The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1855-10-10
What is Love,

|
opinion ..s..slIz. - |
The young lady colored. z.@5,ss
ssNot, mamma, with the experience of some
Of our friends before US. There's my old /
schoolmate, Julia, who made such romantic /
marriage and who is now miserable 49, /
II am glad you mentioned her, Emily, for
now know how you fell into Your error For
instance, ! do not admit thatG oala married for
love, in the true sense Of that term In other
words, she was not in love with lieut. Garter,
but an ideal officer, who was perfection in all
things, s,'::,,....sS,r.r~ .sfsr5.+l, rz ~s ~ NH
:..Oh! mamma" esaf -
! 81 am not bit too severe. Most of the
marriages, which school girls call love matches,
are Of this character. Between the young
couple there is really no love at all, but each|
loves an ideal being which the curls of the lady
and the moustache of the gentleman, have res
pectiyely suggested. Of course, when, after|
marriage the two become intimately acquainted, /
the deluson fades. The husband soon discov-
ers that the wife, who comes down to breakfast
in curl papers, who is often outof temper, and
who now thinks Of her own comfort quite as
much as Of his, is anything but an angel. On
her part, the wife finds that the lover, who was
miserable, before marriage, if he could not
spend the evening with her, is now frequently
ennuied when he remains at home, is always
selfish, and often capricious. In this way, the
scales fall from the eyes Of both, and disgust
succeeds toinfatuation. Nay! by natural law
Of the mind, the reaction leads to injustice, and
each thinks too litile of the otherno because
they thought too much BEFORE 80
''What picture you have drawn, mamma!
Never, never will | marry, if ! am to be thus
deceived" T@
The mother smiled.
| "But my DEAR" she answered, II have not
said that all marriages ended thus. Ny re-
marks were confined to those, in which there
was no true love on either side, but in its place
romantic fancy for an impossible bit of per-
fection. 1t is only those, who are foolish enough
to marry under this delusion, who live unhap-
PLY, for they only are disappointed. - ......-m
"But, mamma said the daughter, hesita-
: tngly, chow can you call that love, which ad-
mits even the possibility of fault in the one
. beloved?" a.,r lI
Or rather, it is founded on Just appreciation
of character, which teaches him or her who
loves, that the one beloved, even with her or
, his faults, is better adapted than any other to
render the lover happy ,- -...... t...
/ |, 'What coiu, calculatlnS thlnS you make
love to be!'' ,r
5 "Not at all, my child. Providence wisely
gives to most, if not all, an instinct, as it were
by which to know whom to love. This instinct
however, comes into play, not when we are still
J. children, but only when we have grown up,
and it is as distinct from the infatuation Of the
! school girl, or the sophomore, as day is from
: darkness. We fall into love, even the wisest
of us, and do not reason ourselve, into it. We
cannot analyse why we love, but we feel that
such or such one will make US happy.
"But isn't that what Julia did?'' H., ~ .. =
NO. my dear. The instinct speak Of is
. one of matured person, and Julia was mere
child. Indeed some never grow mature, nc
matter how old they become ~ ~ ~ -.-. ~
Emily looked puzzled. I'll. ...-
II seem to be too metaphysical for you, .
said the mother, with smile. eIet me see il
s. can make my meaning plain, by the use O.
an illustration"
The daughters face cleared off
"Y on liked well enough said the mother
with another smile, ''to amuse yourself with
You found pleasure in playing with broken bits
:. ing to be dishes. Yet you could not deceive
1
yourself with dol?'' ..5 .- .'...-. ... ..
t. mo, no. replied Emily.
"And why? will answer for you. It's be
r cause your tastes have altered. Nor do you
stop to reason about it, when I ask you if you
could still play with broken china. You fee
J. instantly, that you could not. Well, in like
Of manner, a matured woman or a matured man
who has learned to think and to feel, is instinct
lively drawn toward, or repelled from, person
). = Of the other sea. This magnetism, if may cal
it such, often leads, when it is one of attraction
+ to love"
d "Why not always?'
% "Because my dear, matured men, or womer
= fhold their feelings under more or less control
e and are not willing to bestow their hearts, un
IF less they can also give their esteem. An ac
quaintance formed under these circumstances
q ripens into love, only whenthe sum Of the gooc
' qualities, in the beloved object, exceeds the
sum of the bad ones and when, besides, the
adaptabity of character, each to each, becomes
: n more and more apparent. This is real love
!, Emily, and nothing else is worthy Of the name
i, When persons marry, with this sort Of feeling
/ on both sides, there is no danger of unhapplness
because thereis no danger Of deception. The
husband does not, to his chagrin, discover thai
he has married quite a different creature tc
what be imagined he had, nor does,the wife
fancying she had secured Apollo, find out
to her horror, that she has welded Pan
Il see now what you mean" said the daugll.
. ter, thoughtfully, land acknowledge that was
foolish. 1 had not thought enough about the
matter, when said Julia married for love-
s. The conversation ceased at this point. We
have only to add that it was not lost on Emily
who two years after, married the man of hei
: choice, not indeed, such a man or one as she
would have selected, when a schoolgirl, but
one whom she could, through all her life, look
: up to and love. + .'''e 1s.
*sa@ *6 8s x~L~-~1~~1--~--~~~----1 i| 5A-.R -.
:, 1'The infant on first opening his eyes ought to
: see his country, and to the hour of his death
: never tolose sight of it, This was the noble
sentiment of Rousseau, a sentiment which met
with sympathetic response in every patriotic
heart. Butnow, here in the United States, SO
accustomed are many of the demagogue politi-
clans to fawn upon and aatter the large foreign
Ii. Il I !