Thomas County cat., 1889-11-14
CUPID'S FIRST WOUNDS.
Thoughts on the Beautiful Ex-
periences Of the Heart.
The First Love Is Merely a Preparation
for Better tn Come - How 1t At
fects and Helps Both Men
and Women.


is simply love, and that one can love a
thousand times, and each time as deep
ly. truly, humanity and spiritually with
the same exaltation and freshness.
But l hold that there is in that first
stir of the emotion by the opposite sex
a turn given to life, color to our emo
tions, and a lasting bias to our whole
being that never is given again. One
may love more wisely the second time,
and with more lasting devotion, but
only the first love can give the abso-
lutte thrill of unalloyed bliss and open
the world to you as 4 place of Joysome
work and worship. You are suddenly
awakened from boyhood and boyish-
ness, from irresponsibility and care
lessness concerning the future to a
feeling of marvellous responsibility.
Behind you is the school, and play,
and obedience, and the fathers house;
ahead is the exquisite pleasure of
working for and tenderly guarding
a wife, and there is the new home to
which your Imagination summons only
flowers, and song, and peace, and con-
tent. Your love has not yet had a
single jar. Here is a perfect thing.
The first love is rarely ever welded.
1t is not so intended. Her mission is
to prepare the way for a rational love
and safe marriage. 1t is prema-
ture, preliminary. in the nature of
things is temporary, and has nothing
in it of the home-making. The mar
ried love is economical. deliberative
and practical; the first love is neither
of these. 1t sees tho world In false
light, because not full light The
color of all things is no longer the
red of life's sunrise. nor is it yet the
yellow of sunset; it is rose color. If
our first loves were often welded. the
result would, without doubt, be a
vast amount of misery. Marriage
would. indeed, be a failure. The
worst of all marriages are early mar
riages, and the next worst are late
marriages Those that are very
early are sure to be lacking in COM
mon sense. The first experiences are
babyish, and the result is childish
quarrels. The two contend over
trifles. and, as for very late mar
r1ages, here again there is quarrel
ing over trifles, because each one has
learned to have undisputed sway over
personal matters. The ideal mar
riage follows soon after the first love
has faded and the disappointment of
hurst bubbles and vanished air castles
las well healed.
If, unfortunately, the first love ends
IN a speedy wedding, there is first of
all the bosh and nonsense to be got
rid of. ! do not mean that the gush
of first affection, the overflow and
flooding of spring tenderness, are in
themselves nonsense, but they be-
come nonsense when carried over
to our work-a-day world. They have
their place, but not in the family. II
they get there they have to be got rid
Of And the coming down from airy
castles to cottages in some vast will
derness," and from that to plain city
flats, with a daily round of dreadful
prosaic duties, is neither easy nor
often successful. The chances are that
the change will come as collapse
and all affection will fall fat into dis
gust. The woman is likely first to
come to the practical issue. and will
either despise the spoony style of her
partner. if he be young and tender, or
she will play pettish part, as she
was used to do with her mother.
A woman rarely, although some
times, takes first love in the serious way
that the boy does. She is never more
different from man than at this point.
She is more accustomed to affection,
and to its outbursts. While it is true
that girl who has loved often is un-
fit to be true partner with one. yet
it must be understood that girl is al
ways in love. Her friendships are of
the same nature as love. Most girls
are by nature prepared to serve as our
first loves.
A man can have only one first love;
venture the surmise that girl may
have several In this way a noble
girl is able to break in and tame
and render marriageable half dozen
lads. think | know one or two old
maids who were peculiarly burdened
in early life with lovers, but every one
of them first lovers They were sensi-
bic enough to comprehend this. and.
instead of seizing on one of the sus-
ceptible youths, marrying him out of
hand, and so securing an escape from
old maidism. they did what was sensi-
bic and right, and are the happier for
it But they keep souvenirs of those
days, aud look them over with a very
gentle touch. Indeed. / think those
first loves served them, and still serve.
to keep their hearts warm. The BEN
eft Of first love is most largely to man;