ule of this sort, as it may become a tax, and the
breaking of it on either side may cause pain if not friction.

There will be times without number when delightful little
love-letters will have to be written. They will come as a joyful
surprise and be twice as sweet as those that are expected.

When daily or even frequent meetings are impossible, then the
love-letter has a most important part to play in the course of true
love. Letters are a very valuable addition to personal intercourse. It
is not safe to judge a person entirely from them, but taking them side
by side with personal knowledge they throw a good deal of light on a
character. The glamour of the beloved presence is not there to blind,
the charm of manner or voice is not powerful to fascinate, so the
words stand on their own merits. Sometimes they do not quite fit in
with what we know of the writer. They show us another side of one we
love. It may be endearing, it may be the reverse. In any case the
letters that pass between an engaged couple should be kept absolutely
private. We know the story of the man who wrote the same love-letters
to two girls, who {61} discovered his treachery by comparing their
respective treasures. Such a case is, I hope, purely fictional, but
there ought to be some exceptionally good reason for divulging the
sweet nothings that go to make up the typical love-letter. For the one
to whom they are addressed they will be sublime, to the outsider they
will probably be only ridiculous.

The Length of Engagements.

Considering what a vital change marriage is bound to bring into the
lives of those who make the contract, it would seem the height of
rashness to hurry into it with a person of whom one knows but little.
It may be contended that the mutual attitude of lovers during their
engagement is not calculated to enlarge their real knowledge of each
other. Certainly not, if the marriage is to take place while they are
at fever-heat, living in a whirl of emotional rapture. But let an
engagement be long enough for their love to settle down into a more
normal state, where their reasoning faculties will be able to
work--then they will gain a clearer estimate of their mutual fitness,
and may learn a good deal about each other.

It has been said that no man should make an offer of marriage till he
is in a position to support a wife. This is a little hard. If a man is
worth having, he is worth waiting for. He has no right to speak till
h