Abbeville press. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1860-1869, 1866-05-04
LONG ENGAGEMENTS.
by ANNA CORA RITcHIE.

"When tho heart, :surrenders,s confirm
the blushiug promise quickly'at the altaTs
foot |" is the adjuration of every enamor-
ed suitor, eager, for the climax OF tho we'd
ding ring.
But tie maiden who reflects will res
pond with no hasty "amen" to that fond
prayer. Reflects does not King Oberon
still walk the earth performing as fantastic
and amazing feats with his magical flowers
as in the days Of Bully Bqttom2 And
did woman ever reflect after the fairy
monarch had stolen upon her slumbers and
pressed the juice Of his purple blossom up
on her folded lidse The portals of her
heart opon with her eyes when the latter
have once received that mystic flowers
touch, and the eyes take in and the heart
enthrones the being Grst looked upon.
Let him wear what shape he may, he is
transformed and glqrified to vision By
Loves glamor. That moment Reason is
pnceremoniously thrust out of doors. In
vain she clamors to be heard, and warns
the infatuated fair one against percipitancy
in vain she reminds her hor happiness is
more easily Perilled than p,an's-tAat her
arsceptibiities aarek keeuer-that her suffer-
ings will be greater-that her risks are
thousand fold more numerous. Love fash.
ions tooPs cap out of his madrigals to bind
it upon Reasons brow, and from that hour
she passes for Folly. u
Goldsmith's "Citizen of the World
quantity remarks, that marriage has teen
compared to game Of alsill: it is gener-
Que, then, in both parties TO declare that
they are sharpers in the beginning. In En-.
gland, am told, both sides use every art
TO conceal their defects from each other be-.
fore marriage, and tho rest of their lives
may be regarded as doing penauce for their
!dissimulation.'
Is this malicious slander or rudely
expressed truth ? Arc not lovers, all the
world over zoalousIy engaged in cheating
each others Docs not the very state Of
mental exaltation, produced by an absorb
ing affection, give birth to an unpremedita>
ted deception2 Nay, has not love, in the
dawn Of its existence, beautifying inau-
!ence upon the whole constitution of mans
soulE Are not commonplace minds eleva.
led and rendered poetic By its refining pow
er? What, then, must be its effect upon
spirits of finer mould!
The period of an open, prosperous be-
trothal is the bloseoming season of lfe.-
Tho sun Of pure passion calls forth the
fairest flowers upon every tree, and the air
is filled with the melody of birds caroling
joyful promises from the branches. In the
sunshine of bright illusions-the exhilira-
ting atmosphere Of alternate hopes and
fears-the heart glows and swells, and takes
IN all creation with unwonted tenderness:
the dullest prospects are.inged with orient
hue; the simple incidents impa,t 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 well. It is better for the soul.
even when love is misplaced, to give
boundless devotion than entertain tame
affection for an object worthy of the whole
wealth of the heart.
The man of her choice is ALWAYS hero
70 woman who loves heartily, and her
1ond fancy invests him with an abundance
OF captivating attributes, which possibly
have not the most shadowy existence out
OF her imapination. On the other hand,
Shakespeare tells US that to men awomen
are angels wooing:" But O! the bitter
!dlsenchlantment if in the glare of Hymen's
torch the ideal charms vanish away, the
mantle of glory falls from tile hero,s shout.
ders-and; tbe angel at whose shrine the
lover devoutly worshipped, stands before
MN a most terrestrial being full of falling
wants, eaprices, inconsistencies2
onconc'ously his eyes must then forget
They wore in coprtsbipS smiling day.
oae SolCe muSL lose
The tones that shed
a tenderness round all they said--"
tne e, roses of her bridal chaplet must
"'ther' " and leave a martyrs crown Of
'hoEns upon the brow they encircled.
:, Inc probation Of long epgagemspt is
'ae surest talisrnan against this rude dissol.
y'ng OF the spellthat surrounds loyers.:-
During ,''' the interval thei! y.tiops; phases Of
character are revealed By J unforseen chan
ss:-Dy LIES Inevitable mutations; and,
W os'cs discovered iat this bliafpl period