"That's thirty long years past,
And I can avow,

She was no more a beauty
To me, then, than now!

"For never the scath of a
Petulant frown

Has ploughed with its furrows
Her young roses down.
"And still, like a girl, when
Her praises I speak,
IIer heart fairly blushes
Itself through her cheek.

"For still we are lovers,
As I am alive,
Though I, sir, am fifty,
And she's forty-five!
"And here's half the secret
I mean to unfold:

She don't know, my friend,

Not the least, how to scold!

"Nor does she get pettish,
And sulk to a pout,
So, since we fell in love,
We never fell out!

"And here's the full secret

That saves us from strife:

I kept her a sweetheart,
In making her wife!

"And if you but wed on

My pattern, you'll thrive,
For I, sir, am fifty,

My wife forty-tive!"

II. Do not borrow trouble.-It is about the most foolish investment any one can make. It always brings loss, and never gain. There is never anything to be made of it worth having, and many have learnt to their cost that in going a-borrowing they have gone a-sorrowing. An amusing incident was once given of the experience of one who went out of his way to borrow in this way. He said, on hearing of the failure of a local bank-" As soon as I heard of it my heart jumped right up into my mouth. Now, thinks I,

supposing I have got any bills on that bank? I'm done if I have-that's a fact. So I put on my coat and made for home as fast as my legs could carry me. When I arrived there I looked carefully and found that I hadn't got any bills in that bank-nor any other. Then I felt easier."

There have been thousands of foolish men and women who have, like this man, "imagined" what never existed, and in this way worried and flurried themselves until they actually felt sure "something was going to happen."

Some one has wisely said-"Never vex yourself about what you cannot help." What a world of trouble this would save many wives and husbands if they would only seek to carry it into practice, and if to this they would add one more piece of practice-namely, "Never vex yourself about what others cannot help!" Then they would come very near being free from being vexed at all, especially if they would do all they could never to vex others. What a deal of vexation would cease if this could only be done!

Shakspeare well describes the duty of the wife to the husband when he says::

"Fie! fie! unknit that threat'ning unkind brow,
And dart not scornful glances from those eyes,
To wound thy lord, thy king, thy governor.

It blots thy beauty, as frosts do bite the meads;
Confounds thy fame, as whirlwinds shake fair buds;
And in no sense is meet or amiable.

A woman moved is like a fountain troubled,
Muddy, ill-seeming, thick, bereft of beauty;
And while it is so, none so dry or thirsty
Will deign to sip, or touch one drop of it.
Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,
Thy head, thy sovereign; one that cares for thee,
And for thy maintenance: commits his body
To painful labour, both by sea and land,
To watch the night in storms, the day in cold,
Whilst thou liest warm at home, secure and safe,
And craves no other tribute at thy hands
But love, fair looks, and true obedience;

Too little payment for so great a debt.
Such duty as the subject owes the prince,

"Even such a woman oweth to her husband;
And when she is froward, peevish, sullen, sour,
And not obedient to his honest will,

What is she but a foul contending rebel ?"

A country clergyman once received a curious request from one of his parishioners in the form of the following note:"Rev. Sir,-My wife died yesterday; I wish you would be so good as to bury her this evening, as she has taken a deal of doctor's stuff, and won't keep sweet any longer." This was a noble testimony to her worth if it expressed the truth as to her daily sweetness to him amid his trials and difficulties. How many wives need to cultivate this spirit! It is so much better than that of which one complained when fifteen days after he was married-mind you, only fifteen days-he said to a friend whom he happened to meet, "Why is my wife like a baker who is making a small gooseberry-pie ?" "I don't know," was the reply. "Well," said the unfortunate man, "it's because she is growing a little tart." She must have been like one of whom another unfortunate husband asked a friend, "Why is a woman like a kettle?" "I really don't know," was the answer. Why, when you come to think of it, you will often see that it is because she sings away so pleasantly, then she stops, and, when you least expect it, she boils over."

III. Be prepared to trust one another as you did when you were Lovers.—Every wife must avoid all thoughts of what is too often called "managing him." Never try to deceive or to impose upon him, nor give him any uneasiness, but treat him with love, affection, sincerity, and respect. Never part with him in the morning with an unkind word. He may never return alive; he may be brought home a corpse. Never meet him on his return but with a loving welcome. Remember that at the best he is but a man, subject like yourself to frailty and error. Be not too sanguine that you will have nothing to detract from your joy or happiness. If misfortune overtakes him do not upbraid him nor mur

mur, but divide the burden and seek to make the best of it. Smooth your own temper and try to mend his by attention, good-nature, and cheerfulness. Pass over what you don't like and trust him to the fullest. Be assured that your power and happiness has no other foundation than your

husband's esteem and love, and that it is to your interest to preserve and increase it in every way.

"The true wife takes a sympathy in her husband's pursuits," says Smiles. says Smiles. "She cheers him, encourages him, and helps him. She enjoys his successes and his pleasures, and makes as little as possible over his vexations." This was well illustrated in the experience of the celebrated Faraday, who, in the seventy-second year of his age, after a long and happy marriage, wrote thus to his wife :-"I long to see

you, dearest, and to talk over things together, and call to mind all the kindnesses I have received. My head is full, and my heart also; but my recollection rapidly fails, even as regards the friends that are in the room with me. You will have to resume your old function of being a pillow to my mind, and a rest-a happy-making wife." Yes, if a woman is all she should be as a wife, her husband must place full confidence in her, and notwithstanding in his moments of passion and forgetfulness he may say harsh things, his heart will remain faithful to her, and by degrees he will be led to admire and practise her virtues and cease from his complainings, and say with John Brent—

66

"O what makes woman lovely? Virtue, faith,
And gentleness in suffering-an endurance
Through scorn or trial-these call beauty forth,
Give it the stamp celestial, and admit it

To sisterhood with angels!"

No man has ever yet lived who has not been chastened by woman's love, strengthened by her courage, and guided by her discretion. We are, therefore, quite prepared heartily to endorse the following tribute to her worth:'Only let a woman be sure she is precious to her husband -not useful, not valuable, not convenient simply, but lovely and beloved; let her be the recipient of his polite and hearty attention; let her feel that her cares and love are noticed, appreciated, and returned; let her opinion be asked, her approval sought, and her judgment be respected in matters of which she is cognizant; in short, let her only be loved, honoured and cherished, in the fulfilment of the marriage vow, and she will be to her husband, her children, and society a wellspring of happiness. She will bear pain and toil and anxiety, for her husband's love to her is a tower and a fortress. Shielded and sheltered therein, and adversity will have lost its sting. She may suffer, but sympathy will dull the edge of sorrow. A house with love in it, and by love I mean expressed in words, and look and deeds, for