clear head saw the point. Her heart melted into his. She said
"yes." He triumphed by this affectional spirit alone over their much
greater availability.

Manifesting the domestic affections and virtues, a warm, gushing
friendly nature, fondness for children and home, inspires a man's love
most of all, while evincing talents by a man peculiarly enamors woman.

Relations, you shall not interfere, where even parents may not. Make
your own matches, and let others make theirs; especially if you have
bungled your own. One _such_ bungle is one too many.

The parties are betrothed. Their marriage is "fore-ordained" by
themselves, its only rightful umpires, which all right-minded
outsiders will try to promote, not prevent. How despicable to separate
husbands and wives! Yet is not parting those married by a
love-_spirit_, equally so? Its mere legal form can but increase its
validity, not create it. Marriage is a divine institution, and
consists in their own personal betrothal. Hence breaking up a true
love-union before its legal consummation, is just as bad as parting
loving husband and wife; which is monstrous. All lovers who allow it
are its wicked partakers.

Choice of Associates.

The first point to be considered on this subject is a careful choice
of associates, which will often, in the end, save future unhappiness
and discomfort, since, as Goldsmith so truthfully puts it, "Love is
often an involuntary passion placed upon our companions without our
consent, and frequently conferred without even our previous esteem."

This last most unhappy state of affairs may, to a great extent, be
avoided by this careful choosing of companions. Especially is this
true on the part of the lady, since, from the nature and constitution
of society, an unsuitable acquaintance, friendship, or alliance, is
more embarrassing and more painful for the woman than the man. As in
single life an undesirable acquaintance is more derogatory to a woman
than to a man, so in married life, the woman it is who ventures most,
"for," as Jeremy Taylor writes, "she hath no sanctuary in which to
retire from an evil husband; she may complain to God as do the
subjects of tyrants and princes, but otherwise she hath no appeal in
the causes of unkindness."

First Steps.

To a man who has become fascinated with some womanly ideal, we would
say, if the acquaintanceship be very recent, and he, as yet, a
stranger to her relatives, that he should first consider