The Adventures Of Don Pasquale.

And whether we regard it as a necessity , or a nuisance , or a luxury , it seems mote than probable , ( humanly speaking , ) that as long as the world lasts , and man is man Love will still retain his empire , dear , delightful , capricious , perverse , dubious , and desperate , as the case may he , over every age , and every condition amongst us . The question has been often asked , " What is love 1 " and I , for my part , feel great difficulty in giving a satisfactory reply . My charming little " ingenue " friend , Poppy Patchett would probably , like some other lady writers , just now , be ready to endorse the opinion

that " Love is the inward yearning of a soul for a congenial companion , " in her ease as in that of others of her sex , for a " sympathetic manly bosom , " the " intense aspiration of the invisible and indescribable , " for a " kindred being who will share all one ' s feelings , hopes , wishes , joys , sorrows , trials , wants , and wanderings here . " Such is Poppy ' s " beau ideal ; " but I fear that poor clear Poppy , before her wanderings are over , will find , as others like her have found , that her swan is a goose , yea , verily , a very great goose , indeed .

My old friend Diiodecimus Tristram says that " Love is humbug ; there is no such thing really in existence . " He adds : " AVhat girls and boys call love is nothing hut a passing fancy , a whim of the hour , an embodied or 'unembodied idea . Love , as the world looks upon it , is made up of a good many contingent accessories and physiological conditions , dress , address , money in the Funds , a little estate in the country . Fashion and frivolity , taste ancl temperament , all combine in creating Love . People don ' t want

love to marry upon , ( love mostly comes after marriage , ) and as for ' first love . ' I hold it to be utter rubbish . All a man wants in a wife is a sensible person , who will dress well , and do the honours of his table well , who will be civil with his female and cheery with his male friends ; who will not be expensive , chattering , tiresome , strong , minded , misbehaved , ancl will enable him to load a fairly comfortable existence . " I may observe that my old friend " Duodecimo , " as his friends call him , ( from his love of books , ) is a confirmed easy going old bachelor , a little spoiled , in my opinion , by prosperity , by a host of obedient nieces , and is no poet .

1 have also another friend , the Rev . Theodosius O'Whack ; ho is a Milesian , six feet two in height , with a beautiful brogue , and a pair of " most iligant whiskers . " He is still unmarried , though he parts his hair in the middle , and is extremely admired by the female " numbers" of the congregation . Indeed , it is said in the parish which he adorns , that he has rendered some agreeable ladies of a " certain age" simply desperate . He is very fond of holding forth on what ho terms the "high moral line , " and he has

some romantic views about love , partly mystical and partly material , and he always speaks of his " dearr sisterrs " with a most touching accentuation on the word " dearr . " " Love , Sor , " says my friend , slowly and emphatically—I believe that he is a Sligo man— " is an attraction , a combination , ancl a conjunction , and is , in fact , a union intimate and corresponding between two congenial spirits , who find delight in each other ' s society , ancl are utterly uninfluenced by mercenary or other unworthy considerations . "

Bravo , 0 ' vVhack , as the little girls say at the pantomime , " Encore !" I may add , that Old Grogram , of the well-known City firm of Grogram ancl Growler , whose pretty daughter Matilda has been somewhat affected "b y the appearance of my elegant and sympathetic friend , says , " that Irishman is a conceited puppy . " Perhaps old Grogram is right , though it is of my friend that he is talking ; but I am inclined to think that , notwithstanding the unfavourable opinion of the old boy , his Matilda

will have her own way . " Yes , " says Miss McCall , " the perversity of our young women , just now , positively heart-rending . ' ' Notwithstanding the remarks of that excellent woman , Miss McCall , I hope that O'Whack and his Matilda will he happy . My very agreeable friend Mrs . Jorum , ( not unknown to the readers of the M ASONIC MAGAZINE , ) says : " don't talk to me about Love . Love probably existed in Arcadian times , but love is a stranger to our nineteenth century . AVhat do people marry i ° For love 1 Certainly not . People marry because marriage is a convenience j—becafl