The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1857-10-10
An Old Bachelors Last Love.

young man of twenty, whom rehicmber I'd
have called myself. atlas Jenkins, twenty years
ago. was a. different in love matters. as in all
others. from the present writer, as twenty
years hence. perhaps. will be the old man of
sixty. calling himself (if he sees fit by the
same name.
1t is one of the capricc> of Young gentle
men in their teens-and a very sensible ca
price it is, too-to like women of mature
years, women ripper than themselves, married
women even; and the liking, within proper
limits, is apt to be rcciprocated. For mere
girls they have kind of contempt. borrowed
from the contempt they have for their late
boyhood and what of it still fingers about
them. They have that grcenest of all horrors,
the horror of being thought green; they
stroke their chins impatienilv in search of the
much-covetcd beard, and as soon as its first
down appears-that soft. delicious. prophetic
! fuzz-they purchase razor, hoist up their
collars, proclaim themselves men, and fall in
love with women Of thirty.
Is this the first and only love about which
We hear SO much? Judging from nv own
experience, which was like that of most others,I
should incline to hope not. The seraphic be-
ing upon whom laid out my rising affections
{ Misc Anna Condor) was an old maid of
thirtv-fivc. who coiled herself about nv heart,
like the cunning serpent that she was, and
then unreeled herself. at day notice, to en-
circle and we'd rich widower of fifty esquire
Lemon,) whom she squeezed to death in less
than six months, and froM whom she inher-
tied widows pile" of half a million. And
vet loved her dearly, and gave her the first
lings of my heart"
Others ma, have been more fortunate in
their first love, but few are disposed to i'm
mortalizc it.
An old friend of mine. now at Saratoga
spending his fourth honeymoon declares that
the intensity of his love has increased in every
instance in ''arithmctical proportion" what
ever that is,and believe it is something tre-
mendous,) each of his wives seeming to him
50 much more lovely than her immediate pre-
decessOr. who was never the less in her dav,
the paragon of women. that he wondered how
he could ever have dreamed of anv body else.
But if this is so. what becomes of our theo-
rics of first love-
Now have not only to confess nv heresies
on this sub ject to the reader. who is proven
bially 'indulgent." but am dreading the dav
when must make clean breast of them TO
Clara Vernon, which will be 4 much more
formidable matter-thc said Clara being NV
last love. How shall have the courage to
declare my passion to hcr-if passion it is
seeing that she will at once curl up her pref
ty lips Il think pre:ty lips may always be as
sumed. and ask me impertinently whether
am making my thirtieth or fortieth declara-
tion. to which must needs reply-thoush
have kept no tally-that is a, least nv twen-
tleth. Imagine the face she will make up.
But if | don't look out some Young gallant
will get the start of me. and he at her feet
with his declaration. which will be as asreea-
bic to her as the first rose of summer. Well.
whoever he is, l hope that she will accept him,
for II he doesn't slcken her of first love in less
than fortnight. she is not the dear firt |
take her for. He is sure to be some man
who has met her at ball. and who has dane
ed with her all the evening without once los
ing step or treading on her dress. As for
me. never danced without her but once. and
then lost not only my step but NV footing.
and brought her with me to the floor. But
man may be very good partner for dance.
and yet very sorry one for life. which is a
trifie more serious than cotillion or even a
polka. as shall take the liberty. in some dis
interested moment. of telling her And vet
what does she care about that now? THE
world. said she to me the other evening. s.is
too serious by half Nature is not so terri
bly, glum. She is on the broad grin half the
time. and laughs even through her tears
Look at the stars up Wonder. winking at each
other for Yer. fun all night long. and laugh
ing at the sober-faccd moon"
Still. Clara is more serious than she choos-
eS to appear. Ii is not always. nor generally.
the persons of the most solemn exterior who
are the most serious solcmnitv is often 4
mask for stupidity. Clara's iubilant face is
honest enough, but ii reflects only the surface
of her nature don't know that she can he
called thoughtful. for thoughtfulness implies
deliberate and sustained mental action. where
as the movement of her mind like that of
her body. IS unpremeditate She never rea-
sons. and 1t would seem, therefore. never
thluks but she has that kind of instinct which
may be called spontaneous reason. and which
dives straight into the heart of things at
once. Moreover, she has such a lively imae-
Ination that her mind appears to be all of a
blaze. except in certain emergencies. when
the fire suddenly goes out. leaving her brain.
as it were. i'll white ken Such N ,tures
are extremely sensitive, ard. CAV as they
appear. feel and suffer very keeniv.
Clara is not very complete type of this
character. for she inherits a certain amount
OF common sense from her father IA shrewd
business man. with profound knowledge of
the surface of things.) which tempers her
character and. to my seeming. derosates not
a little from its beauty; for. if there is a per-
son less interesting to me than anv other. it
is what IS called practical. comn,on-sense wo-
man-a woman with no nonsense about her,
Of this sort is Clara's friend. Sally Naunder:
very square and proper person. square-fac-
ed, square-footed. her head set sauarely ON
her body. and her heart squarcly and secure
ly in its place prim. prulish person. adhcr
ing to all known laws: eating. drinking.
dressing. dancing. talking by rule: kee Ding a
diary of all her acts, and tallv of all her ex-
penses: owing no man. ewing no man: read
ing no books not recommended bv her pre-
ceptors. and playing the whole game Of life
according to Hoyle.
But it is not of Miss Maundcr I wish 10
speak. hut Miss Vernon. who. by.the.wav
strangely enough. insists that her friend IS
the very counterpart of myself and wonders
don't fall in love with her at once. Sally
Maunder my counterpart. Not bad, that.
But it is time to say a word about Clara.