Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-04-07
LONG ENGAGEMENTS.
BY ANNA CORA RITCHIE.


BY ANNA CORA RITCHIE.
"When the heart surrenders, confirm the
blushing promise quickly at the altar:
footw is the adjuration of every enamored
suitor, eager for the climax of the we'd
ding-Ting.
But the maiden who reflects will respond
with no hasty "amen" to that fond prayer
Reflects ?-does not King Oberon still walk
the earth, performing as fantastic anC
amazing feats with his magical flower as ir
the days of Bully Bottom? And did wo'
men ever reflect after the fairy monarch baC
stolen upon her slumbers and pressed the
juice of his purple blossom upon her fold
ed lids? The portals of her heart open
with her eyes when the latter have once re-
ceived that mystic flowers touch, and the
eyes take in and the heart enthrones the
being first looked upon. Let him wear
what shape he may, he is transformed and
glorifed to her vision by Loves glamour.
That moment Reason is unceremoniOusly
thrust out of doors. In vain she clamOrs to
be heard, and warns the infatuated fair one
against precipitancy-in vain she reminds
her that her happiness Is more easily peril
ed than man's-that her susceptibilites are
keener-that her sufierings will be greater
that her risks are thousand fold more
numerous. Love fashions a foOl's-cap out
of his madrigals to bind it upon Reasons
brow, and from that hour she passes for
Folly.
GOldsmIth's "Citzen of the World"
quantity remarks that marriage has been
compared to a game of skill for life; it is
generous, then, in both parties to declare
that they are sharpers in the beginning. In
England, l 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
former di stimulation"
Is this a malicious SANDER or a Tudely eX-
pressed truth? Are not lovers, all the
world over, zealously engaged in cheating
each other! Does not the very state of
mental eXaltation produced by an absorb
ing affection give birth to unprecedented
deception? Nay, has not love in the dawn
of its existence, a Identifying influence up
on the whole constitution of mans soul ?
Are not commonplace minds elevated and
rendered poetic by its refining power
What, then. must be its effect upon spirits
of finer mould?
The period of an open, prosperous be-
trOthal is the blossoming season of lite
The sun of pure passion calls forth the
rarest flowers upon every tree, and the air
is filled with the melody Of birds carrollDg
joyful promises from the branches. In the
sunshine of bright illusion-the exhilarat-
ing atmosphere of alternate hopes and fears
the heart glows, and swells, and takes in
all creation with unwonted tenderness; the
dullest prospects are tinged with orient
hues the simplest incidents communicate
a thrill of joy; nature puts on her gala
dress to welcome the enamored pair wher-
ever they wander, and shakes down odOr-
Gus tributes upon their heads from every
! bough.
And it is well. 1t is better for the soul
even when love is misplaced, to give 9
bOundless devotion than to entertain tame
affection for an object worthy OF the whole
wealth OF the heart.
The man of her choice is always a hero
to a 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, Shakes
| peare tells us that to men "women are angels
wooing." But 0! the bitter disenchant.
ment if the glare of Hymen's torch, the
ideal charms vanish away, the mantle o.
glory falls from the hero's shoulders-anC
the "angel," at whose shrine the lover de,
voutly worshipped, stands before him
observation-disclosures
Unconsciously his eyes must then forge
- "The gentle ray
They wore in courtship's smiling day"
his voice must lose
1.-THE tones that shed
A tenderness round all they said"
the roses of her bridal chaplet must withel
and leave martyrs crown of thorns upon
| the brow thpV encirclel,
The probation of long engagement is
| the surest talisman against this rude dis
solving of the spell that surrounds lovers
| During the interval their various phases o.
character are revealed by unforeseen
chances-by life's inevitable mutations
and being discovered at this blissiul period
when no life-shackle makes endurance
compulsory, even grave faults and temper
trying peculiarities are readily tolerated
and excused. Mutual singularities are
worn away and rounded off to graceful
smoothness, by the attrition of constan
association. Their souls become attuneC
to the same key. The indispensable lessor
OF mutual torbearance is conned betimes
Love has leisure allowed him to build hi
temple upon the rock of perfect trust
which no storm can shake. The flashing
| flame of enthusiasm, by which its shrin,
was illumined at tconsecration, is gradually
replaced by that steady, holy light which
| fiercest gales cannot extingush. Coco
spirits have whispered to the wife elec
that she will need Martha's executive hands
and Mary's appreciating soul TO keep those
altars swept and garnished, and have mur
INJURED in her partners ear that he mus
reign within those walls with Solomon
wisdom and Jacobs patience. Thus. tn
prolonged betrothal is often the tunefu
prelude to harmonious union, and NO
harsh discords disturb it's lifelong melody