irl should show her feeling toward them, before
they come to the point. But you must remember that girls also have to
be cautious, and a few--I acknowledge it is only a few--would rather
die than show they cared for a man who after all might only "love and
ride away."

Not that I altogether blame man in this respect. I always admire
pride, and am afraid I should not care for a refusal myself. I am
intolerant of it even in the smallest matters!

It is curious how men run in grooves. The same style of man nearly
always marries the opposite type of girl. I mean that the
intellectual, the clever, invariably choose the insipid brainless
girl. Pretty, she may be, but it is in a doll-like way, with not a
thought above her household. You would have imagined that such men
would require some help-meet, in the fullest sense of the word; with a
brain almost as quick as their own. But such a choice occurs very
seldom.

Again, why is it that little men always select the very tallest women
they can find? You would think that a man would hesitate to show off
his meagre inches to such bad advantage. But these pigmies appear to
enjoy the contrast. It is evidently quantity they admire, not quality.

I daresay a good deal of what I have written sounds very cynical, but
perhaps my experience has been unfortunate, therefore you must forgive
me: certainly it is sometimes very difficult to distinguish between
the real thing and its successful counterpart.

Parents are greatly at fault in the issues of the matrimonial market.
After all these centuries of experience you would give them credit for
more tact than they possess. Any match they do not desire, they oppose
at once, and thereby set alight all the contradictory elements in your
nature. If Laban had been less obstinate, and had consented to an
alliance between Jacob and Rachel from the first, provided Leah was
left behind to look after him, the latter would immediately have been
endowed with attractions innumerable to Jacob, tender eyes and all!

Nowhere is there such a fertile soil for love as opposition!

On the other hand, if parents wish to encourage a match, young people
are thrown together as much as possible. However big the gathering,
you are somehow always paired off with the eligible parti until you
grow to loathe the man, and would sooner become an "old maid" than
marry him.

Parents have a bad time altogether I am afraid. Their nice little
plans are so nearly always