ays of his courtship. He is burning with
love. He is the facsimile of Shakespeare's lover, "sighing like a
furnace." Her praises are on his lips always. He avows himself her
slave and worships her as a goddess. It is in her company alone that
he can find happiness. Whether at home or in society, he is always at
her side. Life is dreary where she is not. He wonders how he could
have lived so long, or how he could continue existence, without her.
How regular and how punctual he is in his calls, and how he scowls at
the clock for running away with time so fast! Not a wish does she
express, no matter how unreasonable and extravagant, but he eagerly
gratifies it. How numerous his little attentions and his kind
remembrances! How thoughtful of her birthday, and how lavish in floral
tributes and costly presents! How numerous and how lengthy his letters
when separated! How sweet their moonlight walks and talks! How bright
her future, which he maps out! How many the pledges which he breathes
forth between his ardent kisses; never a harsh word shall break on her
ear, never a wish of hers shall be ungratified, never a trouble shall
mar her happiness; such a love as his has never been before, and will
never be again; he only lives for her happiness; his affection will
never cool, he will be a lover all his life; their whole wedded life
will be one never-waning honeymoon.

In the drama the plot usually ends with marriage. At the instant when
it is reached, when all obstacles are removed, the curtain falls, and
the young people have no further existence for us. But in the
practical world the play goes on. The curtain rises again, the same
personages reappear, only they frequently play different parts, and
what was before a comedy or a melo-drama often changes into a tragedy.
Sad and tearful scenes are often enacted by them. The misery and pain
are no longer inflicted by their former enemy, but by their own hands.
He, who prior to marriage overcame almost insurmountable obstacles to
make his lady fair his happy wife, now moves heaven and earth to make
that wife as miserable as possible.

A number of years have passed since last we observed the lover. He is
husband and father now, but what a change these few years have wrought
in him! Forgotten are the lover's vows. She that once his goddess
was, is now his slave. The fulsome flatterer of former times has
degenerated into a chronic fault-finder. With the change