As an oyster opens, when expecting the tide, so
did his soul expand at the contemplation of matrimony. Labor ceased to
be a trouble to him; he sang and sewed from morning to night; his hot
goose no longer burned him, for his heart was as hot as his goose; the
vibrations of his head, at each successive stitch, were no longer sad
and melancholy. There was a buoyant shake of exultation in them which
showed that his soul was placid and happy within him.
Endless honor be to Neal Malone for the originality with which he
managed the tender sentiment! He did not, like your commonplace lovers,
first discover a pretty girl, and afterwards become enamored of her. No
such thing, he had the passion prepared beforehand--cut out and made up
as it were, ready for any girl whom it might fit. This was falling in
love in the abstract, and let no man condemn it without a trial; for
many a long-winded argument could be urged in its defence. It is always
wrong to commence business without capital, and Neal had a good stock
to begin with. All we beg is, that the reader will not confound it with
Platonism, which never marries; but he is at full liberty to call it
Socratism, which takes unto itself a wife, and suffers accordingly.
Let no one suppose that Neal forgot the schoolmaster's kindness, or
failed to be duly grateful for it. Mr. O'Connor was the first person
whom he consulted touching his passion.
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