heart has spurs in his sides," the chief reason for this being the anxiety of the fair sex to show their mastery over man; for, like St. Augustine, they have always been of opinion that "he that is not jealous is not in love." Hence a woman is fond of testing her lover's faith by kindling his jealousy, adhering to the time-honoured proverb, "There is no love without jealousy." On the other hand, we are told that "Love expels jealousy," and, according to an Italian belief, "It is better to have a husband without love than with jealousy," which calls to mind Iago's words ("Othello,' act iii. sc. 3):

"O, beware, my lord, of jealousy,

It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock
The meat it feeds on."

But jealousy is not confined to either sex, for—

"The venom clamours of a jealous woman

Poison more deadly than a mad dog's tooth."

But it is generally agreed that there is nothing worse than a jealous woman, and a piece of African proverbial wisdom tells us that "a jealous woman has no flesh upon her breast; for, however much she may feed upon jealousy, she will never have enough."

And yet, although French romance is full of the tortures which lovers have experienced from the fair sex, it is said :—

"Amour, tous les autres plaisirs
Ne valent pas tes peines,"

which has been translated thus: "O Love, thy pains are worth more than all other pleasures a statement which is much open to doubt.

Again, woman's love when it "comes apace" is to be avoided as untrustworthy and likely as suddenly to wane; on which account it is commonly said, "Hasty love is iron hot and iron cold." In "Ralph Roister Doister," written about the year 1550, Christian Custance says: "Gay love, God save it! So soon hot, so soon cold." But the love which lasts is that recommended in one of Heywood's proverbs, "Love me little, love me long," which Hazlitt mentions as the title of an old ballad licensed to W. Griffith in 1569-1570.

Woman's love has ever been open to reproach as being fickle and unstable, and Southey, quoting the popular sentiment, says :

"There are three things a wise man will not trust,

The wind, the sunshine of an April day,

And woman's plighted faith;'

further instances of which trait or character will be found elsewhere, where we have dealt with the fickleness of the fair sex. But the swain who is disheartened by his lady-love's coquetry, and is afraid of losing her through excessive wooing, folk-lore admonishes him thus

"Follow love and it will flee;

Flee love, and it will follow thee."

Indeed satirists have long since told us, in most countries, the folly of believing in a woman's

expression of love, as "the last suitor wins the maid "an adage which has also been expressed in this proverbial couplet

"The love of a woman and a bottle of wine,
Are sweet for a season and last for a time."

and it has been suggested that it was owing to woman's fickleness that the saying originated, Happy is the wooing that is not long in doing -the prudent man thereby not giving her the opportunity of changing her mind.

But fickle and unstable as a woman's love probably may be, there is no gainsaying its power, and in China it is said of a woman who captivates a man, "With one smile she overthrows a city; with another a kingdom." According to the popular tradition this proverb originated in the following circumstance :-A certain lady named Hsi-Shih, the concubine of Fu Cha, King of the ancient State of Wu. She was eminently beautiful, and her beauty so captivated her lord that for her sake he neglected the affairs of his kingdom, which in consequence fell into disorder and ruin.

Whatever the value either of a woman's love or beauty, the folk-tales of most countries agree in one respect-the exacting conditions demanded of the suitor, as a price for gaining his heart's desire, although, under a variety of forms, the subjoined couplet is no doubt founded on the experience of womanhood:-

"Lads' love is lassies' delight,

And if lads don't love, lasses will flite [scold]."

And yet, according to a common piece of West African wisdom, "If thou givest thy heart to a woman she will kill thee." Wanting in chivalry, as many such proverbs are, there is one current in China, the truth and wisdom of which most persons will endorse: "Where true love exists between husbands and wives, they're happily joined to the end of their lives."

"Not even the soldiers' fury, raised in war,
The rage of tyrants when defiance stings 'em!
The pride of priests, so bloodless when in. power,
Are half so dreadful as a woman's vengeance."

I1

SAVAGE.

T is generally agreed that a thing to be avoided by man at any cost is a woman's hatred; although, according to Walter Savage Landor, "No friendship is so cordial or so sweet as that of a girl for a girl; no hatred so intense or immovable as that of woman for woman.' And the dislike of one woman for another is mostly attributed to jealousy; for, according to a common French proverb, "It is the men who cause the women to dislike each other."

But, as it has been observed, "The anger of a woman is the greatest evil with which one can threaten enemies, especially as proverbial experience tells us that "A woman is more constant in hate than in love;" a maxim which has additional