL TO PROPOSE. We have heard of a good lady who remonstrated with her daughter for not being more demonstrative in her affectiol and encouraging the advances of a young man who seemed desper'ately m love with her. but who lacked the confidence to propose. The young lady ingeniously and candidly confessed that she had made many laudable efforts in that direction, but without avail. For in! stance, one evening, when they were out walking, he had asked her fined Th tT' ';■■"'' "^' -^'^ ^"'^ " P°P •" b"^ -- that 1 failure "'"^ the desired proposal, and so she had given it up as COURTING ON BOXWOOD ROLLERS. Roller skates were invented to enable young people to get away from the restrictions of society. This was said by an old married woman with three pretty daughters, but it is true all the same V 2J;! 174 PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. !ii Roller skatmg ha. brought freedom to youth, and ha, added to the wrmkles of raaternity, for that old national adage, " Maternal v^S lanea ,s the price of liberty," has been supplemented by the 1"V ,r'°" ■"■'"■ '° "'"''■ ^ "'"^ '"y h-» been spreading over the usually care-worn faces of counter-jumpers and entry clerk^ for weeks There is a self-satisfied air of triumph resting on the features of the blonde book-folders, and a new hope sparkfes in the eye of the orunette floor-walker, for the roller skate has opened the new door of fl.rtation. The whole ingenuity of man has been em- ployed for a century in trying to devise some way by which the counter-jumper in his amorous moments could defy the old woman I was .ot until the roller-skate was invented that the glad world of counter-jumpers shouted "Eureka." These extraordinary facilities aflbrded to love's young drear, have produced a revolution in the household and in the community' tie hi" K ". r "° '°"^" ''"""'"' """'-' 'he tyranny of he husband who cannot. The husband who skates is at lasf re- eased from the thraldom of the wife. Matrimon.al squabbles now termmate w,th an-" All right, my dear, if you cannot afford it" Hand me aown my skates." ■• Do you love me deep enough for a new gros gram ?" ..No, I do not. My love never went further than a plam s,lk." ..All right. Then I go to the rink to-night." It is absolutely impossible to interfere. You might as ,vell try mil f °""g;'- '•"'" «"«^- Here, alas ! the ^etry of motion k.l U the justice of matnmony. A husband who cannot skate can- nc. v,„d,cate h,mself. Everyone of these skating rinks is lined w,th hollow-eyed husbands, furrowed fathers, and melancholy nment. Let them but place one toot within that hive, and on their heads, yea, though they wore a crown, will fall the cur.se of the nnk.~roroj2to Evening Mail. HI PROPOSAL. KKFUSAL TO PROPOSAL. ^75 ,nl """ I u ! ^'°" ^'■' '" '°^"' ''^^'■" ^"^« y°" at least of the P eon. wh.ch has a bad effect both on man and .von.an. I n.ust ell you how I have just treated a French gentleman of fortune in • ance. who took a hking to my daughter. Without any ceremony havmg got my direction from my wife's banker), he wrote me word fouunel would g.ve her at present, and how much at my ^.«//,_ by the bye. I thmk there was very little sen^i,,ent on Atssu^ My answer was, "Sir, I shall give her ten thousand pounds on the day of her mamage-my calculation is as follows-she is not ei-^hteen atTe!T.rT"r~''"^ ^"" ''' ^'°"^^"^ pounds-then. Sir. you' t last thmk her notngly-she has many accomplishments, speaks Itahan, French, plays upon the guitar, and and as I fear you play upon no mstrument whatever. I think you will be happy to take her .p>n myterms. for here finishes the account of theTen thous- ad pounds. ' do not suppose but he will take this as I mean, that IS, a flat refusal.— 6/e7'«^. WHY MAV NOT VVOMKN I'UOl'OSK ? ^i- 5^ '-^55^ "" •'"' '"M»»' ta-.t a .naltn. VV« leave it an . pc-n ,|uc,m. "' ^^'T: "'»"~^^''y ""'.V lu.t the fair sev .nake a fair .,(11.-. an.l .,.„,s a„.| pHnccsHcs tl., it when thry inairy a ,Ick,w I.How tluMU in rank, anil why uuxy n..l ihr Rmu n.innu.nalty have like priv'ile^jes with them ? Nc orn> the work with far more «racc and rcad;.,css than do many ol their more unj^.iinly hrethren. We are aware that there is a Cheshire proverb 'to this elTect • "It is tune to yoke when the cart oines to the caples." (horses.) And a Scottish sow declares, that "when petticoats woo hreeks come speed." Nevertheless nc tind n.ir Scotia once passed an Act ot Parliament m iavor of it. which runs thus : " It is cmlainit that.dur^n- the rei^n of her maist hk^ssit Majes- t.e. Ilka maiden ladye of baith hiyh and low estates sail hac libcrtve no I'KOI'OSAL "» brsp.rakc; yc ,nan shr likes bt "II nis wife, Ik; sail be mulct f»r less, as his estate may be Htc; albeit ^mT he rofj ^7 iiHCs to talv In r |»t;irc that he is bctiotlicl assfd in the rci^{u of M '" yo sume of a.u- huM.lrcltl t^^x.;ci,taM(lahvair* feel Mm. utter infis without shame Aiul tell him how I love I N urn. '"• wronjr my virj^in fame. Alas! to seize the moment When heart inclines to heart A m\ Is not press a suit with p assion. If man voman comes not The roses wh ere s part. to feather they They fade anion- their fol stand. la're. Hicy cannot .seek his hand.-/j ''J'(^"f. 178 rUOl'OSAL AND li.SK)L:SAr„ " NO." I'cvv have learnt to speak this wuicl When it should be spcjkcn ; Resolution is defelred, Vows to virtue broken. More of courajre is recpiired, This one wonl to say, Than to stand where shots arc fired In the battle fra)-. Use it fitly, and ye'll sec Many a lot below May be schooled, and nobly ruled By power to utter " No." * * « • Hearts that are too often },Mven, Like .street merchandise- Hearts that like bought slaves arc driven In fair freedom's guise ; Ye that poi.son soul and mind With perjury's foul stains ; Ye who let the cold world bind, In joj-less marriage chains ; He ye true unto yourselves ; Let rank and fortune go : If Love light not the altar spf)t, Let Feeling answer " No." — Elizix Cook, Ifi /' TriE HETROTHAL M A VE betrothed thee unto mc in rlghteousness.-^/^/^ And the servants brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, Knd raiment, and gave them to Rebekah- ^^^^_ he gave also to h.r brother and to her mother . .eciouJ And they did eat and drink, he and the men that were "tl they tarred all nirrhfr _/r.. ...... with him, and they tarried all pight.-^,//mr . Among the Greeks it was required that every marriage should be preceded by a betrothal Ti,; • r '»'ia{,e snouia complete valid^tu " ^'^'^\ ^ ^'''' '" ^''''' '^^^ indispensable to the comple c vahd.ty of a marnage contract. It was made by the nat -1 or lega guardian of the bride elect, and attended by the X t.ves of both parties as witnesses. The law of Ath.Z a . that all rhilHro,. K^ f Athens ordained eslc shit h r ""^ ' "'"'■"«"= ''^e^'ilv contracted in this n e ,; et: V '>V;^"™f'=. -" consequently, if sons, entitled to mnent equally. It would seem, therefore, that the issue of a mar ■age w,«,o„t espousals would lose their heritable Hght „h,ch Wi.e_ I he w.fe s dowry was also settled at the espousals ents oVthT'T """ ' '"'" ■■" ""='• "'"""" *e eonsent of par- ^■•-on, or, at leL, with^^qi::-— ^ ^ " ^ iSo PKOrOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. the expressions of Briseis in her lament over Patroclus ; or from the refusal of Achilles to marry the daughter of Agamemnon without the consent of Pcleus. The primitive custom of the ^ urchase of the bride by the bridegroom, who prevailed in his suit by the weight of his gifts, had been so far softened in the Homeric age that the wishes of the daughter were consulted. When Penelope puts off her suitors under ingenious pretexts, Antinonous urges Telemachus to send home his mother, and to commend her to unite herself to him whom her father approved of and she herself preferred.— Ant/ioJi's Greece. ! JEWISH BETROTHAL. Espousing, or betruthing, was nothing else but a solemn prom- ise made by two persons, each to the other, at such a distance of time as they agreed upon. The manner of performing this es- pousal was either by a writing, or by a piece of silver given to the bride. ****** The writing that was prepared on these occasions ran in this form : " On such a day, of such a month, in such a year. A, the son of A, has said to B, the daughter of B, be thou my spouse ac- cording to the law of Moses and the Israelites, and I will give thee for the portion of thy virginity the sum of two hundred zuzims, as it is ordained by law. And the said B has consented to become his spo«se upon these conditions, which the said A has promised to perform. To this the said A obliges himself, and for this he engages all his goods, even as far as the cloak which he wears upon his shoulder. Moreover, he promises to perform all that is intended in contracts of marriage with Israelitish women. Witness, A, B, C." The promise by a piece of silver, and without writing, was be- fore witnesses, when the young man said to his mistress : " Receive this piece of silver as a pledge that thou wilt become my spouse." PROI'OSAL. iSi After s„ch e,po„»al wa, made, which was generally when the pa,t ,s were young, the woman eon.inued with her parents several months, ,f no. some years, before she was brought hon,c and he man-,a,,e consummated; for so we find Samson's wife remained w..h i,er parents a considerable time after espousal (Judges" -»»— i , 6>_,„^ COURTING BY PROXV. And the man came into the hou.se: and he unou-JcJ his camels and ,ave straw and provender for the camels, and wate to 1 t h.s feet, and the men's feet that were with him And there was set meat before him to eat: but he said I will not eat until I have told mine errand. And he said. Spe:' on And he said, r am Abraham's servant And the Lord hmh blessed my master greatly ; and he is be come great : and ho hath given him flocks, and Lrds, and Ivt and gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and camelsrand And Sarah, my master's wife, bare a son to my master when she was old : and unto him hath he given all that he hath And my master made me swear, saying. Thou shalt not take a w,f^to my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whoseland But thou Shalt go unto my father's house, and to my kindred and take a wife unto my son. ^mared, And now, if ye will deal kindly and truly with my master tell me ; and „ „o., tel, me ; that , may turn to the right' hand or :" »^ GALKKl) (HEAI- OK WITNK.SS.) A young man pledged his dearest faith to a maiden beautiful and true. For a time all passed pleasantly, and the maiden td m happiness, hut thnn fh" nan ,,-. m -r , 'udiucn uvea ^"^ ^^^ ^^^^ cailca from her side. He left JBPil 182 PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. her. Long she waited, but he did not return. Friends pitied her, and rivals mocked her ; tauntingly they pointed at her, and said, " He has left thee ; he will never come back." The maiden sought her chamber, and read in secret the letters which her lover had written to her, the letters in which he promised to be ever faithful, ever true. Weeping she read them, but they brought comfort to her heart ; she dried her eyes and doubted not. A joyous day dawned for her ; the man she loved returned, and when he learned that others had doubted, and asked her how she had preserved her faith, she showed his letters to him, declaring her eternal trust. Israel, in misery and captivity, was mocked by the nations ; her hopes of redemption were made a laughing-stock ; her sages scoffed at ; her holy men derided. Into her synagogues, into her schools went Israel ; she read the letters which her God had written, and believed in the holy promises which they contained. God will in time redeem her, and when He says : " How could you alone be faithful of all the mocking nations ?" She will point to the law and answer : " Had not Thy law been my delight, I should long since have perished in my affliction" (Psalm 119). THE WEASEL AND THE WELL; OR, "HE SURE VQUR SIN WILL FIND YOU OUT. A young man, upon his journeys through the country, fell in with a young woman, and they became mutually attached. When the young man was obliged to leave the neighborhood of the dam- sel's residence, they met to say good-bye. During the parting thej- pledged a mutual faith, and each promised to wait until, in the course of time, they might be able to marry. " Who will be the witness of our betrothal ?" said the young man. Just then they I'KOPOSAL. '83 «>v a weasel run pase them and disappear in the wood. " Sec " he continued, ■• this weasel and this well of water by which wc' a e «a„d,ng shall be the witnesses of our betrothal ;" Ld !:the;part! ^. Years passed, the maiden remained true, but the youth Lr- ned. A son was born to him, and grew up the delight of his paints. One day while the child was playing, he becrme tir and ly,ng upon the ground fell asleep. A weasel bit him in the neck a„d He bled .0 death. The parents were consumed with g if by h s ca am,ty, and i. was not until another .son was given ,Lm that they forgot their .sorrow. But when this second chHd was ab^ o walk alone, ,t wandered about the house, and bending over the drowned. Then the father recollected his perjured vow and his witnesses, the weasel and the well He foU I,! -r Tj "e told his wife of thee rcum Stance, and she agreed to a divorce. He then souch. tul T tn >i;i-ir,m i,^ I, J • , sought the maiden s tuTn u ZTI ""'"'"^'^ ""' """"' "- »''" --iting h.s return He told her how, through God's agency, he had bee^ punished for his wrong-doing, after which they wefe married and lived in peace.— 7--:«' — T!li; COXSKNT OF crAuniANS. Th.cn Lahan aim Iknhuel answered and .said, The thing pro- ccedeth from the Lord ; we cannot speak unto thee bad or good. Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her, and go, and let her be thy master's son's wife, as the Lord hath spoken. And it came to pass, that, when Abraham's servant heard their words, he worshii^ped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth. When virgins had no fathers, their brothers disposed of them, (even as in Biblical history we find Bcthuel consenting to Rebekah'.s PROPOSAL. 185 marr.age w.th Isaac). When they had neither parents nor breth- ron. or ,f their brethren were not arrived to years of discretion, they were disposed of by their grandfathers, those especially on the father .ss,de; when these failed, they were committed to the care of guardians. th ^TlTl ''"''''"'^' ^"'•■^'^"^ '^''' "'^^^ *° °*her persons upon their deathbeds, as appears from the story of Demosthenes' father who gave h. wife Cleobule. to one A phobus. with a considerable' porhon. When he was dead, Alphobus took the portion, but re- fused to marry the woman; whereupon Demosthenes made his complaint to the magistrates, and accused him in an elegant oration. v-^-h"*""- And that this custom was not unusual, appears from the same orators defence of Phermio, who being a slave and faithful in his busuiess, h.s master gave him both his liberty and his wife. GOOD DAUr.HTERS MAKE THE BEST WIVES When a young woman behaves to her parents in a manner par- ..oularly tender and respectful, I mean from principle as welf as nature there .nothing good and gentle that may not be expected mm her m whatever condition she is placed. Of this I am so ho,oughly persuaded, that, were I to advise any friend of mine as o h,scho,ce of a wile, 1 know not whether my first counsel wouM not be, "Look out for one distinguished by her attention and sweet- ess to her parents," The fund of worth and affection, indicted by such a behavour, joined to the habit of duty and co^sidera on hereby contracted, being transferred to the married state, will Z fail to render her a mild and ob.iging companio„._/-«-rf,.« you "Marry your son when you will, and your daughter when can ^^^ riCOPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. " My son is my son till he's got him a wife ; My daughter's my daughter all the days of her life." This is a woman's calculation. She knows that a son-in-law w.il submit to her sway more tamely than a daughter-in-law. THF DEPARTURE. My noble father, I do perceive here a divided duty : To you, I am bound for life and education ; My life and education both do learn me How to respect you ; you arc the lord of duty, I am hitherto your daughter: but here's my husband • And so much duty as my mother show'd To you, preferring you before her father, So much I challenge that I may profess' Due to the Moor my lord.— 5/^^-^/^,^^^. ^"1®. "AND SHE SAID, I WILL CJO." And her brother and he: mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten ; after that she shall go. And he said unto them. Hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered my way ; send me away that I may go to fhy master. And they said. We will call the damsel, and inquire at her mouth. And they called Rebekah, and said un.oher. Wilt thou go with this man ? And she said, I will go. And they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham s servant, and his xncn.—Bible. PROPOSAL. Sweet and solemn falls the accents Of the Holy Spirit's voice, As He gently pleadeth with us, Urging us to make our choice. "Unto Christ, to Him who loves thee With a love thou ne'er canst know, Unto Him who died to save thee Wilt thou go?" "Follow Me, and I will guide thee Safe across earth's desert plain, And beguile its dreary wasteness With soft whisperings of his name, Unto Him who waits to meet thee In the heaven's eternal glow, There to reign with Him forever, Wilt thou go?" " We will go," we answer gladly. Blessed Spirit, at Thy call. Though the road be full of danger, Thou wilt bring us safe through all. We will follow in the pathway That alone our Master trod, Knowing that its narrow windings Lead us surely up to God. " We will go," the world forsaking, With its endless toil and strife, Into al! the peace and gladnesss Of the resurrection life ; Each new step our trust will deepen, In His mighty love and grace, Till at last, our journey over. We behold him face to face. 187 The Christian. 1 88 PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. WILT THOU GO WITH THIS MAN? Wilt thou go with this man to the lowlands afar, Like the needle stili pointing invisible star? Leave "the land of ;junrising" — dare flood and disaster, For the region where dwelleth thy new lord and master? Forsake thy dear kindred, companions and home, And direct thy way onward — still southward to roam ? Wilt cross the deep desert, sweet Euphrates' water. And depart with this stranger, oh excellent daughter ? Commit thy way to him on bare testimony. And seek the land flowing with milk and with honey : Adventure thy future for weal or for woe — Wilt thou go with this man ? And she said, I will go. \ O Jesus, our Isaac, to (^anaan thou'st gone, But thy Icfve is still wooing and drawing us on : Thy servants bring presents and call us away. To behold thee again in thy brighter arra)' : The jewels so fair are direct from thy place. And the pledges are bright with the smile of thy face. See ! the bracelet of promise is what my Lord saith, And the ear-ring of gold is " the hearing of faith." The ring on my finger is the covenant of love. And my sandals are light as the wings of a dove ; The palfry that bears me. Revelation's ^vh^te steed. Both charger and courser — fo.- war and for speed : My loved one awaits me ; O bid me not stay, He calls me his •' Fair one," and bids me away Accepting these tokens, I answer Him so — Wilt thou go with this man ? And she said, I will go. •Si^ PROPOSAL 189 IJETROTHAL BY THE SEA. " Take mc or le»ve me." They are on the seashore— Love's favorite resort— where the waves are ever " saying, saying.- Shells and pebbles and miles of glittering nothings stretch shining on to beguile there pleasant, love- allured footsteps. They are building castles in the air as assidu- ously and half as profitably as the children around them are con- structmg mimic rampart in the yielding, gravelled sand ; only of course to be washed away, "stormed and taken " by the ruthless forces of the next incoming tide. The deep is before them, "great and wide." emblem alike of the Infinite and of their own boundless affection. Little wavelets, like children in holiday time, garlanded with "sunbows," run racing along the all-encompassing main, and leap m bright laughter on the shelving stand. Seamews ride the musical crests of the breaking waters, and rock themselves to a charming repose on the mother deep's ample bosom. Vessels outward bound are vanishing in dimness and silence together, and are softly dipping where the blue sea and bluer sky meet and mingle their mutual azure, glories, and are gliding on, oh so calmly and beautifully, and so sweetly suggestive, withal of some happier spirit on her way to a brighter abode, into the fair half-magical and dim, all-beckoning unknown. Sea monsters lift their dark heads above the encompassing floods and steal a glimpse of upper air and sunshine, and then dis- appear as if from a world too bright for their gross taste, and descend agam with a splash like that of the apocalyptic millstone, and seek congenial acquatic gloom. Bi.t what. pray, to this enamoured pair are all the works of God and man. or the wonders of divine and human skill, compared with their interest in each other? What is the "circle of the flood.s. " to the girdle of ti^at maiden's zone ? "Give me but what this ribbon bound. Take all the rest the sun rrfv»c: mnnd " 190 PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. What, we repeat, O reader, are clouds and winds, and sails and . w.ng.s and glittering sands, and spacious seas, and boundless skies and bannered processions, and gathering concourses, and festive melodies, and blazoned heraldries, and peeHess pomp, and all the subl,m.t.es and pageantries that cluster about the centres of opu- Icnce and fashion, when once compared with the gratification they find in each other's company? And now let us go near (turn eaves-droppers for a moment) and ?M '^'l^r-'y'"^ conversation of this mutually-interested couple. Mary, he says, as he presses his suit with the ardor of most vehement affection, "you can surely say something." " Yes " re Pl.es the deliberate and sweetly-calculating fair one. " I suppose I can say something." And while she speaks she. is busy with "the important work of tracing tiny channels in the sand with the end laZ """"u/n "'r' " '■"'' "^' "^^^^ "" •""" °"' °f -- hole into another. "Well, what is it to be?" he pleads, with the energy of desperation, as he resolutely brings matters to an issue, "take me or leave me ?" " Well," she answers, as she still continues her en- gmeenng work on a larger scale. "I don't exactly want to leave you. Happy man I BETROTHAL BY LOT Proverbs xviii.-" '/he lot canseti. contentions to cease, and parteth between the mightv. ' •■ In nearly all cases where reason cannot decide, .or where the r^ght. several claimants to one article has to be settled, recourse .s had to the lot, which "causeth contentions to cease." Though an Englishman might not relish such a mode of having a wife as- signed to him. yet many a one in the East has no other guide than this m that important acquisition. Perhaps a young man is either so accomplished, so respectable, or so rich, that many fathers aspire to the honor of calling him PkorosAL 191 - .cm lo .,„, IJ *'°"" r" '^''' '"'"'' "■- S° '" *e front of .he cm e and bcng .seated, a person who k passing by at the time lid X r ™'""'t '° '^'= °"= °f '"= P'-" °f ''"Z' on w "h Tl b i ,::. T-'^''' r "''' " "^" 'hean.ious'candidate becomel L :ife. " °''"^''' ^"^ *= ""-^ "-» - written there rt;;::rrd:£-^' -^^^^^^^^^^ Hnd 1 c ' , "" '' *"'"'' ' ^'''' °^ ^''^/^ ^-"^ -ach side and uifc. i^ut .omct.mes a wealthy father cannot decide betwixt go ic„a„ caused t.o ■• holy writings " to be drawn up ; thinam" of the lovers were n,scribed thereon : the son of Kandan the docTor "as drawn forth, and the young lady became his wife Thr e ^ mms, also, who were brothers each »r^„n,i ' j ■ 7 '"'^='=''rah- one female, and, after many dClr'tr "ll^ ^ l-ct causeth intentions .0 cease ; and the youngest of the '^ ^ MMMSSHMiKMXia COMING OF AGK. OR KAias ma/; principles. Catholic, with a due abhorrence of heretics es- pecially English ones. After a time, the lady is to be looked at by the unhappy /r^/ev/./«; a church, a mass, or vespers, being very often the opportunity agreed. The victim thinks she will do. The proposal is discussed by the two mammas ; relatives are called in • all goes well ; the contract is signed ; then a measured acquaintance IS allowed ; but no tete-a-tetes ; no idea of love . " What ! so indeli- cate a sentiment before marriage ! Let me not hear of it," cries mamma, in a sanctimonious panic. " Love ! Quelle betise !" adds inon pere. But Saint-Simon, it seems, had the folly to wish to make a marriage of inclination. Rich, pair de France, his father— an old roue, who had been page to Louis Xlll.-dead, he felt extremely alone in the world. He cast about to see whom he could select The Due de Bcauvilliers had eight daughters ; a misfortune it may be thought in France, or anywhere else. Not at all ; three of the young ladies were kept at home to be married ; the other five were at once dispo.scd of, as they pa.ssed the unconscious age of infancy PROPOSAL. 195 in convents. Saint-Simon was, however, disappointed. He offered, indeed ; first for the eldest, who was not then fifteen years old \ and finding that she had a vocation for conventual life, went on to the third, and was going through the whole family, when he was convinced that his suit was impossible. The eldest daughter hap- pened to be a disciple of Fenelon's and was on the very eve of being vowed to heaven. Saint-Simon went off to La Trappe, to console himself for his disappointment. There had been an old intimacy between Mon- sieur La Trappe and the father of Saint-Simon ; and this friendship had induced him to buy an estate close to the ancient abbey where La Trappe still existed. The friendship became hereditary ; and Saint-Simon, though still a youth, revered and loved the penitent VGc\usG oi Ferte an Vidame, of which Lamartine has written so grand and so poetical a description. Let us hasten over his marriage with Mademoiselle de Lorg'^s, who proved a good wife. It was this time a grandmother, *the Marechale de Lorges, who managed the treaty, and Saint-Simon became the happy husband of an innocent blonde, with a majestic air, though only fifteen years of age. Let us hasten on, passing over his presents ; his six hundred louis, given in a corbeille full of what he styles "gallantries;" his mother's donation of jewellery ; the midnight mass, by which he was linked to the child who scarce- ly knew him ; let us lay all that aside, and turn to his court life.— Grace and Philip Wharton. o:»oiK^o<«;. EARLY BETROTHAL IN CANADA. "The chief social event in the lives of Canadian peasants is a wedding— almost the only set occasion for festivities. The priest then permits dancing among the relatives and allows unusual ex- penses to be incurred. Courtship is ve ry short and circumspect 196 PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL ¥ It generally lasts but a few months. Engagements are made very much after the pecuniary interests followed in France, and the mar- riages generally occur at from 18 to 22 years of age." EARLY BETROTHAL IN AMERICA. The mode then in vogue of announcing some events appears strange at this time. The following form of a marriage notice, credited to a Kentucky paper, will give an idea :— "In Lexington, Kentucky, Harrison Canins, aged 15, to Miss Eliza Plough, aged nearly 12. A long life to them ! Mrs. Canins twelve years hence will be a spruce girl. The parties may be grandfathers and grandmothers ere they are 7,0."— From the first volume of Christian Guardian, iSsg EARLY BETROTHAL IN CHINA, OR " WOLVES AND BUTTERFLIES." A Chinese orator told us, some time ago, that the people in his country call their boys 'wolves," and their girls " butterfiies,"— not altogether a meaningless nomenclature. The fathers of families would sometimes meet 'incidentally in places of public resort, and strike up a marriage alliance between so many of their " wolves " on one side, and their " butterfiies " on the other, the dear little creatures of both sexes not being at all privy to the arrangement, much less parties to the contract. These juv- eniles were oftentimes thus betrothed by proxy as soon as they were nicely out of the cradle, the marriage to take place in the course of so many years— say when they would be respectively from nine to twelve years of age. PROPOSAL. 197 A CHINESE GIRL GRADUATE'S TESTIMONY. In the class of graduates for 1885, ^om the Women's Medical College in New York, was a remarkable character, in the petite person of Kin Yai Me, a Chinese student, who graduated at the head of the class. Very little has been known of her, because her guardians and adopted parents have been most zealous to prevent her from being interviewed during her college life. She speaks English better than some of her American friends ; she wears No. I shoes, has the regulation almond-shaped eyes, bangs her hair, which is long and straight, and possesses all the politeness of her race as well as its color. Like the people she is one of, she has a remarkable memory, and this gift was one of the telling qualities that placed her above the average student. When she was three years old she was left an orphan, and was adopted by the then United States consul in China, Dr. McCarter. Her father was a converted Chinaman, and became a Presbyterian mission minister ; he was also educated by Dr. McCarter, and de- voted himself to the mission work among his own people' in China. Both father and mother of Kin Yai Me died of cholera when she was three years of age, and the father left her to the care and edu- cation of his friend, who has well performed his trust. Dr. McCarter prepared her for the Medical College, and, being both talented and ambitious, she went into the study of medicine well coached and full of promise. Some idea of how well she had been fostered by her adopted parents may be traced in the fact that Mrs. McCarter alway.s escorted her charge home from the College on Second Avenue during her period of study. When she graduated she had won the highest position in the class, and during an interview with her, she told one of the classmates she should return to China and practise among the women of her race, but to equip herself still more for that work, she should study awhile longer before return- ing, Uporr the subject of marriage, Yai Mc said : 19-'? PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. " To marry outside of China would be an act never forgiven there ; besides that I shall never marry there, either, for I shall be too old." " Too old ?" was the surprised reply. "Yes. I am an old maid. I shall be over 21 before I return, and that is too old for Chinese women to marry. At 25 years of age few Chinese women have any chances to marry. All marr}- between 1 2 and 1 8 years of age." " You might be an exception," was vouchsafed " No," she replied, " there are other reasons. I would not marry any but the elder son. The wives of junior sons are all ruled by the wife of the eldest. They and their children are under her sup- ervision, and you see I could only marry the eldest .son, and I shall be too old to do so." " How old were you when you entered the medical college." "Eighteen," she replied, "and, although I have graduated, I have still much to accomplish before I take up mv life work in China." Kin Yai Me loves her profession— is, indeed, an enthusiast in it. Her marvellous memory was the comment of her class. The deter- mination to spare her from undue publicity and note was rigidly enforced, but her scholarship and intended career induced an inter- est that cannot longer be concealed. She is a Presbyterian in religion, while with her adopted par- ents, at least, and in the observance of the marriage customs of her own country, she still holds her allegiance in no small degree to the Celestial Kingdom. She has a brother who occupies some offic; I position in China, and she resides for the present in Washington.— The Toronto Globe. €^a 4 gj ^ — i^ EARLY BETROTHAL IN JAPAN. " Early betrothals have never been as general in Japan as in other eastern countries, and they are now decreasing yearly. Mar- PROPOSAL. 199 naffcs are arranged by their respective parents, assisted by a man and h,s wife (mutual friends of the family) as an intermediary Contrary to the usual notion on this subject, the wishes of the youn^x people are generally consulted. The statement sometimes made that the wife m Japan is a mere chattel, to be lightly acquired or disposed of, is absolutely false. Divorces among the better classes are scarcely more frequent, or more frequently sought, than in many parts of our own country. Our tricky divorce lawyers would starve in Japan. If a divorce is demanded, the matter must be laid before the families of the couple, with the intermediary spoken of, as ar- bitrators, and neither the man nor the woman can be released from the marriage vow without their concurrence. As divorce must re- sult m the sending of the wife back to the father for support separations, without a grave and sufficient reason, are not easily obtained. ^ The position of a wife, and especially of a mother, in Japan is all that a true woman can desire. It is not the custom, except 'on special occasions, for women to mingle with men who are not of their own family by blood or marriage. The restriction is not im- posed by the legal lord alone, it is a part of the family organization and by the family imposed for the promotion of morality and good order in society. Nothing can exceed the beauty and harmony of the Japanese when at home. Disrespect and disobedience to par- ents are rare, and we have often been compelled to contrast the family discipline of Japan with that of our own, much to our own mortification." EARLY BETROTHAL EOR POLITICAL PURrOSES. "Now Herod brought up his son's children with great care • for Alexander had two sons by Glapbyra, and Aristobulus had three sons by Bernice, Salome's daughter, and two daughters ; and as his friends were once with him, he presented the children before them 200 PROrOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. and deploring the hard fortune of his own sons, he prayed that no such ill-fortune would befal these who were their children, but that they might improve in virtue, and obtain what they justly deserved, and might make him amends for his care of their education. He also caused them to betrothed against they should come to the proper age of marriage: the elder of Alexander's sons tr Phcroras' daughter, and Antipater's daughter to Aristobulus' eldest son. He also allotted one of Aristobulus' daughters to Antipater's son, and Aristobulus' other daughter to Herod, a son of his own, who was born to him by the high priest's daughter : for it is the ancient practice among us to have many wives at the same time. Now the king made these espousals for the children, out of commiseration of them now they were fatherless, as endeavoring to render Anti- pater kind to them by these intermarriages. — -^(^^ — EARU' BETROTHAL IN HINDOSTAN. The Times of India, commenting on a remarkable contribution to the discussion that has been going on for the last twelve months about the social status of Hindoo women, their position in the household, and their relation with the other sex, says : "The story a Hindoo woman has to tell is a sad one, and no doubt all the sadder, inasmuch as her letter shows her to be pos- sessed of very unusual natural abilities. The ' wicked practice of early marriage ' has, she declares, destroyed the happiness of her life, coming between her and the things she prizes above all others —study and mental cultivation. ' Without the least fault of mine I ani doomed to seclusion ; every aspiration of mine to rise above my ignorant sisters is looked upon with suspicion, and is interpre- ted in the most uncharitable manner.' She writes with a good deal of feminine emphasis, but she amply proves her case, that the rich and poor, old and young, of her sex suffer much misery and pain and degradation through the strict observance of social institutions \ k I'ROrOSAL. 201 invented by men for their own advantage. Every woman, on the death of her husband, even if he be a child-husband, is condemned to a hfe of perpetual widowhood. But a man may not only marry a second wife on the death of his first one, but can marry any num- ber of wives at one and the same time. Even if he has only one w.fe, he continues to live in the bosom of his own family, and has never, under any circums^inccs. to submit to the tender mercies of a mother-in-law. In India all the boys and girls are betrothed in- dissolubly almost as soon as they are born. At the age of eight at least, a husband must be found for every girl. Girls are gener- ally, perhaps, married at this age, and their parents are still at lib- erty to send them to school until they a'-e ten years old. But after that the leave of the mother-in-law must be obtained. 'But even in these advanced times,' exclaims our correspondent, 'and even in Bombay-the chief centre of civilization-how many mothers-in- laws are there who send their daughters to school after they are ten years old ?' Thus the girls are taken away from school just when they are beginning to understand and appreciate education Even girls belonging to the most advanced families are mothers before they are fourteen, and have thenceforth to devote themselves to the hard realities of life. The unfortunate bride may neither sit nor speak in the presence of any elder member of her husband's family. She must work with the servants, rise early, and go to bed late, and be perpetually abused and frequently beaten by her mother-in-law. She must live in the most rigid seclusion. Her husband, who is entirely dependent on his family, can never take her part, and, fresh himself from college, is apt to despise her for her Ignorance, and to tolerate her as a necessary evil. Our corres- pondent deliberately declares that 'the treatment which even ser- vants receive from their European masters is far better than fall, to the share of us Hindoo women. We are treated worse than beasts.' The strength both of mind and body is sapped by these early marriages. The children either die off as weakly seedlinjjs or 202 I'kOI'OSAL AND ESPOUSAL. ■ grow up without vigor. The women lose their beauty at t\vcnt\-, are long past their prime at thirty, and old at forty. But a worse fate awaits them :f instead of being Hindoo wives they arc Hindoo widows. Of this wretched fate our correspondent fortunately knows nothing personally, and so cannot write from experience. Hut there are 22,000,000 widows in India, many of whom lost their nominal husbands when they were children, and none of whom can ever marry again. For the rest of their lives they are deprived of ornaments and colored garments, their heads are shaved, they are condemned to the coarsest clothes and the poorest food, and wear out their days in seclusion as the low drudges of the household. They have to live like nuns, but amid all the temptations in a little world in which they are regarded as inferior beings, and when the)- hide their shame they are handed over to the English law for punishment " ( -^/W It may truly be said with regard to early marriages, that "opin- ions differ," not only among individuals but amcng nations also. and oftentimes among those of the same name and nation. With regard to the ancient inhabitants of Greece and Rome, we find the sages giving various and even diverse counsels. Among the for- mer, for instance. "The time of marriage was not the same in all places. The Spartans were not permitted to marry till they arrived at their full strength, and though we do not find -in^r earl>' or late, they were all expected to enter the marriajje state when opportunity allowetl. " The ancients believed in matrimon)-. Amonjj the Romans all inen of full age were compelled by law to marry, and an ancient English law obliged all men of twenty-five and upward to marry." Modern times allow a good deal of liberty in this respect, and we fortunately are free from any iron-bound custom on the matri- monial matter. In America, where warmer climes promote a pri- mer growth, (for there is an evident connection between genial suns and early marriages), it is no una^mmon thing to see a young miss married midway of her teens. And by-and-by, judging from the precocity of this steain-and-ligh'tning age. we shall ha\e proposals made and betrothals arranged in the go-cart. - w '1 THAT LITTLE GIRL. The jovial captain of one of the steamships now in port tells a good story relative to the May and December marriages so common m Brazil, A Brazilian gentleman, apparently over 50 years of age, was a passenger on his vessel. He was accompanied by two mr\s one about 1 5, and the other younger. The gentltman was sea^sick in the cabin, and the girls were on deck, whereupon the captain endeavored to amuse them— took them on his knecs,"and told them stories, while he enjoyed their prattle and pretty smiles. In the midst of this pleasant occupation the gentleman came on deck. With a fierce expression he gazed upon the scene for a moment, and then inquired in a harsh, husky voice : " Vou, sir ; are you mar- ried ?" " Yes ; I have a daughter older than your little girl here," said the captain. "She reminds me very much of mine." Here he PRDI'OSAL, 205 Ill- patted the pretty check. "That httle ^Mrl, sir," exclaimed the ... dignant Hra/ihan, with great emphasis, "that little girl is my wife, ■■"" The captain collapsed. sir. Among us men arc of age at tsventy-one ; among the Romans they were so at twenty-five ; among the Jews thirteen years and one day. Females were of age according as circumstances regula- ted it— "the time appointed by the father." The father by his last will might fix any time for male or female. Timothy was a young man ; but as among the Greeks and Romans the state of youth was extended to thirty years, no respec- table young men were permitted to drink wine before that time ; and though he was now thirty-five years of age, yet he might still feel himself under the custom of his country relative to drinkin- wine, for his father was a Greek (Acts xvi. i) ; and through the in" fluencc of his Christian profession, he might still continue to abstain from wine, drinking water oxAy.— Pictorial Explanatory Neiv Tes- tament. HmfflB— -.(}► -{>•— ■iJESIK' CONSENT OF PARENTS REQUIRED. Virgins were not allowed to marry without the consent of their parents ; whence Hero in Leander in Musens tells Leander they could not be honorably joined in marriage, because her parents were against it : " My parents to the match will not consent. Therefore desist, it is not pertioent." Hesmione in Euripides professes she had no concern about her marriage, but left that wholly to her father: "I'm not concerned, my father will take care Of all things that respect my nuptials." 2o6 PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. The mother's consent was necessary as v/ell as the fathers ; nor A-ere men permitted to marry without consulting their parents, for even the most early and ignorant ages were too well acquainted with the right which parents have over their children to think these had power to dispose of themselves without their parents' consent. Acchilles in Homer refuses Agamemnon's daughter, and leaves it to his father Pelens to choose him a wife : "If by heaven's lilessing I return a bride, My careful father will for me provide." BETROTHAL DISPENSED WITH. In the East you scarcely ever see a woman's face on the streets. A man does not even see his intended wife's before marriage, and not then unless he has paid for her. In Mohammedan countries all brides are sold to the highest bidder, the same as horses or camels, the money to be paid on delivery. Even after marriage the wife is kept like a prisoner in the harem, and always closely veiled when she appears in public. ¥ ■j:-i||to..v:^ Ji I lU ■ m. !, I A it. I' is it' i fSh^i^^i^t Zsp©ygal. ifife i^^T HAS been said that every man is a hero at least twice m in h.s brief earthly history, namely, at his birth and at ^^^ h.s death ; and the married man, of course, adds another hero.c period to his existence-that of his wedding dav Everybody feels a passing interest in the nuptial puV and in the happy bridegroom little less than in his fairer bride ro th,s mteresting epoch in a man's probationary state all things tair and pleasant are compared. "^ " The world is a wedding," says the Talmud, and that authority also avers m kindred sentiment, that "youth is a wreath of roses'' And when, with vieing, varied beauty, youth meets youth-gentler youth with stronger youth-with the glory fresh in them of their charmmg, mutual prime, what sight on earth can be nobler and fairer withal ? The sun, himself, is compared to one of the contracting parties which IS as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber on his marriage' morn, and "rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race." And the earth IS compared to the other (as also the Jewish church). " Thou shalt be called Heppzibah (my delight in her-the same name as He.e- k.ahs then reigning queen) and thy land Beulah (married), for the in fnnt^ r>t^^ 4.1... !_._ 1 f 11 « .... deliehteth in thee, and thy land shall b 14 c married. 209 2IO PROPOSAL AND F.SPOUSAL. M p Even the dumb world is a wedding, and the earth is the bride of the sun. For every springtime, with the return of the " King of :lay " from his wintry solstice, or stopping place, the earth " renews her mighty youth ;" and, lo ! this silent sphere, which is turned as clay to the seal, to be stamped afresh with life and beauty, grows cheerful in his beaming and benignant smile. And see ! beneath his cheering ray, for there is nothing hid from the heat thereof, the erstwhile barren ground "brings forth and buds ;" and the dumb air grows tuneful with songs of myriad birds that hail the nuptials of the celestial with the terrestial ; and the low world is yoked, like a buoyant car, to this heavenly courser, and is borne along and ' high aloft among the circling, sister, planetary chariots in his mag- nificent train, as he makes the stupendous passage of the ecliptic. • The clouds, too, seem wedded to the mountains of the earth, and oftentimes rest their soft and snowy forms, fair as a seraph's pinion, on their lofty, sky-k-'ssing summits. And behold, also, how the migratory birds — wing-linked with brightness — are married to the glowing summer, as that queen of beauty and of song makes her fair-riding tour of the terraqueous globe, and woo her forever, as they follow her zone-sweeping train about the mighty circuit of the habitable globe. Yes, even so, the dull earth, for nature loves contrasts, is mar- ried to the bright sun, and the low earth is joined by attraction to the high sun, and the slow earth is united by impulsion to the swift sun, whose surpassing velocity induced the heathen to offer only white chariot horses in solar sacrifice, and the cold earth is wedded to the warm sun, with his vivifying and eternally fructifying power, and from this auspicious union comes all her fruitfulness and glory. And the soul, too, of man may well be described as being mar- ried to his body in most subtle, sacred bond, with union dear and precious. " More closely wed than married pair." II i I ESPOUSAL. 21.1 The marriage tie being the ■• silver cord " of Solomon's wond- ve"la" ""'""' "'™' '°^" »■'."- '^nk-suppLng Hoieb, that God Ic.ssed h,s soul out of him," thus suggesting the gentleness and painlessness of his possible death. So g Ice ma, through the mercy of God, .soften the rigors of dissolv.ng "nse and d,vme love may brighten the dark approach of the •■ kingof ter^r - en .s a black face shines when the sun bursts full upon i A d ough pUosophy and science stand mute, with their "hand upon .1- .r mouth," hard by the last, terribly-trying scene of stern dis- .olv,„g nature, and fail to whisper living hope or breathe a b^ah of heavenly consolation ; yet the Bible, blessed word, opens frTsh .nsp.rmg page, full of the energy of the resurrection a'd hide partmg soul grows bright with the promi.,e, and buoy nt wi h ete must d.e and leave her, that she will meet it again beyond the nver, and remarry it in renewed power and glory on the Cat dav of God ; and beckoning it onward in triumph, she flap C fre cl "-.-upward, smging, ■■ , know that my'Redeemer'liveth an I nd^otal Z^''»'''-f""'-'^' -' ™"= ^y- ^-a" !^''^- THE DIVINE ESPOTT3/LS. The love that crowns one king of men Is not for idle telling ; 'Tis deep and still, yet strong as death. The love of man excelling. — Ma i gaket Robbins. ^O FORTH, O ye dj^ughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart." It was customary among the ancients to adorn. the heads of newly married couples with light wreaths, or marriage crowns, as if to show that this was the crown- ing day of their several lives. In accordance with this general u sage, Bathsheba, the queen mother herself, bedecks the head of her son, the young prince Solomon, and hence the invitation, with its mystical meaning of the union subsisting between Christ and his church; and all are invited to the " marriage supper of the Lamb," for " behold a greater than Solomon is here." -^la- Arrayed in glittering white, With marriage wreath bedecked, Awaiting nuptial rite — Behold the Lord's elect. 212 ESPOUSAL. 213 The fair Bathsheba's son, Himself surpassing fair ; The glorious Solomon, His wealth beyond compare. But though the head be crowned With light of blazing gems, Except the heart be sound In vain are diadems. 'Tis not the cap of state, Nor joyful nuptial crown, That make.s the king so great, 'Tis love, and love alone. THE SPOUSE'S ADMIRATION OF HIM. " This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O ye daughters of Jerusalem." O, ye companions, list to me, For my beloved is fair ; His days are from eternity, His love beyond compare. Where'er I go, he leadeth me, He moveth by my side ; My bright, my heavenly bridegroom he, And I, his blushing bride. She shall be brought to the king in raiment of needlewojk, &c — Canticles. -•"^ifaeiibummmiMi^m^'t 214 PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. My bridal wreath is christian joy, And sanctity my dress ; My banquet, bliss, without alloy, My robe is rigrhtcousness. My chain of gold is his commands, My girdling^zone, his truth ; And Zion's vows my golden bands, My bloom — immortal youth. His covenant m}' marriage ring. His smile my sun and moon ; His love is all the song 5 sing. And glory is my tune. O, ye companions, list to me, Come with me to his p/ace ! Pavilioned in his brightness be, And taste his mighty grace. THE king's daughter, or the royal bride. "The king's daughter is all glorious within ; her clothing is of wrought gold. She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework ; the virgins, her companions that follow her, shall be brought unto thee. With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought ; they shall enter into the king's palace." "But what saith the Scriptures? 'The King's daughter is all glorious within,' (Ps. xly.,) and as ships which are the fairest in show, yet are not always the fittest for use ; so neither are women ESPOUSAL. ^'5 the more to be esteemed, but the more to be suspected, for their fair trappings ; yet we condemn not in greater personages the use of ornaments ; yea, we teach that silver, silks, and gold were created not only for the necessity, but also far ornament of the saints. In the practice whereof, Rcbekah, a holy woman, is noted to have received from Isaac, a holy man, even car-rings, habiliments, and bracelets of gold, (Gen. xxiv.,) therefore this is it we teach for rules of Christian sobriety, that if a woman neither exceed decency in fashion, nor the limits of her state and degree, and that she be proud of nothing, we see no reason but she may wear anything. It followeth that she is like a ship, but what a ship ? A ship of merchants— no doubt a great commendation, for the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant (Matt, xiii.;, and merchants have been princes (Isa. xxiii.), and princes are gods (Ps. Ixxxii.) The mer- chant is of all men most laborious for his life, the most adventurous in his labor, the mot peaceable upon the sea, the most profitable to the land ; yea, the merchant is the combination and union of lands and countries. She is a like a ship of n.erchants, therefore first to be reckoned, as ye so among the laity ; not like a fisher- man's boat, not like St. Peter's ship, for Christ did call no she apostles. Indeed, it is commendable in a woman when she is able by her wisdom to instruct her children, and to give at opportunities good counsel to her husband ; but when women shall take upon them, as many have done, to build churches, and to chalk out dis- cipline for the church, this is neither commendable nor tolerable ; for 'her hands,' saith Solomon, 'must handle the spindle,' (vcr 19)^ the spindle or the cradle, but neither the altar nor the temple ; for St. John commendeth even to the elect lady, not so much her talk- ing, as her walking in the commandments (2 John v. 6) ; therfore to such preaching women it may be answe.ed, as St. Bernard some- times answered the image of the blessed Virgin, at the great church at Sire, in Germany. Bernard was no sooner come into the church but the image straight saluted him, and bade him, ' Good morrow, rmmsmmi,..: 210 PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. Bernard ;' whereat Bernard, well knowing the jugfjlcry of the friars, made answer again out of St. Paul : ' O, your ladyship hath forgot yourself; it is not lawful for a woman to speak in the church.' The bride that hath good cheer within, and good music, and a good bridegroom with her, may be merry, though the hail chance to rattle upon the tiles without upon her wedding day ; though the world should rattle about his ears, a man may sit merry that sits at the feast of a good conscience ; nay, the child of God, by virtue of this, in the midst of the waves of affliction, is as secure as that child, which in a shipwreck was upon a plank with his mother, till she awaked him securely sleeping, and then with his pretty coun- tenance sweetly smiling, and by-and-by sportingly asking a stroke to beat the naughty waves, and at last, when they continued bois- terous for all that, sharply chiding them, as though they had been but his playfellows. O the innocency ! O the comfort ot peace ! O the tranquility of a spotless mind ! There is no heaven so clear as a good conscience. —St-t man by Robert Wilkinson, of Cambridge, preached before the Kings Majesty at the miptials of an Honourable Lord and Lady. THE bridegroom's ADMIRATION OF THE BRIDE. "Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely." O blessed lips ! The wild bee sips At no such fount of nectared juice. As those that hear Thy speech with fear And know truth's ordinance and use. ESPOUSAL. 217 Like scarlet thread, So lively red, With saving health and hallowed blood ; Thy testimony Drops like honey, And still proclaims the Christ of God. .><>«;« " How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince's daughter !" How beautiful those feet with shoes, Which gospel preparations use I They win their way Like light of d ly, And who their entrance would refuse. MW " Thou art comely through my comeliness, which I have put upon thee." O glorious dress — Christ's righteousness ! Whose shado./y train love's pattern bears; Fair 'broidery. Which angels see. And glory decks the robe she wears. " Thy temples are like a piece of pomegranate (a cut pome- granate showing the red juice inside) within thy locks. Contrition's flush, Pure virtue's blush. So weil thy countenance doth grace ; Like pulp of wine, Thy temples shine. While heaven annrnv^c urUU t^miUrtr^ C^^^ — — t-r""~"~" "■«•• -•■iiiiiijj iau^;. 2I8 PROPOSAL AND KSPOUSAL. Repentance meet — Compunction sweet — And holy shame's siuTusive glow, Thy brows adorn, Like rosy morn, And love's red seal enstamps thee now. "The smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon " With odors sweet, Her welcome feet Now tread the golden palace floor , And clearly o'ei The pearly door Is writ : " They shall go out no more." "The smell of thy nose is like apples." Her grateful breath Revives e'en death, "The smell like apples"— Scripture saith ; She breatheth bloom, E'en through the tomb, And fills the world with choice perfume. — -^V^- — " Thou art all fair my love ; there is no spot in thee " O spotless fair ! Beyond compare, Sweet Zion, bound by sacred vows ; Be thine our state, All new-create Meek members of the heavenly spouse ESrOUSAL. 219 " Forget also thine own people, and thy father's house, so shall the kmg greatly desire thy beauty, for he is thy lord, and worship thou him." ^ She shall come before the king. Royal praises she shall siog In his ear, Sweet and clear. Like sounding chime of silver sphere THE BRinAL CHARIOT. OR NUPTI/ COUCH. " King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Lebanon He made the pillars thereof of silver, the bottom thereof of gold, the covering of it of purple, the midst thereof being paved wjth love, for the daughters of Jerusalem." " Behold his bed, which is Solomon's ; threescore valiant men are about it, of the valiant of Israel. They all hold swords, being expert in war : every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night." —"^^, — After these preliminaries, the bride was generally conducted from her father's house to that of the ' bridegroom in a chariot, drawn by a pair of mules or oxen, and furnished with a kind of couch, as a seat. On either side of her sat the bridegroom and one of his most intimate friends or relations. Mention is expressly made in Hesiod of the carriage which was used on this solemn occasion ; for driving in chariots is character- istic of the heroic age, and is appropriate either to high festivals and solemnities, or to great distances. Torches were carried by the side. 220 PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. The nuptial procession was probably accompanied, according to circumstances, by a nnmber of persons, some of whom carried the nuptial torches, and in some places, as in Bcetia, it was custom- ary to burn the axle of the carriage on its arrival at the bride- groom's house, as a symbol that the bride was to remain at home, and not go abroad If the bridegroom had been married before', the bride was nft conducted to his house by himself, but by one of his friends. The Greeks kept the marriage bed as a relic in the court, just opposite the door of the house— A nt/ioti s G?eece. Thou satest upon a stately bed. » # » Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou made thy bed.— Z,V^/^. I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, and aloes, and cinnamon. — Proverbs. «9SS> MARRIAGE FELICITIES. JARRIAGE (Matt. xxii. 2) is a divine institution. It is also a civil contract, (Gen. ii. 21) uniting one man and one woman together in the relation of husband and ..... wife. Among the benefits of the institution are (i), % ■ Domestic comfort ; (2) Provision for the health, edu- cation, and support of children ; (3) The distribution of society into families, or small communities, with a master as governor over them, who has natural as well as legal authority ; (4) The security which arises from parental anxiety, and the confinement of children to permanent habitations ; and (5), The encouragement of industry. No sins are more frequently and pointedly condemned by the Bible, than such as violate or impair the sacredness of the marriao-e relation ; and n( hing is wanting to raise this to the highest, purest and most sacred relation in which two human beings can stand to each other, but obedience to the precepts of the Holy Scriptures on this subject." "MARRIAGE IS HONOURABLE IN ALL." Marriage is born of the skies, And woman for man was made fair, And the sweetest and tend'rest of ties Are those which unite wedded pair. 1:21 ■ iy?5«^i*«aw«liiM»a«fc*jte,^, ll 222 PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. ' I will make a help meet,' it was said, When man stood in Eden alone, And so out of his side — not his head — Was made ' flesh of flesh, bone of bone' And woman stood forth to the view. Fair woman ! sweet creature of God ; And thus out of one were made two, Then two were made one, which seems odd. So bachelors all take a wife. You cannot improve on God's plan ; She'll double the joys of your life. And 5nish your growth as a man. The foregoing effusion, written and presented as a " bridal gift," at a wedding not a thousand miles from Brantford, Ontario, is not inserted here merely to fill up space, or to please the ear with the jiijgle of light rhyme ; but from a belief in the truth of the genial matter therein contained, and wc find ourself in excellent company withal — which though Apocryphal in name, is yet not so in senti- ment, when it says, " Blessed is the man that hath a virtuous wife, for the number of his days shall be doubled." "The grace of a wife delighteth her husband, and her discretion will tatten his bones. As the sun when it riseth in the high heavens, so is the beauty of a good wife in the ordering of the house." The Greeks called a married man by a name, which signified "complete," implying that an unmarried one was not altogether perfect : and rightly so, for, as saith the poet : A wife's a man's best piece ; who till he marries, Wants making up : she is the shrine to which Nature doth send us forth on pilgrimage ; She was a scion taken from, that tree, ESPOUSAL. 223 Into which, if she has no second grafting, The world can have no fruit ; she is man's Arithmetic, which teaches him to number And multiply himself in his own children ; She is the good man's paradise, and the bad's First step to heaven, a treasure which, who wants, Cannot be trusted to posterity, Nor pay his own debts ; she's a golden sentence Writ by our Maker, wh-h the angels may Discourse of, only men k low how to use, And none but devils violate.— Shirley. And the gallant Pope, deformed and unshapely as he was, comes to woman's defence, and rightly champions her cause, when he Sings Some wicked wits have libell'd all the fair ; With matchless impudence they style a wife The dear-bought curse and lawful plague of life ; A bosom serpent, a domestic evil, A night invasion, and a mid-day devil. Let not the wise these sland'rous words regard. But curse the bones of ev'ry lying bard. All other goods by fortune's hands are given,— A wife is the peculiar gift of Heaven A wife ! ah, gentle deities, can he That has a wife, e'er feel adversity ? Would men but follow what the sex advise, All things would prosper, all the world grow' wise. " Marriage was very honourable in several of the Grecian Com- monwealths, being very much encouraged by their laws, as the abstaming from it was discountenanced, and in some places pun- ished ; for the strength of States consisting in their number of peo- 224 I'ROPOSAL A\D ESPULSAL. pie, those that refused to contribute to their increase, were thouql t very cold in their affections to their country. The Lacedemonians are very remarkable for their severity against those who deferred marrying, as well as those who wholly abstained from it No man among them could live without a wife beyond the time limited by their Lawgiver, without incurring several penalties ; as first, the magistrates command -d such, once every winter, to run round the public Forum nude ; and to increase their shame, they sung a cer- tain song, the words whereof aggravated their crime, and exposed them to ridicule. Another of their punishments was, to be exclu- ded from the exercises wherein young virgins contended. A third penalty was inflicted upon a certain solemnity, wherein the women dragged them round an altar, beating them all the time with their fists. Lastly they were deprived of that respect and observance, which the younger' sort were obliged to pay to their elders ; and therefore saith Plutarch, no man found fault with what was said to Dercyllidas, a great captain, and one that had commanded armies, who coming into the place of Assembly, a young man, instead cf rising and making room, told him, 'Sir, you must not expect that houour from me being young, which cannot be returned to me by a child of yours when I am old.' To these we may add the Athe- nian law, whereby all that were commanders, orators, or intrusted with any public affairs, were to be married and have children." For, says Solomon, In the multitude of people is the king's honour ; but in the want of people is the destruction of the prince. And the first commandment (after the prohibition) is, Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth. Whereupon some have made it a question, whether this is not a command, obliging all men to marriage and procreaiion, as most of the Jewish doctors arc of opinion. But to this it may be replied : ist. That it is indeed a command, obliging all men so far as not to suffer the extinction of mankind, in which sen.se it did absolutely bind Adam and Eve, as ESPOUSAL. 225 also Noah, and his sons, and their wives, after the flood. But, 2nd' that it does not obh'gs every particular man to marry, appears from the example of our Lord Jesus, who lived and died in an unmarried state ; from his commendation of those who made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of God (Matt. xix. 12), and from St. Paul's frequent approbation of Virginity (i Cor. vii. i, &c.) And therefore, 3rd, it is here rather a permission than a command, though it be expressed in the form of a command, as other permissions fre- quently are. Vid. Genesis ii. 16 ; Deuteronomy xiv. ^..—Pool's Annotaiiotis. And how well this command to "increase and multiply" was obeyed in the early ages of mankind, and how highly commenda- tory the fulfilment of it was among even the Jews themselves, may be inferred from the fact that the Hebrew Judges (see Book of Judges) were all, or almost all, men of large families. And Jerubbaael the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house. And Gideon had three score and ten sons of his body begotten : for he had many wives. * * # » And he went unto his father's house at Ophrah, and slew his brethren the sons of Jerubbaael, being threescore and ten persons, upon one stone : notwithstanding yet Jotham the youngest son ot jerubbaael was left, for he hid himself. * * « » And after him arose Jair, a Gileadite, and judged Israel twenty and two years. And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called Havoth-jair unto this day, which are in the land of Gilead. And after him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. •16 22<') PROrOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. And he had thirty sons, and thirty daughters, whom he sent abroad, and took in thirty daughters from abroad for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years. * e , » » And after him Abdon, the son of Killel, a Pirathonite, judge of Israel. And he had forty sons and thirty nephews, that rode on three- score and ten ass colts : and he judged Israel eight years. It will, therefore, be clearly seen that to decry matrimony is to deny posterity, to ignore paternity, and to despise the truest and dearest company ; for even a stnall family may prove a great bless- ing, and a little woman be a large treasure, as observes the some- what facetious, but decidedly magnanimous " Re°d Burton," when he thus exclaims : \ I'd like a wife — a little wife ; I ask no stately dame ; No regal Juno's lightning glance Can set my heart aflame. Let others bend, with eager gaze, At haughty beauties' throne, But, ah ! it is a fairy queen Who claims me as her own ! A dainty, wee and winsome thing. Like her, the poet sings ; Who seems to tread this grosser earth Upborne by fairy wings — Who walks, and talks, and sings, and smiles, In such a witching way, That love must in her pathway spring As flowers spring in May! ESPOUSAL. Ah ! Nature is a thrifty dame, Who will economize ; Her precious things she always makes So very small in size. And though her ruder wealth she pours On river, sea and land, Her perfect works are mir iatures, Wrought finely out by hand. The little bird, as all can vouch, Has e'er the sweetest song ; To little flowers in the shade The sweetest blooms belong ; The little gem of purest ray Is found without a flaw — And little women rule the world By universal law. And yet her hands, so soft and white, Seem only made to cling ; Her little fingers, rosy-tipped, Seem fettered by a ring ; 227 But trust those feet— those liljle feet— To never trip or fall ; And trust those little hands for help, If help can come at all ; And trust that little head to solve The puzzling things of life — For biggest heart, and mind, and soul, Go trust—a little wife ! ''^f^^SlltUK^itkm&A^SL^^idSaM . 22a I! li PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. A SOUVENIR OF LOVE. Dearest, sweetest, fondest, best, Lean your head upon my breast ; Loving arms shall thee entwine, Loving hands be placed in mine ; Throbbing hearts with pleasure beat, Happy eyes in gladness meet ; Peace and joy now reign supreme, Love our all-absorbing theme. Picture of a living love, True as angel-notes above ; Constant as the Polar star. Shining in the heavens afar ; Deep and boundless as the sea. Ever pure and ever free ; Warm and bright as Southern skies, Earthly Eden— Paradise ! Love like this doth ever sing. Echoes wake and echoes ring ; Love and pain inaj/ sometimes meet. Love can make the pain a sweet ; Grief and care shall flee away, Darkest night be turned to day ; Winter snows to Summer showers. Autumn leaves to Spring's fresh flowers. Sordid pleasures have their day, Truth and Love shall ne'er decay ; Heaven and earth their blessing give, Love and Truth shall ever live ; PROPOSAL. 229 Then let love our bosoms thrill, Empty hearts may have their fill ; The poorest may be rich in love, Bless'd on earth and crown'd above ! — Bonus Aragtts. WEDDED ONENESS. " Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mothar, and shall cleave unto his wife : and they shall be one flesh." The mutual identity and relationship of the primal married pair stand clearly revealed in three striking particulars. First, they were made of the same living substance — flesh and bone : " And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of m\' flesh : she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of m;in." Second, they were created the same day. God created them male and female, and called their name Adam in the same day that he created them. Some of the Rabbis say (and what is it they won't say ?) that Eve was not created till Sunday (or, rather, the Jewish Sabbath). " But let God be true and every man a liar." Thirdly, they were called by the same name, "Adam." One name stood for both. Her identity was lost in his. He called t/ieir name .Adam in the day that he created them. Here, then, at the very beginning, we have the origin of the custom of the woman taking her husband's name. Adam himself afterward called her \i\G (living), significant of her universal motherhood, or "because she was the mother of all living." Yet, though the proper name was not given her at the first, the common noun was pronounced upon her at sight, as it were. She shall be called Woman, says the enraptured Adam, because she was taken out of the man, " Rabbi Joshua, of Saknin, said in the name of Rabbi Levi : ' The Lord considered from ^'hat part of the man he should form »*«SHa«««iBi«' i|; II 230 PROI'OSAL AND ESPOUSAL. woman ; not from the head, lest she should be proud; not from the ej'es, lest she should wish to see everything ; not from the mouth, lest she should be talkative ; nor from the ear, lest she should wish to^hear everything ; nor from the heart, lest she should be jealous ; nor from the hand, lest she should wish to find out everything ; nor from the feet, in order that she might not be a wanderer ; only from the most hidden place, that is covered even when a man is naked— namely, the rib.' "— Talmjid. Some think that Adam called his wife Eve, in belief that God would make her the mother not only of all mankind in common, but of the promised seed in particular, by whom he hoped to be raised from the dead to immortal life. So Eva, or Havali, may be interpreted viva, or vivificatrix, be- cause she was the mother of all,, and because mankind, when sen- tenced to death, were by her saved alive. Hence, when the first child was born, she called him, jubilantly, Cain (possession), saying, I have gotten a man from the Lord (no common child, this) ; but she soon found that he was more related, morally, to the devil, and hence in her chagrin and disappointment she called the second son Abel (vanity or breath,) THE BE.ST HELPER. Man's other helpers come and go ; But this of God's providing. Still faithful clings through weal or woe, For evermore abidinir : — His help in sickness, help in health ; In youthful prime, and life's declinino- • His help in poverty and wealth Man's twin life-light forever .shining : ESPOUSAL. His help to counsei, comfort, cheer, Whate'er may overtake him ; His help to wipe away the tear, Though all mankind forsake him. Thou fairer Adam ! — sweet "Man-I-'ss!" Earth's charm ; man's consolation ; Thy genesis was but to bless, All grace in thy creation ! '231 WEDDKD LOVE. Hail ! wedded love ! mysterious law ! true source Of human offspring ! sole propriety In Paradise, of all things common else! By thee adultrous lust was driv'n from men. Among the bestial herds to range ; by thee (Founded in reason, loyal, just and pure) Relations dear, and all the charities Of father, son, and brother, first were known. Perpetual fountain of domestic sweets ! Whose bed is undefil'd, and chaste pronounc'd — Here love his golden shafts employs ; here lights His constant lamp, and waves his purple wings ; Reigns here, and revels. — Milton. ►HUPP " {' " '6' - ibm11|j-i THE MARRL-VGE BOAT. Oh ! surely marriage is a great and sacred responsibility. It is a bark in which two souls venture out on life's stormy sea, with no aid but their own to help them ; the well-doing of their frail vessel must in future solely rest upon themselves ; no one can take part either to m.qr or make thrir blisn or misery. From the husband 7i2 PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. If , alone must henceforth flow all the happiness that the wife is des- tined to know ; he is the only being she must care to please ; all other men are now to be to her but shadows glancing on the wall. And he — what is his share in the compact? How does he fulfil his promise — redeem his pledge ? For docs he not swear to guard and cherish, and look leniently on the faults of the gentle girl he takes to his heart ; and in return for all her duty and sweet obedience, be true to her in sickness and health, in wealth and in poverty, for ever and for ever? And blessed are the unions in which those feelings are fostered and preserved. — Hamilton, (T^ •♦ iS — -*^ Man and wife are equally concerned to avoid all offence of each other in the beginning of their conversation. Every little thin^j can blast an infant blossom. — Jeyeniy Taylor. If you would have the nuptial union last, Let virtue be the bond that ties it fast.— 7?c;wr. ADAMS SLEEP— WAS IT A TRANCE? ''And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept ; and he took one of the ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof" The deep sleep made Adam less sensible of the pain which otherwise he would have felt in the opening of his side if he had not been unconscious, or if his mind had not been wholly intent upon something else, as it was in this sleep,- which was ac- companied with an ecstacy (so the seventy translate this word, and it is agreeable to what we reBd in Job iv. 13) — in thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon man, &c. And it is thought that it was represented to Adam's mind both what was done to him and the mystery of it, as appears by his words in the 23rd and 24th verses, where he says, "This is now bone of my bone," &c ESPOUSAL. THE "SEVENTY" CALL IT AN ECSTACV. Mine eyes he closed, but open left the cell Of fancy, my internal sight, by which (Abstract as in a trance) mcthought I saw Tho' sleeping, where I lay, and saw the shape Still glorious, before whom awake I stood — Under his forming hands a creature grew Man-like, but different sex ; so lovely fair, That what seemed fair in all the world, seemed now Mean, or in her summed up, in her contained, And in her looks, which from that time infused Sweetness into my heart, unfelt before ; And into all things from her air inspired The spirit of love and amorous delight. — Miltoii, 233 TIIK NUMISER OF MAN'S RIRS. " And he took one of the ribs," &c. Thomas Bartholimtis, a famous physician, thinks that Adam had thirteen ribs on each side, and that God took away one pair, with the muscular parts that ad- here to them, and out of them made Eve. For commonly men have but twelve ribs, though sometimes there have been found, as Galen and Riolamis testify, those who have had thirteen, and very rarely some who have had but eleven. Even as Bartholinius him- self observed in a lusty strong man whom he dissected in the year 1657, who had but eleven on one side, and a small appearance of a twelfth on the other. " And the rib which the Lord God had taken from man made he a woman." Eve was not made out of the ground, as Adam had been, but out of his side, that he might breed a greater love between them as part of the same whole ■ whcrebv he also effectu.a!!" re . \iimm&im30mms.' f:i:!:| 234 PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL, commended marriage to all mankind as founded in nature, and as the re-un.on of man and woman. It is likewise observable that there .s no mention made of his breathing a soul into her as into h.m ; for Moses only explains what was peculiar to Eve, u^hich was her bemg made out of his side, the rest is supposed in these words : I wdl make a help meet (fit) for him," which the vulgar Latin nghtly translates, shm/e er, like unto himself. And as the word nurz among the Greeks denotes likeness and similitude, as well as contrary, the woman, therefore was in all things like him ; only he made out of the earth, she out of him, that he might cleave unto her with the dearest love and affection. It is also intimated (Gen .. 27) that they were both made in the image of God, which effec- tually disposes of the curious and silly notion of the Chinese, uiat women have no souls. '-^K^ SATAN JUBILANT OVER THE FALL. In the old Greek mysteries, the people used to carry about a serpent, and were instructed to cry " Eva," whereby the devil seemed to exult, as it were, over the unhappy fall of our first mother. Philip Melancthon tells a story to this purpose, of some priests somewhere in Asia, who carry about with them a serpent in a bra- ;.en vessel, and as they attend it with a great deal of music and charms m verse, the serpent lifts up itself, opens its mouth, and thrusts out the head of a beautiful virgin ; the deviUn this manner glorying in the downfall of K e among these poor idolators. And an account of much the like nature is given us in books of travel in the West Indies.— JV/c/io/'s Conference. There was a story of Adam and Eve, of the tree and the ser- pent extant among the Indians long ago, and, as travellers tell us .s still preserved among the inhabitants of Peru and among the nrahmms. ^^ l\ ESPOUSAL. A BETTER HALF BRINGS BETTER QUARTERS. 235 " When Dr. Wendell Holmes' brother John was advised to take a wife and live in a better house, he said he presumed, if he should get a better half, he would be sure of better quarters." " I've a neat little cottage, It stands by the street ; If its outside is humb'« Its inside is neat. I love my sweet Jinnie — She's buxom anu fair, And sings like a birdie To welcome me there ! I mind not the hardship, The trouble of life, For we keep up the courtship, Although she's my wife." WEDDED LOVE'S DEVOTION. I feel my spirit humbled when you call My love of home a virtue ; 'tis the part Yourself have play'd has fix'd me ; for the heart Will anchor where its treasure is ; and small As is the love I bear you, 'tis my all — The widow's mite, compared with your desert : You and our quiet room, then, are the mart Of all my thoughts ; 'tis there they rise and fall. The parent bird that in its wanderings O'er hill and dale, through copse and leafy spray, ?.36 PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. Sees nought to lure his constant heart away From her who gravely sits with furled wings. Watching their mutual charge : howe'er he roam. His eye still fixes on his mossy home.— C/ar/i-e. 'Ik WEDDED LOVE'S TRUE HARMONY. Hail, holy love, thou word that sums all bliss, Gives and receives all bliss, fullest when most Thou givest ! spring-head of all felicity, Deepest when most is drawn ! emblem of God ! Mysterious, infinite, exhaustless love ! On earth mysterious, and mysterious still In Heaven ! sweet chord that harmonizes all The harps of Paradise! Hail, love ! first love, thou word that sums all bliss ! The sparkling cream of all time's blessedness The silken down of happiness complete ! Discerner of the riper grapes of joy, She gathereth, and selecteth with her hand. All finest relishes, all fairest sights. All rarest odours, all divinest sounds. All thoughts, all feelings dearest to the soul ; And brings the holy m^-:ture home, and fills' The heart with all superlatives of bliss. - —Pollok. Behold Eve coming forth. Made to double Adam's worth- Completing nature's animated plan ; For we find in all the past. Ere the fairest thing, the last, And "woman is the glory of the man." I'KOPOSAL. THE BRIDE. She standeth blushing by his side, Fairest of earth-born creatures ; The lily's bloom and rose's pride, Well-wedded in her features : 237 Love's pilgrim with a backward sigh, Going out — no more returning : — A newer star illumes the sky, A brighter sun is burning. Two living streams converging flow. With current nought can sever ; The confluent waves no refluence know, What God doeth is forever. The stronger with the gentler glides, The grosser with the finer ; As Harmony her numbers guides, — The major with the minor. And what with her shall we compare, In this, life's grand transition ; What symbol, object, emblem fair, Shall furnish Type's provision ? Like startled, shy, spray-swinging bird, With balanced wing a-quiver ; That sees the grass beneath her stirred. Beside the bending river : She hangs uncertain poised for flight Yet doubting the occasion ; . Like wav'rer undecided, quite, 'Twlxt warning and persuasion : 238 PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. Like timid deer, in distant dell. Descrying object moving ; Some shadowy form it knows not well, Through woodland twilight roving : ' She gazing, starts, and starting, turns ; Then turns again and pauses ; Her eager spirit trembles, burns To find out what the cause is : • Like ship descending down the "slips," Gay-decked for trial motion Going trembling forward as she dips. To embrace the buoyant ocean. As conscious when she wooes the wave. And walks the tidal water, The deep must be h^r home or grave ; Fair Neptune's bannered daughter ; In such suspense the maiden stands, 'Twixt love and home endearment ; For none e'er felt love's golden bands', But knew what wholesome fear meant ; Solicitous, yet anxious, she. To prove untried relations ; Like traveller 'lured by minstrelsy. Of foreign celebrations : Some fragments of the strain he knows, But not the complete measure ; And longs the burden to unclose. Of song's unfolding treasure. Oh, stronger is elective love. Than love of sister, sire ; And they who feel its ardor prove, The coals are coals of fire. )^ ^^m^m^^m'&s^^^m^^m^y^^ li^g^^^a MARRIAGES IN STRANGE fLACES. yARRIAGS have oftentimes been celebrated in curious places, for the sake of novelty, or notoriety, or both. In passing through the Mammoth Cave, the guide points out a place, near what is called the " Gothic Pulpit " (a remarkable formation of stalagmite, closely resembling an old-fashioned "desk," as the pulpit is called in America), where a young belle of Southern climes was wedded to the object of her choice, against the express wishes of her dying aunt, whom she had promised that she never would marry " any man on the face of the earth." So the ingenious and prevaricating maiden took her affianced below the earth to marry him, and thus kept her word and got a husband, too. Others have been married in balloons, and have gone up as high above the earth as the aforesaid party did below it. But a better and more sensible wedding, and scarcely less unique, was celebrated by a minister of the gospel, who has now gone to his reward. " It is said of the beloved Summerfield, that on one occasion, before a large audience, he announced a marriage ceremony about to be performed. The excited assembly, in almost breathless sus- pense, waited the introduction of the parties concerned, when the devoted one announced himself as one of the parties, and observed, in a manner solemn as eternity, that he was now about to be united in marriage covenant. He then, with a solemnity never to be for- 289 ■ ^^'' 240 PROl'OHAL AND ESPOUSAL. go ten. brought h.mself under the bonds of allegiance to Christ- ^ take h,m as the bridegroom of his soul and supreme object of h s heart s adorat.on ; and to have all his interests for time and eternity m prominent, entire and perpetual oneness with Christ. 'You may say. I am fearful of thus solemnly engaging myself les , m an unguarded moment. I may violate my pledge-and is it not better to remain unpledged, than to vow and not perform ? Can you conceive yourself so won wit.: the loveliness of a fellow-bein^ as to venture in marriage covenant without fearful forebodino-s of ^constancy ? Were I. on this principle, to dissuade you from en- tenng mto the solemnities of the marriage contract with one worthy of your love, would you not reproachfully repel the suggestion with the persuasion that I had but little knowledge of the strength of your affection, or the exceeding amiability of your friend ? Would you not rather contemplate the^blessedness of an enduring relation- ship m confident expectation that a riper knowledge would but heighten your estimation, and increase the ardor of your love ? And now can you not, in expectation of corresponding results contemplate an ever-enduring union with the Altogether Yovcly ? If you ever thus lake Christ a^ the bridegroom of your soul, the decisive hour must arrive for the consummation of that union It has only been delayed for want of an entire aquiescence on your part The heavenly bridegroom even now is waiting with glorious attendants from the uppper world to hear your decision, to witness the consummation, and to ratify and record on the pages of eter mty the infinitely responsible act. He now presents the terms of ^e covenant, and invites you i. his strength to lay hold upon it Will you keep him longer waiting, and subject yourself to the fear-' fu probability of his taking a returnless departure, or will you sic.- nahze this eventful, solemn hour on the annals of eternitv, as the specific period when you subscribed your name to a covenant which ESPOUSAL. 241 surrender of your being to him ? O happy day, that fixed my choice On thee, my oaviour and my God ■ Well may this glowing heart rejoice, And tell its raptures all abroad.' " MARRIII) ON HORSE n \riv. o'cloct -nT"':' Tu'^"^" ^''"'''■'^ ^''' Monday night, about eight o clock n front of the residence of Justice McCann, on Green St uZto^^r' r ""''"^ '^"' ''''-'' ^--■^- ^ -naway coupf; o t fact th ::''^ °""^^'' ""y-' ^'-"^^^ - loud hello several times h-l . , ""°" °' '^^^ magistrate, .ho came out to the ^^tieet with a lantern, and asked what was the matter The young gentleman and lady were seated on the same horse ours. E.kms sa.d they wanted to be married at once, and that 01 the young lady were m pursuit of them. The Justice asko.1 the couple to shew their license, which was clone. d then invited then, into the house, where the cerl ny could be performed. This the couple refused to do. on the around o no hav,ng sufficient time, and asked, instead .0 be married and there on horseback. Hardm, who happened to be passing at the time, to hold an um- bre la over the head of the two while the service could be performed b„de was young, very pretty, while the husband looked likea prosperous and well-to-do young farmer ■' 16* JiH MARRIAGE CUSTOMS. r.RIDEMEN, OR "THE CHILDREN OF THE BRIDECHAMIJER. fj^.\^p% MEN came to him the disciples of John, saj-insT, Why do ^\^ w'c and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not ? '.'i And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them ? but the days will come when the bridegroom shall '^ be taken from them, and then shall they fast. — A^ew Testament. The children of the bridechamber were the "bridemen," the young men who used to be attendants at marriages on the bride- groom. Their attendance continued seven days, during which lime they were exempted from attending to the stated times of prayer, the use of phylacteries, the dwelling in booths, if at the time of the Feast of the Tabernacle, and from the occasions 0/ fasting. The Pharisees themselves sanctioned these rrp-ulations. It would be unreasonable for the companions of a bridegroom to fast during the days allotted to his nuptials, which were usually spent in feasting ; but if any calamity tore him from them, their joy would be turned to mourning, and their feasting into fasting. In like manner, it would be improper for his disciples to fast while they had the comfort of his presence ; but he would soon be taken ESPOUSAL. 243 from them, and then they would meet with hardships and trials vvh.ch would make fasting seasonable.-/>/./.,V^/ and Explanatory New lestament. -^ THE WEDDING GARMENT. And When the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment. And he saith unto him. Friend, how camest thou in hither, not havmg a wedding garment ? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness ; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many arc called, but i^^v are chosen.-AVec' Testament. •HiiS"— •!}- — — f< -bS^^ In the East, everyone that came to a marriagc-teast was ex- pected to appear in a handsome and elegant dress, which was called the wedding garment." This was frequently a white robe. When the guest was a stranger, or was not able to provide such a robe it was usual for the master of the feast to furnish him with one ; and If he who gave the entertainment was of high rank and opulence he sometimes provided marriage robes for the whole assembly To this custom we have allusion in Homer, and other classic writers and there are some traces of it in the entertainments of the Turkish court at this very day. It must be remarked, also, that it was in a very high degree indecorous and offensive to good manners to in- trude into the festivity without this garment. It is well known that banquets were generally celebrated in rooms that were finely illuminated and richly ordered. And con- sidering how splendid and magnificent the entertainments of the Eastern princes were, it cannot be thought an unnatural circumstance 244 •rROrOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. that such an affront as this offered to the king, his son, his bride, and the rest of the company should bc-punishcd with bonds and a dungeon.— Pic/o.ria/ mid fLij^'urn/oiy Neiv Testament. Every guest invited to the wedding, at the royal marriage of Sultan Mahmoud, a few years ago, had made expressly for him at the expense of the Sultan a wedding garment. No one, however dignified by his station, was permitted to enter into the presence- chamber of that sovereign without a change of raiment. The dungeons were not far from the banqueting room, but deep down, below the very foundations, in the bowels of the earth, and suggestive of Joah's dreadful hyperbole, "the belly of hell." The wedding garment was of another fashion than all the rest ; therefore, if thou fashionest thyself like all the rest, thou has not on the wedding garment, for this was nothing like unto the rest. Christ's garment was of another manner of fashion, differing from the rest of the world ; so thy life must be of another fashion than the world, or else, as the fashion of the world passcth away, so thou Shalt pass and perish with it. God doth not like the fashion of the world. * * * Then you must not make religion but a table talk, for this is the fashion of the world ; then you must not turn with the time, for this is the fashion of the world ; then you must not defer to do good till you die, for this is the fashion of the world. The world is a bad pattern to follow, because, as the flesh followeth the devil, so the world foUoweth the flesh. There- fore, say no more, " we must do as the world doth," but say, " we must not do as the world doth." You say, you go so because it is the fashion ; God saith. "go not so because it is the fashion." If you come but in the fashion, you shall be in the abuse. There is no man that weareth the cutter's fashion, but he is a cutter ; none which cuttcth his hair like them which arc proud, but he is proud ; "yf ESPOUSAL. '45 none .,,,, cnlo.c.h her face like .hem which are wan.on, but ,he f, r ve :.:::::'^'^^^;rr^ '''^''" -'"='■ "-■ "^ ■"= -^^ fashion. "'■'■ ""''= "°' y™'- l'f'= "f "« ^rW, "^ rcfra- i^fl'^h'"!' "' 'f^'"-^'-""' "''O'*- "/...V would have .efMn, from the show cf idolatry and the show of heresy for "C the show of .doiatry ; if we be no, of Anti-Chrisf, re iln vet ve be of Anfchrisfs fashion so ,on« as we show forth thelme badge and cognizance: you know what . mean. This is to ul With the word, and lean tn h^ii ti ■ • . ' ^ out of fashir n T r u '" " "°* *" ^^ '" ^^^^ion, but o{ fashion, rherefore hear xc now the best fashion. * Jl! . The w-ay i,, h-lce a thick-et, and the door like a' needle's 'eve hev In lb "' ''""-°''=' "^"'"^ ""^'''•="8'='- °fP-'^<^ »nd truth they v.lbnng you word, .saying your ruffs must be rufilcd and your fardmgales (crinolines) crushed, pride must be put off and her s,„., and none shall be kept out of heaven but Tub a^' : , So h t "" ''"•"• "" *=y "^ unbeseeming the eountrv ^o that ere we come thither we must leave them, like the shadow wen we go mat the door, and we must shake hands w th them and b,d them farewell._/^,„,y s,„M, (,670). .ii '^m ^►»^re^H€a»:: (^tet-N^) c^s^^i^:- (^^^^W: laXKNTRIC HRII)i:r.RO()MS. I SDMi; SPICY ANKCDOTKS KKI.ATINC. TO WKDDI N( ;S, MISIIAI'S TO MINISTKUS, KTC. k Irf i *^pIl''RI'" was a oIcrj^yiTiaii wild inanitHi a coiipk-, and at . . the woddiiij^ l)ival "On aniHher occasion, a cler^^yman {;ot himself into consider- able trouble. He was of the type known as Ritualistic, and per- suaded a worthy couple, who had been married at a non-Conformist chapel, that they had not been ecclesiastically married at all, and that it was necessary that they should be married over aj^ain at the parish church. This was very much resented by the non-Conformist interest, and the clergyman was put upon his trial at the Oxford 210 KSl'OUSAL. 247 assizes. The jul^'c t'.ok a very lenient view, and said thai, as the parties had Ire;^;^ been lejrally married, further service was illusory, and '\. niijrht just as well have read 'Chevy Chase' over them.'' " In one . 1 l^ ..ovels, Charles Roade makes his hero, a clcrfjy- man, wonder whether he nnj^dit not legally marry himself to the heroine, especially as tiiey were both cast upon a desolate island. It may be well that novelists and novel readers should be aware that for a clergyman to officiate at his own marriage is utterly illegal." -— ssx?:* — "One day an elderly gentleman met a young one. 'I have had a hard day's work,' said the young Lcvite. ' I began at seven o'clock- this morning by marrying a couple.' ' Allow me to inform you,' said his senior, 'that a marriage at that time of day, according to ICtiglish law, is no marriage at all. Moreover, to the best of my belief, you have made yourself liable to seven years' penal servitude. Between eight and twelve is the i)rescribed time. You had better go back as soon as you can and marry them over again.' " " I have known brides, v.'hcn the grooms have failed to make the proper responses, to prompt them immediately, with the great- est facility. As for the men, they commit all kinds of blunders and bunglings. I have known a man, at that vcr)' trying and nerv- ous moment, follow the clergyman within the communion rail, and prepare to take a place opposite him. I have known a man, when the minister stretched out his hand to unite those of the couple, take it vigorously in his own, and give it a hearty shake. Some ladies have an almost unconquerable reluctance to use the word I obey i' one or two, if their own statements arc to be accepted, have ingeniously construct tructed the wovd ' nnbcy.' The word, however, h as HS PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. 'A I t«i ill; < formally to be admitted into the language. There was one girl, who was being married by a very kind old clergyman, who abso- lutely refused to utter the word ' obey ' The minister suggested, thai if she was unwilling to utter the word aloud, she should whis- per it to him, but the young lady refused even this kind of a com- promise. Further, however, than this the clergyman refused to accommodate her; but when he was forced to dismiss them all without proceeding any further, the recalcitrant young person con- sented to ' obey.' " "The difficulty, however, is not always made on the side of the lady. On one occasion the bridegroom wished to deliver a little oration, qualifying his vow, and describing in what sense and to what extent he was using the words of the formula. He was, of course, given to understand that jiothing of this kind could be per- mitted. There was one man who accompanied the formula with sotto voce remarks, which must have been exceedingly disagreeable to the officiating minister. He interpolated remarks after the fashion of Burchell's ' Fudge.' ' With this ring I thee wed ; that's superstition.' 'With my body I thee worship; that's idolatry.' 'With all my worldl)- goods I thee endow; that's a lie.' It is a wonder that such a being was not conducted out of church by the beadle." "This puts me m mind of an anecdote that i& told of a man, who in his time was a Cabinet Minister. There was a great dis- cussion on the question whether a man can marry on' ;^3oo a year. 'All I can say,' said the great man, 'is that when I said. With all iny worldly goods I thee endow, so far from having ^,"300, I ques- tion whether, when all my debts were paid, I had 300 pence.' 'Yes, my love,' said his wife, ' but you had your splendid intellect' ' I didn't endow you with that, ma'am,' sharply retorted the right hon- orable husband." {■ft t ESPOUSAL. 2^^ "Sweet girl ! you know three hundred pounds Would prove a slender axis For household wheels to run their rounds In yearly rent and taxes. You see, dear, that our home must be Out West, about the squares, With good reception rooms— full three— And servants' flights of stairs. You must have ' soirees ' now and then (Though I can't see theTr use), And I must often have some men To dinner—' .7 /a Ri/sse. I've asked my uncle for his aid, Of course, he won't accord it ; And so our bliss must be delayed, For means, love, won't afford it." ^JW " The following case was related to me by a Bishop of the Church of England : There was a man who officiated as a clergy- man in a large town for about fifteen years. At the lapse of that time .t was accidentally discovered that he was an impostor A bishop came, or the man wen' into a new diocese; anyhow the request came that he wouJd produce his letters of orders Letters of orders are precious and remarkable documents ; if once lost they cannot be replaced. The pseudo clergyman replied, expressing his regret, tn.it m the course of removal the letters had been hopelessly mislaid, but hoped that the length of time i.i which he had served >n the diocese would be a sufficient voucher. The Bishop wrote Dack to say that he regretted the loss of the letters of orders and that .t would be quite sufficient if he gave ^xact dates, which would enable hun to refer to the diocese registry. The imposture then b=c ac known. It was a matter of grca- an.v.etv to settle what llil «u 250 PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. had best be done under such circumstances. Of course, a \cry large number of marriages had been performed during these fifteen years, not one of which was legal. The first suggestion was that an act should be passed making these marriages legal. There was objections to this course. It was considered that an immense deal of pain would be caused by the publication of the invalidity of these marriages, and that ^ ;cul'ar hardships would be done in the case of children where one or both parents had died in the meantime. On a certain evening there was a solemn discussion between the Bishop cf the diocese and the Home Secretary, the result of which was a communication to the false clergyman, that if he left Juigland im- mediately, and forever, proceedings wouh' not be taken, but that otherwise he would be prosecuted." "■C>»0«00.0... " At a negro wedding, when tiie minister read the words, ' love, honor and obey,' the groom interrupted him, and said : ' Read that agin, sah ; read it once mo', so's de lady kin ketch dc full solemnity of de meaning. I se been married befo'." — •^-ss- — A VERY ECCKNTRIC iMARRFAGE. Here is an extract from a newspaper ot i8n : — " Last week, in Hertfordshire, John Freeman, a chimney-sweeper, to Miss Priscilla Thackthwaite, with a fortune of ^,4,000. Miss Thackthwaite was a very eccentric character, and on her coming of age, declared that she would be married either to a soldier, a sailor, a cobbler or a cliimney-sweeper. In consequence of this declaration, Peter Nor- man, a soldier ; Henry Dalton, a sailor ; James Hunt, a cobbler, and John Freeman, a chimney-sweeper, respectively paid their ad- dresses to this fair female, and exerted all their abilities to win her licart. After a minute's deliberation .n the merits of the different suitors, she gave the preference to the member of the sooty tribe." English Exchange. Bsae B-MwamiMaaam ESPOUSAL. CREELING THE BRIDEGROOM. 251 A Scottish custom of " Auld Lang Syne," in connection with mairiage, was as follows : — Early in the day after the marriage those interested in the proceedings assembled at the home of the new-married couple, bringing with them a " creel " or basket, which they filled with stones. 7 he young husband, on being brought to the door, had the creel firmly fixed to his back, and with it in this position had to run the round of the town, or at least the chief portion of it, followed by a number of men to see that he did not drop his burden, the only condition on which he was allowed to do so being that his wife should come after him and kiss him. As re- lief depended altogether on the wife, it would sometimes happen that the husband did not need to run more than a few yards ; but when she was more than ordinarily bashful, or wished to have a little sport at the expense of her lord and master— which it may be supposed would not infrequently be the case— he had to carry his load a considerable distance. This custom was very strictly en- forced, for the person who was last creeled had charge of the cere- mony, and he was naturally anxious that no one should escape. It would seem that this practice came to an end about sixty years ago, in the person of one Robert Young, who, on the ostensible plea of a sore back, lay abed all the day after his marriage, and obstinately refused to get up and be creeled. He had been thrice married before, and no doubt felt he had enouirh of crcclin^- — — o:~o^^«>»i.. — ^^ " A coi pie were married at a fair, for a prize, recently, at Onon- daga, N. i A local journal says : ' In response to tl j oficr cf a prize, a coup! mounted a high platform, and were married in the presence of assembled and hurrahing thousands. Cheering and iauj;;h.jhMe exclamations broke out at the variou- points in the cere- mony, embarrassing the minister very much. Finally it was over, -'W rUOI'OSAt. ANt) I'SI-OUSAr,. \l ■ i|» ■"Hi thr l.nr h.i.I,. was kissel by tju- ^jrnn.n. and six yjnau^smcu, knnl.vn ,vpo,i(Ms. ami more tlian twonty-llvc men wlm had taken Pi-izcs,' ii was an ineon^jnious bcKiiminK t.. (he serious duties of inarned lile^-the elimax. so far as wc« have reaehe.l n et. to ilu> ten dency to re-ard (he <'n(rane<« upon thesolenm ol.li-a'tions of malri- •nony as a joke. The same journal sujr^rcsts.. with j^rim pl.-asantrs '•Iw.t next year (he .nanaL;vrs of the fair shoul.l v arv (he pro^n-annn. bv oHennK •> Vvhc (o any one who will die on (he L^nmnds Th.l ^V"uld he a matter still further n.noved from the sphere of jokin" •'>" otn,u,tie marri.i-etook p^aeein Mrooklvn. \. V.. a short tinu« a-o. In the sunnner of ,SS5. a wealthy widow ladv residing. '-' Miooklyn died, .md left an eeeen(rie will. .She beciuea(hed the "■'^^>'^> ''"HT property, valued a( $So.cKX). in trust to her ^ oun-. con,pan.on. .. eh.irnun.^ j.Veneh lady, who some ve.,rs lu-for'e had answered her advertisement for .i re.uler and pi.mist. The youn^ lady w.,s enjoined to seareh for the testator's o„l\- son, who ran ..uav (ron, honu- ,n >S;,. I, was the wi-low's wish that if the son could be toand he .uul the youno bVeneh Ulv should marry and divide her c-st.Ue equally. If n(her o( ,he (wo refused to marry mother's arranoement. he asked her to marrv him. Then he KSl'OUSAr.. 253 lonmcl that l,c was ,ina)nsci.,u.sly fulfilling his mother's wishes As he was an nnclutiful son. it is possible that unconscious obedi" once was the only kind of obedience he would render. God has often made use of ungodly men as instruments to carry out His Pmi-ses. They do His will while they imagine they are followinr- then- own volition (Isa. x. 6-7)." ° A MF,TI[onrsT MrNISTKK's MATKIMONIAL MKTIIOI). About forty j'ears ajr„ there lived a Methodist preacher who I'a.l resisted all persuasions to marry until he had reached a toler- a'>ly advanced age. Shortly after entering one of his circuits, a ■na.den lady, .ilso „f ripe years, was strongly recommended to him •iiKl h.s Inends again urged that he had l,elter g.-t married, repre- sontmg that the lady named w<,uld probably not refuse to accept l»m. notwithstanding his reputed eccentricities. "Do you thinlc Iho?" was the response, for he very perceptibly lisped , "then Til go and tb.ee her." He was a man of his word. 1 lis ring at the door-bell was answered by the serving maid. " itl, Mitir 1' witb'-n ?•• briskly, but cahnly. aske \\ ' ^^*'^®<5'^*^iX53s*««)<5?s*S!^^^|^^ , - WEDDING PRESENTS AND BRIDAL OUTFIT. ■1. HAS just been ascertained that during the Czar's recent visit to Denmark he arranged to give a grand wedding present to his brother-in-law. on the occasion of the lattcr's marriage to Princess Marie of Orleans The Czar mysteriously purchased a villa near the city ^°^*^°P^"'^^-^^"'^"d there was considerable speculation as to h,s object, and he has now given orders to have the villa pulled down, and a palatial chateau erected on its site. The chateau is to be superbly furnished, and is then to be presented as a bridal gift to Prince VValdemar. ^ And Caleb said. He that smitheth Kirjath-sepher. and taketh It, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife. And Othniel the son of Kenaz. Caleb's younger brother, took •t : and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife. And it came to pass, when she came to him, that she moved h m to ask of her father a field : and she lighted from off her ass ; and Caleb said unto her. What wilt thou ? And she said unto him. Give me a blessing : for thou has given me a south land ; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper spnngs and the nether springs.~y/,,/^^j.. *'* 267 (: I I '] ^53 PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. WEDDING PRESENTS AS A SOURCE OF REVENUE. " I am getting tired of this," said an Knglcwood citizen. " I like to be courteous to neighbors, and don't mind helping a young couple to a lift, but I guess I'll quit. Here is an invitation to an- other wedding. Of course it will be very swell. Hundreds of people who barely know the couple will attend and carry gifts just because it is to be a fashionable event, and they like to have their names in the papers. Twice within the last year I have gone to jewellery or furnishing stores kept by acquaintances of mine, and there found for sale articles which my wife or I had given the pro- prietors at their weddings. Of course they were duplicates, and no household needs 23 pickle-dishes or 19 spoonholders, but I guess I won't go to any more weddings outside of my own family. I don't object to helping set a young couple up in their house, but I draw the line on setting them up in business." — Chicago Henxld. hi * AUTUMN WEDDING STYLES. "The first thing which strikes the e\'e of the fortunate person who is invited to .see the bridal gifts is the predominance of silver- ware. We have now passed the age of bronze and brass, and silver holds the first place of importance. Not only the coffee and tea sets, but the dinner sets and the whole lurniture of the writing-- table, and even brooms and brushes, are made with repous.sc silver handles— these, of course, for the toilette, as for dusting velvet, feathers, bonnets, &c. The oxidized, ugly, discolored silver has all gone out, and the beautiful, bright, highly-polished silver, with its own natural and unmatchable color, has come in. The salvers afford a splendid surface for a monogram, which is now copied from the old Dutch silver, and bears many a true lover's knot, and every sort and kind of ornamentation ; sometimes even a little verse, or po.sy, as it was i / ESPOUSAL. 259 called in olden time. Onb tea-caddy at a recent wedding bore the foilown, almost obsolete rhyme, which Corydon might have sen to Phyllis m pastoral times :— b ^ivc .cnc ' My heart to you is given ; Oh, do give yours to me ; We'll lock them up together, And throw away the key.' " f »"';' be ...Idcd that the silver tca-c:. Idy was i„ the shape of a heart and that ,t had a key. Very dear to the hear, of a hou.e u.fe IS the tea-eaddy which can be locked. Another unique present was a gold tea-scoop of ancient pattern ZtZ T ' ''' "'' '''°°"- ^""-^ --'alsoapostleC: c rl ,: h M ■ '" '°' '"= •°"'"^' '" '-'<" 'he tongs for :: ;ire:^:;ro';:;;!;r ■ """" ""-'-■ -' -- *= ^'«'- ^-- not match. Tins is a very excellent plan. It is,,„ longer the fashion to display the presents at the wed- d.ng^ They are arranged in an upper room, and shown .0 a few nends of the bnde the day before the ceremony. Nor is it Z fi.sh,o„ for the bride to wear any jewels. These are reserved f" lier hist appearance as a married woman. The bride now prefers simplicity in her dress-splendid and costly simplicity. An elegant white satin and a tulle veil he "t er very full, the former c.tremely long and with a sw ng r ' high corsage and long sleeves, long white gloves, and perha^ a ower ,„ the han-such is the latest fashion for an autumn b ide wai foTtlfed "7 """ ""'■" ""' ""■"• -='S"'ficence should wa,t fo, the days after marriage, when their jewels can be worn \ / } a''- .1^, -^ ^>. ^^i IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // /!> ,51' A. ^^, y o 1.0 I.I us us lAP 2.5 ll M !.8 i.25 1.4 III 1.6 ^ 4" ^ V] <^ ^. 'J Cod:. — ^®i«— TEDIOUS WOOING IS LOVE'S UNDOING. Miss Cecilia McMahon, of Dublin, has proved this fact to h.r cost and also to the cost of her unfaithful lover, Mr. Coleman, whom she has sued for breach of promise. " In 1863 the plaintiff was a young gu-1 of 17 years, and the defendant was 32 or 33 years of age and he asked her then to marry him, and was accepted From hat t.me over twenty years ago. up to a few months since, he had treated her as h.s affianced wife, introduced her to his friends had gn-en her engagement rings, and had written her letters brealhinc. afrect,on and love. Defendant got plaintiff to postpone the wed^ d.ng till h,s mother's death, on the ground that if he married while she was ahve his mother would not leave him her property This poor boy of 54 or 55 years of age did not like to marry until the t m1' 7': "■''^"'^ '-'' "°^^ ^^"--^' ^— '- -onthl ago the old lady had been gathered to her fathers. A coolness arose between the plaintiff and defendant some time ago. and in Apnl last the plaintiff wrote to the defendant asking him what were h.s mtentions with regard to the engagement. To that letter no rep y was received, and proceedings were taken. The jury found for plaintiff ;^ioo damages." A \ t*^ c^t^6^," fr*««fc»^«f.6»«.e*fcve*€^a«fc>©e^fe>«fc^&^fc<^fe>fe5^ C^ t-K?^^^?;'T)' vr^J MARRIAGE CEREMONIES. Ruth iii. 9'—" I am Rath, tliiae haudmaid : spread therefore thy skirt over thine haudmaid." ME prophet Ezckic\io describing the Jewish Church as an exposed infant, mentions the care of G od in bring- ing her up with great tenderness, a nd then at the proper time marrying her, which is expressed in the same way as the request of Ruth : " I spread my skirt over thee ; and thou becamest mine." Dr. A. Clarke says : " Even to the present day, when a Jew marries a woman, he throws the skirt or end of his iaiVet/i over her, to signify that he has taken her under his protection." 1 have been dchghted at the marriage ceremonies of the Hin- doos, to see amongst them the same interesting custom. The bride is seated on a throne, surrounded by matrons, wearing her veil, her gayest robes, and most valuable jewels. After the t/ia/i has been tied round her neck, the bridegroom approaches her with a silken skirt (purchased by himself), and folds it round her several times over the rest of her clothes.* A common .vay of saying, "He has married her," is. " He has given her the /Jw/v"— has spread the • This part of the ceremony often produces powerful emotions on all present. The parents ou both sides th«n give their benediction. 266 I \ A. /iii ~\ ESPOUSAL. 267 sk-M-t over her. There are. hou-ever. those who throw a lonff robe over the shoulders of the bride instead of putting on the skirt. An angry husband sometimes .says to his wife, "Give me back my sk,rf • meaning that he wi.shes to have the marriage compact d,s.solved. So the mother-in-law. should the new daughter not reat her respectfully, .says. « My son gave this woman the koori (skirt), and has made her respectable, but she neglects me." The request of Ruth, therefore, amounted to nothing more than that Boaz should marry h^r.— Roberts. In the celebration of marriages in the East at the present day many of the peculiar customs of ancient times are observDd. At a Hindoo marriage, says a modern missionary, the procession of which I saw some years ago, the bridegroom came from a distance and the bride lived at Serampore. to which place the bridegroom was to come by water. After waiting two or three hours, at length near midnight, it was anoounced. in the very words of Scripture,' Behold the bridegroom cometh ; go ye out to meet him." All the persons employed now lighted their lamps, and ran with them in the,r hands to fill up their stations in the procession ; some of them had lost their lights, and were unprepared, but it was then too late to seek them, and the cavalcade moved forward to the house of the bnde ; at which place the company entered a large and splendidly .Ilummated area, before the house, covered with an awning, where a great multitude of friends, dressed in their best apparel were seated upon mats. The bridegroom was carried in the arms of a friend and placed in a superb seat in the midst of the company where he sat a short time, and then went into the house, the door of which was immediately shut, and guarded by Sepoys. I and others expostulated with the door keepers, but in vain. Never was so struck with our Lord's beautiful parable as at this moment- and the door was shut !" 26^ PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. ti !i \U The journal of one of the American missionaries in Greece con- tains the account of an Armenian wedding which she attended ; and after describing the dresses and previous ceremonies, she says,' that at twelve o'clock at night, precisely, the cry was made by some of the attendants. Ikhold the bridegroom cometh : and immedi- ately, five or six men set off to meet him. The custom of crying and shouting at the approach of the bride- groom seems t& have been continued from the days of our Saviour. For a very interesting and minute account of the laws and cus- toms of ancient nations, respecting marriage, polygamy, divorce, &c.. the ceremonies attending an eastern wedding, and the figura- tive allusions of the sacred writers to these topics, the student is referred to Biblical Antiquities, ch. vi. par. i ; Omar, pp. 145—152; and Evening Recreations, vol. \l pp. 89-99, by Am. S. S. Union. It was the custom to crown the married couple. Hence the allusion, Sol. Song iii. 11, Isaiah xlix. 18. where the word ornament might well be rendered crown,— Union Bible Dictionary. The Rhodians had a peculiar custom of sending for the bride by a public crier. When the bridegroom entered the house with his bride, it was customary to pour figs upon their heads. The day of the bride's departure from her faiher was celebrated in manner of a festival. It seems to have been observed at her father's house before she departed, being distinct from the' nuptial solemnity, which was kept at the bridegroom's house, and b?gan at evening, the usual time of the bride's arrival there. The bride being come to the bridegroom's house, was entertained with a sumptuous ban- quet, called by the same name with the marriage. Among the ancients, when persons were newly married, they put a yoke upon their necks, or chains upon their arms, to' show that they were to be one, closely united, and pulling equally to- gether in all the concerns of life. V i\j FIRE, OIL AND WATER OR FLAMBEAUX, UNGUENTS AND HAPTISM USED WEDDINGS. AT ANCIENT ISI3I "^^'^ "'^^ ^ '"'*°'^'" ^^y« a ^'^^••"ed Jew, "of brlngin-r ^:-.-.«^..1 the bride from her father's house to her husband's in the night before she entered the nuptial chamber, and to carry before her about ten staves, and on the top of each staff was the form of a brazen dish, and in the midst ^^ of ,t pieces of garments, oil and pitch, which they set fire to and lighted before her." In many parts of the East, particularly in the Indies, it is the custom, instead of torches and flambeafx, to carry a pot of oil in one hand, and a lamp, which is thus supplied with oil in the other Mention ,s made in "The customs of the East Indians and of the Jews compared," of flambeaux used at bridal ceremonies made c.^ pieces of hnen squeezed hard together in a round form. Those who held them in one hand have in the other a bottle of oil. and pour out of it from time to time on the linen, which otherwise gives no light. Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.~J/.,///,,e,,. "The servants then did flaming torches bear, Which darted forth a quivering light from far." 270 TKOl'DSAL AM) KSI'OUSAL. " They were sometimes attended with sinjrcr.H and dancers, as Homer acquaints us in his description of Achilles' shield ;— With nice and curious touches next appear Two stately cities in one nuptial arc ; Here polished art with nature doth aj,'rec In framin},^ fijrures of festivity, I'easts, revels, balls, the sculptur2 represents, With various sons of music instruments. Lamps shine with bri^rhtness on the solemn state. While the brisk bride^rroom leads his charming' mate ; Measures young men observe with active feet While the pomp advances 'long the dusty street ; The music plays, ' Hymen, I lymen,' they cry, While aged matrons stand admiring by. There areof opinion, who think that the useof these torches was not only to give light, but to represent the element of fire: for n.. marriages were thought happ>' which were not contracted by the light of fire, for which reason the custom likewise was to be- sprinkle the new married woman with wa^er ; yea, they did both in the time of their contract touch water and fire provided for that purpose. The signification of this ceremony .some think to be thus : The fire, because it is an active element, to represent the man ; the water, because it is passive, to represent the woman. Others say, that in the commuiity of the.sc two elements was intimated the community between man and wife (jf all their goods and possessions, which was more fully declared in that fore-quoted proverb used by the wife. What meant the ancient heathen to bear before th^- bride fire and water but to signify purity ? Water, the washer of all unclean KSI'OUSAL. 271 things, and fne. the trier of all impure thin^rs. hut to teach them that thou^rh their lo.c must be single, it must be hearty, it mus. be endless, and it must be i)uro.-r/m,/,. /;/,//,, of CmUerlnay, 16^7 "I he matter, whereof these torches were made, was a certain tree from which a pitchy hquor did issue ; it was called Tcda, and hence have the poets f.^urativcly called both the torches and tbe u-eddiny: itself Tedas." -—• f^xs*. — And. on coming down to our o^vn age for a mor ,nt we hear the pleasant voiced liryant, in versifj.ng the astrolo.ncal fij^ment of the conjunction of Jupiter and Venus as being a sign favorable to marriage, sing : — • I^ight the nuptial torch, And say the glad, yet solemn rite, that knits The youth and maiden. I Jappy days to them That wed this evening !— a long life of love, And blooming sons and daughters ! Ilapp'y they Ikjrn at thi^- hour—for they shall see an age Whiter and holier than the past, and go Late to their graves. Men shall wear softer hearts. And shudder at the butcheries of war. As now at other murders." ANOINTINC; THK DOOR-POSTS. " When the woman had thus been brought to the door, then did he annomt the posts of the door w.th oil. from which ceremony the wife was called ' The Annointed.' » ^ I.IFTIN,; TIllC 1„«I«I. the bridcmcn di^ nr. her over the threshold, and so carried her in by a seeming force because n, ..odesty she would no. seen, ,o ,„ wi hou.viole^c " l( T" 'V!<% .■ ' -i^m 272 PROrOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. ANOINTING THE HEAD WITH OIL. On all joyful occasions the people of the East a- oint the head with oil. At their marriages, and other festive seasons, the youn^- and the old may be seen with their long, black tresses neatly tied on the crown of the head, shining and smooth, like polished ebony. The Psalmist, therefore, rejoicing in God, as his protector, exclaims, " Thou anointest my head wiiii oil." It is an act of great respect to pour perfumed oil on the head of a distinguished guest ; the woman in the Gospel thus mani- fested her respect for the Saviour by pouring " precious ointment." on His head.— I^ol/cfts. WINE AND OIL. Wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil that makcth his face to shine. — David. A prospective bridegroom quoted the above passage in favor of having wine at his wedding. The witty bride told him if he had wine she would have the oil, which led the young man to no lon<^cr insist on having a vinous celebration of the nuptials. HYxMNS AND HYMENS. WHO WAS HYI.IENEUS? R HIS PTymeneus, we are told, was an Argian, whom they ^.^ received mto the number of their gods because he had ^'.) saved some Athenian virgins from the lascivious cruelty used 1 Th ^^""- ^'' ""' " ''^"^" " ^'^ --«^t-- used for the marnage song, as "Many hymens sung" Your hymens, hubbubs, flambeaux and scrapers ' Drop the vowel from the word Hymen, and you have Hymn a joyful ode to the Deity : "ymn, a "O joyful sound of gospel grace! Christ shall in me appear • I, even I. shall see his face, ' I shall be holy here." — =eis HYMENEAL FESTIVITIES. A joyful marriage song ,vas sung as the bridal train raoved a^o g_a hymn ,„ short, for oven the old Greeks point cu theet, mological relation between Hymeneus and the hymn. Pipes ' . meT; :;r ' ■' '"', ^ '°"' -^^ ""■- -•"»"' *= - -p ■ ment of the measured step beating the cadence, the dance and d ncers were a necessary appendage to the festival. Th" pip. howev„, were clearly of Phrygian origin, and were connectcd'S,' 274 PROPOSAL AND ESPOUSAL. Oriental manners. The observations of the scholiast expressly tells us that the pipe was unknown to the earlier Greeks. How essential song and dance were to the nuptial feasts is clear from the command of Ulysses, that in order to deceive the Ithacans, there should be song and dance in the palace after the massacre of the suitors, as if a nuptial feast were celebrated. Before the marriage ceremony the bride was conducted to the bath, after which she was dressed in a garment presented by the bridegroom. Thus, in the passage above quoted, Ulysses bade all the maidens bathe and adorn themselves. Minerva's injunction to Nausicaa shows that the dresses of the bridesmen were presents from the bride. When, at length, the guardian of the nuptial chamber had conducted the espoused pair, with a train of torches, to the couch spread with carpets and rich coverings, she retired,' and the bridegroom loosed the ^girdle of the bride, as Neptune did that of Tyro. The custom of greeting them with the epithalmian song and with shouts was of later origin. Second marriage was deemed contrary to the laws of modesty. * - * * * Both bride and bridegroom (the former veiled) were, of course, decked out in their best attire, with chaplets on their heads, and the doors of the houses were hung with festoons of ivy and bay- As the bridal procession moved along, the Hymenean song was sung to the accompaniment of Lydian flutes, even in olden times, as beautifully described by Homer, and the married pair received greetings and congratulations of those who met them. After enter- ing the bridegroom's house, into which the bride was probably conducted by his mot'-.er bearing a lighted torch, it was customary to shower sweatmeats upon them as emblems of plenty and prosperity. After this came the nuptial feast, which was generally given in the house of the bridegroom or his parents ; and, besides being a * ESPOUSAL. .. 275 festive meeting, served other, and more important purposes There was no publie rite, whether civi. or religious, conneefed "i.^ h ceicbra, on of marriage among the aneient Greel