Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1855-08-22
THE EVENING BEFORE MARRIAGE.

THE EVENING BEFORE MARRIAGE c
We shall certainly be very happy to- :
gcther,' said Louise to her aunt on the even :
ing before her marriage, and her cheeks !
glowed with a deeper red, and her eyes shone Z
with delight. When q bride says ne, it may
easily be guessed whom of all persons in J;
the world she means thereby. !
do not doubt it. dear Louise rep1ed
her aunt, only see that you continue happy
together
'Oh, who can doubt that we shall c%ontin-
ue so! know myself: | have faults, IN
deed. but my love for him will correct them.
And so long as we love each other we cannot
be unhappy. Our love will never grow
DID,
ALAS = sighed her aunt, thou dost s7eak
like q girl of nineteen, on the day before her
marriage, in the intoxication of wishes full
filled, Of fair hopes and happy omens.' Dear
child, remember this-egen the heart an ~
groucs old. Days will come when the magic
Of the senses shall fade. And when this
| enchantment has fed, then it first becomes
evident whether we are truly worthy OF love.
When custom has made familiar the charms
! that are most attractive, when youthful
S freshness has died away, and with the
n brightness of domestic life, more and more
shadows have mingled, then Louise, and not
7 till then, can the wife say of the husband,
: He is worthy of love : then, first, the hus-
band can say Of the wife, She blooms in
If imperishable beauty But, truly on the day
I'd before marriage, such assertions sound
lc laugha5le to me-
understand you, dear aunt. You would
le say that our mutual virtues alone can in la
ter years give US worth for each other. But
q is not he to whom l belong-for of myself |
~ can boast nothing but the best Intentions
ed is he not the worthiest, noblest of all the
young men Of the city? Blooms not in his
ur soul, every virtue that tends to make life
zee happy?,,,,
MY child replied her aunt, Il grant it
Virtues bloom in thee as we'll as in him l
~ can say this without fattery. But, dear
~ heart, they bloom only, and are not yet II
IT. pened beneath the suns heat and the show
his err. No blossoms deceive the expectation
lu- more than these. We can never tell in
m what soil they have taken root. Who knows
v;l the concealed depths of the heart
'Ab, dear aunt, you really brighten me-
SO much the better, Louise. Such fear
~ is as it should De on the evening before mar
aed riage. | love thee tenderly, and will, there
- fore, declare all my thoughts on this subject
ing without disguise. | am not as yet an old
ire, aunt. At seven and twenty years, one still
looks forward into life with pleasure, tht
world still presents n bright side to US.
have an excellent husband. | nm happy
Therefore, / have the right to speak thu
Tor with thee, and call thy attention to a secre
DIRK. which perhaps thou dost not yet know, on
ling which is not often spoken fto a young an
it'll. pretty maiden, one, indeed, which does nc
bo;r greatly occupy the thoughts of a young mar
- &c and still is Of the utmost Importance in ev
30 y cry household; a secret from which alon
IL 90 spring lasting love and unalterable happ
leo ness
Louise seized the hand Of her aunt in bot
HON of hers. Dear aunt you know | heliey
o. you are right in everything. You mean, tn
;n5; enduring happiness and lasting love are n
insured by any accidental qualities, by flee
vine inc charms, but only those virtues of Il
Tear mind which we bring to each other. The
first are the best dowry which we can posses
i w0- these never become DID,
. can AS it happens, Louise, the virtues, ais
M in like the beauties Of the body, can grow o
t suf- anu ecoh5 lepuiSl.o "nI 80 20 :; 80 -
> When they have become so, we no long
,tched cali them virtues, as a beautiful maiden c
many no longer be called beautiful, when time /
f self changed her to an old wrinkled woman
al. But, aunt, the virtues are nothing ear
~ ly.'
'1crm Perhaps
every How can onrtIonoso on5 ur1,os. -
become h~ateful?'
bound So soon as they degenerate into insi
resen- Incidence and listlessness.'
; wine And manly courage?
{ ron Becomes lmperious rudeness.'
- And modest difidence?
Turns to fawning humility
mere, And noble pride p
roylng TO vulgar haughtiness.'
And readiness to oblige? 2
mother becomes q habit OF too ready friends
from and seryility.'
Dear amt Won noaba mr. ol,ooct 49,
- My future husband can never degenel
= thus ; he has one virtue that will prese
sought him forever. A deep sense, an indestr,
neour- ibie feeling for everything that is great, o
ength- and noble, dwells in his bosom. And t
E? no, delicate susceptibility to all that is nc
aims Of dwells in me also, | hope, as we'll as in h
auance This is the mate pledge and security for
80 happiness
. neart But if it should grow old with YOU
will be should change to hateful exc;tsbi litu
that excitabiiity is the worst enemy of matri
ny. You both possess sensibility. Thi
resolve do not deny; but beware lest this q
n fond should degenerate into an irritable
,;ob hn cuarrelsome mortal
All, dearest, if | might never bee
y your old! | could then be sure my hush
suiies would never cease to love me-
your Thou art greatly in error, dear child
bring Vert thou always as fresh and beautiful
1ctltudo Io-udy, SILL my nuSDanQS eye would by
couraon tom of years become Indifferent to these
IN reS. vantages. Custom is the greatest enc
IL tress in the world, and in the house on
lr'iuonh the most benevolent of fairies. She rem
rant that which is most beautiful, as we'll as
and so ugIiest. familiar. A wife is young, anc
In your comes old; and it is custom which hin
u must. the husband from perceiving the chang
nca von On the contrary, did she remain yo
~ while he became old, it might bring &C
~" = va quences, and render the man in wears
ieiG III Gus. 1t is better as kind Providence
have ordered it. Imagine that thou hadst 81
ting. to be an old woman, and thy husband
we soft a blooming youth; how wouldst thou
Grave feel p
,of love Louise rubbed her chin, and said Il
= w not tell
% "orA' Her aunt continued But I will cal
gage III attention to a secret which
a ray OF That is it. interpreted Louise has
lnkard's that is it which l long so much to heal
ass over Her aunt said: Listen to me after
ly. What | now tell thee, I have prove
father It consists Of two parts. The first pa
n iov in the means to render q marriage happ
ION lin itself prevents any possibility of discus
~ and would even at last make the spider
nump'e the fly the best of friends with each 9th
e"els OF The second part is the best and surest 4
on the cd. of preserving feminine attractions
of our ALL exclaimed Louise.
work. Thief former half of the means, then