You would think me a very daring and hazardous adventurer if I should
go down to one of the piers on the North River, and at a time when
there was a great lack of ship captains, and I should, with no
knowledge of navigation, propose to take a steamer across to Glasgow
or Havre, and say: "All aboard! Haul in the planks and swing out,"
and, passing out into the sea, plunge through darkness and storm. If I
succeeded in getting charge of a ship, it would be one that would
never be heard of again. But that is the boldness of every man that
proffers marriage. He says: "I will navigate you through the storms,
the cyclones, the fogs of a lifetime. I will run clear of rocks and
icebergs. I have no experience and I have no seaport, but all aboard
for the voyage of a lifetime! I admit that there have been ten
thousand shipwrecks on this very route, but don't hesitate! Tut! Tut!
There now! Don't cry! Brides must not cry at the wedding."