My Dreams Were All My Own; I

Marriage Is Usually Considered The Grave, And Not The Cradle Of Love.

She Was No Longer That Happy Creature Who In Earlier Youth Wandered With Me On The Banks Of The Lake And Talked With Ecstasy Of Our Future Prospects. The First Of Those Sorrows Which Are Sent To Wean Us From The Earth Had Visited Her, And Its Dimming Influence Quenched Her Dearest Smiles.

I Cherished Hope, It Is True, But It Vanished When My Person Reflected . . .

It Is A Strange Feeling For A Girl When First She Finds The Power Put Into Her Hand Of Influencing The Destiny Of Another To Happiness Or Misery. She Is Like A Magician Holding For The First Time A Fairy Wand, Not Having Yet Had Experience Of Its Potency.

Look Forward To Future Years, If Not With Eager Anticipation, Yet With A Calm Reliance Upon The Power Of Good, Wholly Remote From Despair.