Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-02-20
SHE EVIDENTLY BELIEVES IN IT.
The Men can't DO without II, No
Matter How Much They Deny IT.
! Masculine coquettes and Broken
: vows.
1corrosoondence OF me plspatch)


4 think. OF deep analysis. have been ex
p,o,ting myself lately on this same sub
feet OF love, and tho man at wnoin
hurled my opinions being satirical ano
minus q heart, said: what Is love any
now? 1t is q selfish desire on the part o
one person 10 monopollze all the time an'
thoughts OF another. You folks can y
everlasting; yet men jest about their sum
mer girls and winter girls, ana their pes
girls" and think an election, a change
in stocks. or the doings OF the hunting
club more interesting than any love 'na'
was ever dreamed OF. Some fooi o. man
Kills himself-says he does It ior ioVe'
Some goose Of woman buys new rs
and gowns and paints herseh an " ~
rause she wishes some man 10 ran III ioNe
with her. Take IL away Instead OF love'
give me good comradeship. want 20 De
5ollv with a woman: 10 SO to the theatres
and trot around together; 10 discuss lhe
same questions and enjoy things IN d
reasonable way without all this foi-de-rol
Nonsense of lover
All very nice and very selfish. But now
DO you think your feminine "chum Woulu
look, say in the course OF time, Wheh you
were tat and forty and she about thirty
night? or do YOU propose 10 have relays
of "chums" along with the mileposts on
age. Suppose that any other man VIII
Dffer your "chum" his love and mes de-
votion after you have claimed her young
hearts first emotions?
LOVE is SACRED.
Love, as I view it. is too sacred 70 DC
nyen lightly simulated with impunlty'
Lowell In the whole category OF know
hedge and thought, or in the vocabulary OF
words there is not another TO compare
with this; so perfect in comprenensloi,'
30 elegant and uniquely musical IN sounu.
Love-all other attributes or character
sale into insignificance when compared
with it. The lustre Of its oiadem IRA
dates and sanctiiies all things. AAfe
would be a barren waste without H. De-
cause love IS God-giyen, born or ol-
Rinity; is Of itself divine.
And so the poets have sung Of 1t; this
wondrous beauty-lovei "The leaves upon
the trees and the grasses at our feet Whis-
per it; the flowers exhale It; the air Is full
Of it,"
Laughing waters sing It, and wooing
birds tell of II.
There are none so old, or scarce so
young, but have felt its subtitle power.
This is of love IN the abstract; of love as
d sentiment, from heart to heart; the
Bible speaks of only one love greater, as
S.passing the love Of woman"
This last is the kind OF love which our
cynical friend, quoted above. so lightly
Knocked: 1.-THE love OF woman" And l
hold 1t true that most Of women have
conjugated this verb, "to love-" in its past
or present tense, or expects some time in
the future 10 wear a wedding-ring, the
symbol of her happy love and marriage.
MEN LIKE II, TOO.
Nor do think that women alone desire
this best gift Of the gods. Never man
yet lived who did not want the love of
some woman-usually some "other
woman" or the one least obtairable.
He talks about jolly comrades, platonic
affection. and the rest of it. What he
really wants is love and devotion; stacks
of 1t; blocks Of it; mountains of 1t.
He thinks, or believes he thinks. That
everything in life-frOm protoplasms to
politics-should come before love.
Trust him not,
He's fooling thee"
And fooling himself. II he stopped there
the wrong would not be so great. For
quite often this is the kind of man who
once persuaded some one else that he was
very much in love; who took such pas
sionate pains to make a woman love him.
and promise to marry him, and such little
pains afterward 10 keep up the sentiment
That he was genuinely and wholly in love
each believed; the woman-as is a
womans way when youth IS still aglow
and love is lord paramount-doubting him
no more than she doubted the blue hea-
vens above or the glad sunshine around
the earth. In that sweet springtime OF
love he was honest as the day, tender as
the night; he vowed everlasting devotion;
he had never loved before-he would never
love again--and when all the fiuttering
emotions Of her weakened heart shone in
that symphony Of smiles" or wondrous
radiance OF woman's face:
(which few men ever see,
And none but once
these things. interspiced with the never
Failing one of love-not forced into STUN
bling through any discussions OF doubt
constituted the sum and substance of
their daily bliss.
8 But an, "a change came over the spirit
Of his dream" Such little change that
she was not at first more hurt than puz-
Eled. The little larks and excursions they
used to enjoy so much he is not now so
hr0ently anxious for; there is a clashing
in their likings and IN their pleasures;
She wants TO go out when he wants TO
stay in, and vice versa and somehow he
develops into a kind OF automatic
vsteady company" on Sunday nights and
Is rather irritating by contrast.
Bearer 20 her heart were the frequent
smpromptu calls, with new book. or a
bunch Of flowers, or maybe the eager
consultation Of some sudden plan or jour
ney Of his own, for which her sympathy
and Interest was desired.
This change in love, from it's "rose-gar-
den OF delights 10, as It were, a sober
reminds me that there is a |
legend OF a lady whose swain, when she |
murmured Yes" said, LET US kneel and |
pray for a blessing" The young nance |
confessed that she occupied this interval !
an thinking. "how 10 break Il Off !" which |
she did promptly. And II does seem TO me |
that, with all due reverence II I had TO /
commence a courtship in that way, 1 |
Should be frightened at its solemnities.
THERE MUST BE SENTIMENT
There can be no love without sentiment |
Love must have sentiment TO nourish !
a. just as the nowering-plant must |
nave moisture and sunlight 70 at |
tain its perfect effiorescence. Without II |
love. as well as the plant. though It may |
flourish Tor time. Will wither and die
Women demand this sentiment in the |
love which man has voluntarily pledged, |
and they have right 70 expect II. 1t is \
this failure 10 observe the nice shadings |
OF love in q woman's heart that is the /
wedge 10 many a subsequent |
alienation. Alienation? Has 1t come 10
that?
There is no positive break or quarrel,
no actual rupture but the love itself and
the hopes IL stirred have gone. and they
have left in their place a tOrturing an
80. /