We  say  the  maxim,  "  Lovers'  quarrels  are  the
renewal  of  love,"  is  popular,  for  all  people  are
prone  to  quarrel — and  none  so  much  so  as  those
who,  willing  slaves  of  the  master-passion,  LOVE,
are  for  the  first  time  aware,  that  in  putting
on  his  yoke  they  yield  themselves  also  to  his
attendant  spirits,  Jealousy,  Pride,  Vanity,  Anger,
Grief,  Despair,  Envy,  Revenge,  arid  Remorse  !

Wherever  Love  dwells,  these  spirits  lie  in
wait  to  minister  to  him,  and  watch  eagerly  for
the  first  gap  in  the  sweet-briery  fence,  the  first
suspicion,  the  first  doubt  —  above  all,  THE
FIRST  QUARREL.
A    LOVER  S    QUARREL.  3

And  even  in  that  first  quarrel  (precursor  in
general  of  a  system  of  small  dissensions  and
great  miseries),  how  much  is  said  and  done
that  can  never  really  be  forgotten,  forgiven,  or
atoned  !  .  ..
What  stinging  words  will  recur  in  the  soli-
tude of  a  sleepless  night !  what  scornful  looks
and  angry  tones  are  for  ever  stamped  on  the
memory  of  the  heart !  .  .  .  How  much  true
pride,  and  how  little  true  love,  may  the  heart's
idol  have  betrayed  under  the  influence  of  "  the
First  Quarrel." — "Lovers'  Quarrels,"  so  far  from
being  the  renewal  of  love,  must  then,  if  often
repeated,  end  in  its  total  extinction.  They  de-
stroy faith ;  they  bring  war  where  peace  should
ever  dwell;  they  wound  pride,  they  outrage
affection,  they  undermine  confidence  —  (confi-
dence in  the  loved  one,  confidence  in  ourselves)
— they  first  rob  Love  of  every  charm,  and  then
they  slowly  murder  him.
Whether  these  lovers  are  affianced  or  wedded
(for  in  this  happy  land  there  are  true  lovers  who,

B  2


4  A  LOVER'S  QUARREL.
