connubial love. He was told that in time his views would undergo a change, and that he would yet give up father and mother for one dearer still. The truth of their assertions were speedily proved. He then could say :

"When I gazed on a beautiful face,

Or a form which my fancy approved,

I was pleased with its sweetness and grace,
And falsely believed that I lov'd!

But my heart, though I strove to deceive,
The imposture it would not allow;

I could look, I could like, I could leave,
But I never could love-till now.

"Yet though I from others could rove,
O harbour no doubt of my truth,
Those flames were not lighted by love,
They were kindled by folly and youth.
But no longer of reason bereft,

On your hand, that pure altar, I vow,
Though I've looked, and have liked, and have left,
Yet I never have loved-till now."

It was some time, however, before the truth dawned upon his own mind. At first he thought his ailment was a physical one. He consulted an eminent physician. He obtained advice and remedies to boot; but all in vain. No medicine could touch his case. He was ready to exclaim—

"My heart is sick, my heart is sad,
But, oh! the cause I cannot tell,
I am not grieved, I am not glad,
I am not ill, I am not well.”

What was his complaint? Of course he was love-sick, and the only remedy for his malady was to secure the object of his affection.

"There is a love that is feverish, violent, and

full of profession.

But having gained its object
It cannot endure in

its force is soon expended.
the hour of trial. It looks at beauty, health and
wealth. If these should fail, it would fail. True
love loves in every scene, and is sympathetic in
every state. The rosy time of courtship is not
degraded by love's decline, when the flowers
begin to fade, and when the winter of life is
come. It loves its object till life is extinct, and
then it pants for reunion in the skies."

Finley Johnson has charmingly expressed the characteristics of love in the following lines :

"I will love thee, ever love thee,

With passion strong and deep;
And in the depths of memory's cell,
Thy image ever keep.

And round the fibres of my heart

Sweet faith shall weave a spell;

:

Whose charms shall bind my heart to thee
While on this earth we dwell,

"I will love thee, ever love thee,

As long as life shall last;

And shield thee with the arms of love
From sorrow's chilling blast.

Though time's relentless hand should stamp
Some furrows on thy brow,

I will love thee with a faith as pure,

E'en as I love thee now.

66

I will love thee, ever love thee,

And for thy throbbing breast
I'll pine; e'en as a stricken bird
Pines for its sheltered nest.
My every thought shall be of thee,
And time shall always bring
Glad tidings from the one I love,
Upon his healing wing.

"I will love thee, ever love thee,
With faith and hope secure ;
And adverse fate shall only serve
To make that love more sure.
My heart is bound in love's sweet chain
And time shall ne'er sever

Its golden links, but I shall love,
Yea, love, yea, love for ever."

Many young people commit a grave error when they first seek a life companion. They do not seek in the right place to find those qualities which ought to be the primary object of every young person, in securing a wife or husband. A young man will frequently be captivated with some partner in a ball-room, whom he has never seen before, and he fancies himself to be in love directly; but not one question does he ask himself whether she is likely to make him a good wife, or whether she is suited to his temperament and circumstances. He is led away by her personal attractions. He knows not whether her beauty is merely skin deep, or whether it reaches to her heart. He is entirely ignorant of the quality of her mind. It is the style of the woman

he approves her figure, her dress, her bonnet. He little thinks of loving the woman for her own sake. The same error, too, is committed by females. The hard worker in humble but honest garb, who pays his way, and has no pretensions to be what he is not, is too frequently passed on one side, in favour of a "fast" man, or a "dandy,' dressed according to the latest fashion. The curl in his hair, his well-cultivated moustache, his gentlemanly strut, or his silver-headed cane, win her heart. She never asks if his fine clothes or cane have been paid for. His fine speeches enamour her. She is taken by appearances. She is like a moth flying round the gaslight. She is caught at last; and then she has leisure. to repent her folly, and drink the cup of sorrow to its dregs.

"Love is a plant of holier birth,

Than any that takes root in earth;

A flower from heaven, where 'tis a crime,

To number with the things of time;

Hope in the bud is often blasted,
And beauty to the desert wasted;
And joy, a primrose early gay,
Care's lightest footfall treads away.

"But love shall live and live for ever,

And chance and change shall reach it never;
Can hearts in which true love is plighted,

By want or woe be disunited ?

Ah! no, like buds on one stem born,

They share between them e'en the thorn

Which round them dwells, but parts them not,
A lorn yet undivided lot."

D