Literary cadet and Rhode-Island statesman. [volume] (Providence, R.I.) 1827-1829, 1828-03-26
to taste, but 1t conceals an intoxica-
ting poison beneath.

quent and next as between persons
Of opposite sexe. must happen, topics
of the heart arise, we know not how.
Truly did he speak who first said, that
" talking of love is making it," Alb
stract propositions gain personal ap-
plication conversely to the circles
created by stone flung into the wa
ter; the wide discussions gradually
converge into the one point of ind-
vidual avowal. But the difference
between the parties is extreme. She
in every step is true, single and sin
cere. She abandoned herself to the
course Of her hearts current, t,unknow-
ing equally the perils and termination
of the voyage: he knows them all full
well. He equally, indeed, is led by
the force Of circumstance from one
gradation to another; but, for the cx-
citcment and qualification Of the mo-
ment he wilfully shuts his eyes upon
the iniquity: while his reflection, if he
would hearken to it, would show him
that he is guilty-guilty Of blighting
the bloom OF fond and trusting heart.
And does he derive from it that
relief, which he has seemed to the
world to seek? Alas, no his feelings,
it is true, are for the time gently
stirred-his eagcrness is, in some
degree, kindIed in the pursuit (for the
desire Of success, and the dread Of
contempt from failure, enter largely
into his actuating ifnothis avowcd mo-
tives y the higher and better qualities
of his self.love are gratiied as we'll as
those of more immediate vanity Oor
who can be loved by superior WON
an, and not have his best energies cal
led into action ?? and above all, his
mind is oscupied-it has an object.
But in the moments of rcvulsion,
which have stated to be the true
touch stone Of all such vamped up
feelings as those have detailed, above
what are his sensations? /? Again he
feels, that to him all is vanity-nay
more, for his conscience upbraids him
for even this Inconsistency, and accu-
scs him Of having involved yet anoth-
er in the miserics Of misplaced love.
And what are, meanwhile, the
phases of her feeling? Upon the full
trusting fondness of a woman's affec-
ton comes first the startling doubt,
driven back with mingled scorn and
dread, but again and again recurring
with increased force, till, after sus.
pense, which gnaws into the heart, it
settles down into the sick certainty of
despair. And then her cheeks grow
thin, and her lips pale, and the light
of an ardent spirit fades from her eyes.
The strength Of her young affection
is broken forever: she loves one, and
in cold resignation she marries anoth-
er, and she looks on the present with
out joy, on the future without hope,
on the past with anguish. ..
Still there is ambition. Aye, this
indeed, if aught can, is calculated to
give invigorating heat to a wasted
heart; this like the sound Of a trum.
pet, stirs the male soul it cannot be
heard without emotion, emotion that
scarcely can be felt, without bearing
fruit in action. Well then, we rush
into The stirring collisions of active
life: we study perhaps, deeply, to fit
us for the race; but, in those moments, !,
when the mind sickcns under its own
excrtions, and the intoxicating stimu-
lus Of hope fades for the name, and
the reaction following all stimulus su
pervcncs-who is there to soothe us
with her affection, to cheer us with
the ardour of her wishes, to retune
the Jared chords of our hearts with
the noble spirit of woman's love p
And suPposing us to be fairly embark
ed in our carcer-to be struggling for
pre- -emlncnce in the path we have
chosen, we have no one to whom to
resort from the fierce and turbid con-
tests of the world; no one to share in
our hopes, fears, desires to give us
(the first want Of humanity sympathy
and fcllow-feeling. To the widowed
heart home is no magic word. 1t is
not, as to others, the soft green, for
the sight to turn to, from the harsh
glare Of the world. To those whose
home is happy, it is what the earth
was to Antps, a restorer of the
strength exhausted in the conflicts of
society. But those who fly to am
bltlon as a means, not an end. know