The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1878-12-19

the ground of affection.
In Utopia, whare Angelica and Vie
dora dwelt. ard Paul and Virginia
wandered the cas- may be entirely
different. The ~proverb, however. Is
. lcable only % such place
people as Reuben and Ruth-names
which may stand for reader and au-
thor. and the " illlams and Mar. 5 OF
our younger days.
Seventeen years Of age IS the critical
time of a young mans life If be has
not already wotshipped at the shrine
If some callow divinity, he Is sure,
then. 70 frantically begin the burning
of incense in honor of an inamorata,
who will have become a very ordinary
sort of a person, long before the real
Helen appears. tie may have a ms
little sweethearts among his play
mates. upon whom he showered his
favors of sugar-plums, and with whom
he shared his toys childhood Is al
WAYS generous when breathing the
generous atmosphere of the majority
of homes, and such tributes of atfec-
ton are more generally extorted by
kindred gifts and the accident OF con-
venience than by any special prefer
ence. But the heart engaged a sew
enteen is unselish, and experienced
enough to discern or assign some
special virtue or perfection to justify
selection aud alteration. 1t Is the age
of frenzy. tealS ne signs love, then,
Is a much more serious matter than at
any later stage of life, for Cupid,S ar
rows rankle terribly in the breast n
protected by Minerals shield. | have
seen pictures of middle-aged men
drumming guitars beneath fair la
dies chamber windows | have read
of stalwart knights opening their veins
and indicting love mleSlves to danes.
when an inkhorn hung at their elbow
and they could have conveyed their
passion by the simple act of walking
up 70 the lady and speaking their sen
tinen's; but | never could bring my
self to agree with the artist or credit
the writer with any dignity higher
than that of a pure rOmaDclst Allthe
arguments in the world would be pow
erless to make me believe that r meo
had attained the senility of "A mus
tache. the night he postured under
meath the balcony, and made strOno
mical observations concerning the
beautiful Capulet. They are only
Youngsters who go incoming about,
declaiming their ardor to sea and Sky,
to fo. Il and field; carving names on
,rees and marrilg reams of good paper
IN the scribbi ne of eXecrable rhymes.
Cupid. out OF the leading strings Of
common sense. a condition peculiar to
first love, plays the most eXtf.avagant
FRANKS, and leads through the lark St
SIOughss of DeSpOnd and over the
highest of Detachable Mountains: here
is no level mead, and the victims are
consequently pan'ng or f~ioundering
all the tiae of their captivity. Re
gard, engendered in h hea t, and es
teen. the dictate of appreclatlve judg-
ment, are the fac Ors OF vlrIle atfec~
ton. while mere qualification of the
senses incites GrSt love, and It's degree
determines the pOignancy Of the af~
Fiction.
If there is any one regard, more
than another. TO which first love is
ohIivi0us it is that of rank, caste, and
class: social sta US is frequently disre-
ga.ded by mature love, and. for the
most part, with results the reverse of
pleasant, vet reason has always some
voice in the matter: but, | venture to
| assert 50 reckless is first love, holding
form AMI precept IN such utter con-
tempt. that, in ninety | cases out Of
a hundred, its Phyllis is found rather
| among the daisies than among the
| exotics. 1t is a thing of impulse, es-
| sentiallv, and delights in defying fit
ness and daring criticism.
It is barely possible that the ordi-
nary course of young love is directed
by exactly this consideration, and,
mercifully too, by this consideration is
finally wOrsted. 1t cannot survive
unless it is fed on a reciprocal passion,
either real or feigned, and instinctive>
ly sprouts in the direction of probable
sustenance. Perception is always old
enough to teach the odds against the
return of a love that seeks to ing It's
object down. At a much earlier age
than seventeen, a young man has read
and seer sufficient to convince him that
aspiring love has an uphill, stony and
trOublous path to tread, and, though
he may not reason ON the subject OF
be able to define the prompting, he
almost invariably falls in love III a di-
rection that offers the fair one food
both for heart and vanity, and this
The omance and troubadours knew
this, or felt it; else why did they cele,
brate and sing of only the humblest
and most exalted stations? They never
mentioned the Es-double tender ten
ders her. The necessity for this mani
fest advantage offered on the pat o.
the swain is apparent; his sensations
must be kept alive by avowed or proba
BILE passion on the part of the damsel
and he goes TO the most likely qnartel
70 find it. Now. this necessity do
not argue that women are more mer-
cenary than men but hat they ar,
much the shrewder. The page mus
bring release from thraldom and hateC
letters: the knight must have higl
degree or wealth to tap b r unbroachet
heart, but he is set assigning by sim
pie or zee and comeline>s, quires an,
Melinda5 as falling in love with on
another, and we should hardly know
of their having existed, had itnot bee