The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-05-07 00:00:00

MY LAST COURTSHIP.

I do not get angry when anybody calls me an
old bachelor, etc. My temper is proof against
such petty charges. But I feel considerably hurt
I hear somebody assert that I could not
tgfeir
..‘,.•ould. not be a bachelor to-day.
-1 many of my young
I empitatleillY dell If), - if they chose
lady acquaintances Cotild day M yak. -417
to speak the truth. I knot, there AM pm....
who Would be glad to join ne in a life-pithier-
ship, but to find one on whom I Could centre my
whole wealth of affection—:one whom I could call
wife
a differeht thing.withoutdeging that sacred nameis
quite
Perhaps, however, it would have been better
if 1 had got married. My shirts then would not
be buttonless, nor my home comfortless; nor
would there be such a longing for something
somewhere beneath my waistcoat. I Might, also,
have had two or three little prattling angels to
dangle on my knee, and call me " papa." I never
hear a lisping child give utterance to that dissyl-
lable but I wish it was addressed to me. I know
some of my readers will call me childish, but by
way of apology I will say that I am very fond of
little children—especially round..faced, smiling
ones—and that my home need not excite the
envy of any unfortunate Benedict. But I must
go on with my story.
I have a very susceptible heart—so much so in
fact that I can never see a pretty sorrowful face
without being irresistibly drawn towards the
owner. My deepest sympathies are awakened
in a moment ; and as I never stop to consider the
consequences, they are sometimes received rather
coldly. As a general thing, however, they are
readily appreciated.
Such was the case when my friend Bob in-
troduced me to the pretty widow Burnett. She
was young—very young just arrived at that
attractive age when widows are so interesting.
Her person showed gracefulness in every move-
ment. Her features, though faultless, wore a
tinge of sadness, as if some secret grief were
tugging at her heartstrings. She very seldom
laughed, but she smiled that sweet, melancholy
smile which even stoical old bachelors can never
resit t.

There must have been a corresponding attrac-
tion--a secret blending, as it were, of our feelings
—for we had not been in company more than a
few minutes before we were as friendly as if we
had been acquainted for years. She related to
me, with artless confidence, some of the troubles
4. ale Want, of a
proper person to look after her affairs. There
was something peculiarly._touching_in. the soft
cadences of her musical voice. A common ob-
server might have seen that her heart echoed her
words; for when, in the course of the evening,
her thoughts reverted to her lost husband, her
lips quivered, and her eyes filled with tears.
I truly felt for her ; and I was rendered so
far happy as to know that my sympathies were
received with the same genuine spirit of sincerity
with which they were expressed. We parted
mutually pleased with each other. She begged
I would visit her as often as I found it convenient
to do so-r—which invitation, the reader may be
sure, I cordially accepted.
She had a comfortable home; a comfortable
income, and that sweet, benign manner so cep-
tivatiirr in a hostess. 1 soon found it convenient
to visit° her pretty often. We always occupied
her little front parlour. She sat at one end of
the table with her sewing--for she was very
industrious--whilel read from a volume of
poems, stopping now and then to remark on some
fine passage, or gaze at my beautiful listener.
I was well aware that such an amusement was
a very dangerous one for our hearts—especially
when no interference was likely to be met with.
But who cared? If love did creep in, a few
words before a certain religious functionary
would prove a sure remedy for his boldness. So,
to the no small astonishment of those friends who
considered me too dull for the society of ladies,
we passed our evenings with equal pleaStire and
satisfaction to both.
One, evening, two months after our first meet-
ing, we were spending the time as usual, when
our conversation turned to the .death of her
husband. This was the only piece of confidence
she had kept locked in her boSona ; for; as the
subject gave her pain, I bad Wisely forbore from
broaching it. This evening, however, she
honoured me with her full confidence. _ _ _

Harry Burnett had been a large-hearted, hand-
some ship-captain. His many noble qualities
won her heart, and they were married. Three
weeks after he left her to conduct his ship home,
intending, at her request, to give up his business,
and make a living on shore.
" Alas !" continued the weeping widow, "he
never returned. His ship was lost at sea, and
none of the • crew, except a broken-legged old
sailor, lived to relate • the melancholy tact: I
loved him well—perhaps too well—for, though
ten long months have elapsed since I heard of his
Untimely end, there is still a. cheerless void in my
bosom which I fear can never be refilled." Here,
Overcome by her emotions,- she buried her face in
her hands, and wept bitterly.
If any of my bachelor readers have ever been
placed in the same position they can imagine my
feelings. A pretty weeping woman is a sight to
melt the hea,rL of auy.man,but when OITA Woman
holds a prominent place in your affections, you
are generally sure to make a fool of yourself.
Reason is drowned in the intensity of your feel-
ings. If your next movement insured your death-
blow you could not avoid it. It is not to be
wondered at then if I found myself unconsciously
sliding off my
.chair and .keeling at her feet.
Heaven knows what I was going to say ; my
brain was on fire. I believe I caught her two
hands in mine, and was on the point of begging
her to accept me to fill up that " cheerless void"
in her bosom. My thoughts, however, never
found vent, for the next moment a-severe blow
fr.= an unseen hand laid me sprawling on the
carpet.
I do not believe that I saw stars, but I have an
indiStint notion of seeing the room whirling
round at a rate that threatened destruction to all
concerned. I fancied, too, that I heard a shriek,
but whether mine or the widow's remains a
mystery.
When I had collected •my senses sufficiently, I
sprang to my feet, and the • first object my eyes
rested upon. was the pretty widow clasped in the
brawny arms of
.a middle-sized giant. The truth
flashed upon me at once ; this was her lost hus-
band. I did not stop to enquire, but dashed
through the door, and hurried home as fast as
possible.
The next morning I received a note from the
ex-widow, begging me to look on the past as
something not to be remembered, and to forgive
her husband for his rudeness. .Then followed an
account of his miraculous escape from a baud -of
Indians who had held him in captivity, etc.; etc.
I hurled the note into the fire. Matrimony
was banished froth my thoughts. _I forgave her
husband the blow, though my head ached two
days afterward, but I could not help wishing the.
Indians had placed a better guard over their
prisoner to prevent his escape.

Tst STRENGTH OF THE MILITIA.--A recent Parlia-
mentary return shows that when:the militia was first
called out for training, the numbers of the, isembodied
militia in, attendance were 44,340 ; the absentees were
no less than 30,557. Let us hope that it will be other-
wise this year. The regiments ,are now to be called out
simultaneously. It is curious to observe a difference in
the returns tor the three kingdoms. In Scotland, the
absentees, though numerous enough, were not half so
many as the number in attendance; in
,England, the
absentees were equal to two-thirds of the number who
presented themselves ; in Ireland, the absentees would
really have made almost as large an army as those who
were present, for 9,037 attended, and 7,937 were absent.
Of the embodied militia the effective strength at present
is 623,735 ; the number wanting to complete the force up
tQ its nominal strength, 8,831.

FRANCE AND ENGLAND.—A CONTRAST.—It is calcu
lated by Mr. Greg, in his "Essay on Political and Social
Science," that the labouring classes in Great Britain,
not including Ireland, are threefold more numerous than
the class possessing property. It may be said, and
should be borne in mind, that this vast majority of
manually-working men do not possess sufficient property
of any kind to prevent their feelings from being entirely
on one side of any question that may be raised between
capital and labour. It would be inapt 'to stylethem all
proletaires, as the unpropertied, the needy, workmen of
called; and, .happily, industrious habits, free-
envy, and respect for the
Pldaoawniri,sfrhaoranieve thfoereYrinianpyassiaognes of envy,
the English
people. In France, on the other sand, the calculation
is, that two-thirds of the entire population are pro-
prietors—against one
2c10,11.030 quarter
in England. Out of
2,0 were found to form the
landedto° 0,00 of souls,
proprietary, 7,000,000 formed the town popula-
tion, 3,000,000 were agricultural labourers and their
families, and the remaining 2,000,000 were artisans
3es
employed in agricultural districts.
Hence the vast
majority of the French people feel the .Conservative
interest attaching to the possession of hereditary landed
property, while the vast majority of the English are
dependent on weekly wages for their daily bread. It
was that interest which, in 1848, refified to be taxed to
find work and wages for the, proletaires of Paris, and
therefore sided with the army when' the insurgents were
suppressed.. Universal suffrage and the ballot are safely
entrusted to the masses in a country where the masses
pay the largest, proportion of direct taxation ; whereas
the same power, if conferred in England, would, by
giving the numerical majority the great voice in decid-
ing' legislative questions, be the predominance of the
receivers of wages over those wha pay them----the supre-
macy of the interests of labour over the interests of
Dublin University Magazine.

HoLLoway's PiLLs.—General debility, low spirits, and
nervous irritation are the consequences of dyspepsia or indi-
gestion. The pills soon give tone to the stomach, renovate
the digestive powers, purify the blood, and give strength to
the whole system. Sluggishness of the body and depression
of the mind are succeeded by a cheerful activity of the physical
and mental functions. Indigestion is the parent of so many
evils, and is so common, so almost universal a complaint, that
it is a great blessing that such a remedy as this invaluable
medicine should. have been discovered. No one need long
suffer from indigestion with these pills at hand. 3