The Daily empire. (Dayton, Ohio) 1865-1867, 1866-04-02
LONG ENGAGEMENTS.
BY ANNA CORA R1rcHIE.


when the heart sufrenders, confirm the
blushing promise quickly at the altars
FOOT" Is the adjnration Of every enamored
suitor, eager for the climax of the wedding
ring, ~ r ..... t ....al
but the maiden who reflects will respond
with no hasty ''anen'' to that fond prayer.
Reflects! does not King Oberon still walk
the earth. performing as fantastic and amaz-
ing feats with his magical flowers as in the
days of Bully BOttomp And did woman
ever reflect after the fairy monarch had
stolen upon her slumbers and pressed the
juice of his purple blossom upon her folded
lids? The portals of her heart open with
her eyes when the latter have once received
that mystic flowers touch, and the eyes
take In and the heart enthrones the being
first looked upon. i''t il'. "iH
Let him wear what shape he may, he is
transformed aud glorified to her vision by. =.
Loves glnmor. That moment Reason is
unceremoniously thrust out of doors. In
vain she clamors to be heard, and warns
the infatuated fair one against precipitancy
lin vain she reminds her that her lappf-
ness Is more easily perilled than MAILS
that her susceptibilities are keener--that
her sllfferings will be greater-that her
risks are a thousand fold more numerous.
Love fashions a fools cap out of his mad
rigals to bind it upon Reasons brow, and
from bnaL IlOuT she D;lSScS IOT FOlly.I
Goldsmiths "Citizen of the World"
quantity remarks, that "marriage has been
compared to a game of skill for life: II is
generous, then. in both parties to declare
that they are sharpers in the beginning. In
England, ] am told, both sides use every
art TO conceal their defects from each other
before marriage, and the rest of their lives
may be regarded as doing penance for their
dissimulatiOn."
To "a oil IL nr Ts n
pressed truth? Are not lovers, all the
world over, zealously engaged In cheating
each OtherH Docs not the very state of
mental exaltation, produced by an absorb
ing affection, give birth to an unpremed-
tated deception? Nay, has not love, in the
dawn of its existence, n Identifying influ-
ence upon the whole constitution OF mans
soul? Are not commonplace minds ele-
vated and rendered poetic by its refining
power? What, then, must be its effect
upon spirits of finer mold? "a. ID sssnf.tI
The period of an open prosperous be-
trothal Is the blossoming season of life.
The sun of pure passion calls forth the
fairest flowers upon every tree, and the air
Is filed with the melody of birds caroling
joyful promises from the branches. In the
sunshine of bright illusions-the exhili-
rating atmosphere of alternating hopes and
fears-the heart glows, and swells, and
takes in all creation with unwonted ten
derness the dullest prospects are tinged
with orient hues; the simplest incidents
communicate thrill of joy ! nature puts
on her gala dress TO welcome the enamored
pair wherever they wander, and shakes
down odorOus tributes upon their heads
from every bough.
And it Is we'll. IL Is better for the soul,
even when love is misplaced, 10 gave
boundless devotion than to- entertain a
tame affection for an object worthy of the
whole wealth of the heart. .si - lrs l.is
The man of her choice Is always hero
| to woman who loves heartily. and her
/ fond fancy invests him with an abundance
of captivating attributes, which possibly
have not the most shadowy existence out
Of her imagination. On the other hand,
Shakespeare tells us that to men women
are angels wooing." But 0 the bitter dis
enchantment If In the glare of Hymen's
torch the ideal charms vanish away, the
mantle of glory falls from the hero's shoul-
ders--and the 'angel," at whose shrine the
lover deyoutly worshipped, stands before
him most terrestrial being full Of failings,
/ wants caprices, Inconsistencies . 81
| Unconsciously his eyes must then forget
| They wore in eourtshib's smiling day"
his voice must lose lft
The tones that shed ''
| A tePderaess round all they sad" w a
the roses of her bridal chaplet must wither,
and leave a martyrs crown OF thorns upon
the brow they encircled,
The probation OF a long engagement Is
the surest talisman against this rude dis
solving of the spell that surrounds lovers.
During the interval their various phases OF
character are revealed by unforeseen chances
by life's inevitable mutations and, being
discovered at this blissfui period when no
life shackle makes endurance compulsory,
even grave faults and temper-trying PEE
culiarities are readily tolerated and excused.
Mental angularities are worn away aud
rounded off TO a graceful smoothDess by
the attritiOn Ofeonstant association. Their
| indispensable lesson Of mutual forbearance
Is conned betimes.