another. Having little to diversify thought, they find themselves uneasy when they are apart, and therefore conclude that they shall be happy together. They marry, and discover what nothing but voluntary blindness had before concealed. They wear out life with altercations, and charge nature with cruelty."

Many, deliberately and intentionally, base their choice upon the lowest motives. Men marry for beauty or wealth, or both; and women for wealth; and so-called position. These offend no human law; but, in the eye of Heaven, there can, in such cases, be no true marriage. No purely material bond can truly unite beings who have souls as well as bodies. The folly of marrying for beauty might be best illustrated by a man who should vest his all in a perishing flower; marrying for money, by him who makes an image of precious metal, which, though it has eyes, sees not; and ears, hears not; and then bows down before it, and fancies he can receive from it that for which humanity cries out to the Infinite. Women who marry for position, may "gain the whole fashionable world," but they will surely lose their own souls, which must be fed with something else than glare and glitter. And what is this coveted "position," in the artificial world of shams? To have it, is to be at the head of an expensive establishment, to have an immense visiting circle, to give large en

tertainments, which shall be "honored" with the presence of the "haut ton." In our country, whoever has money enough, whether refined or vulgar, learned or unlearned, can attain to all this; therefore, it is hardly a distinction to be coveted, even if it were worth more in itself.

When this "position" is unquestioned, and commands all that can possibly be yielded to it, it gives very little satisfaction-because it answers to the wants of a very small part, and that the lowest, of our nature. When it is a little doubtful, or not fully acknowledged, its rights are granted upon such debasing terms, as must either bring with them a sense of deep humiliation, or rouse all manner of evil passions. This is man's world. In God's world the badges of distinction are very different, and worth is measured by other scales. The same niece who found it so easy to obey the golden rule, said something on another occasion that delighted and impressed me much. She announced the engagement of a young lady, her friend. After some questions in reply, about the young man whom she was to marry, it was asked, "But is he worth anything, Louise?" "Oh yes, I believe he is a very good young man, indeed."

“But, I mean has he any money?"

"Oh, Auntie !" was the reply, in a tone betokening great wonder and reproach that such a question could be asked.

The only position worth seeking, is that created by high attainments in character, in knowledge, in goodness. These constitute man's true nobility; that which husbands and wives should be able to help each other to attain. They must each bring to the other something for the common stock, and both do their best to increase it. It has been more pithily than daintily said, that one great impediment to the progress of the world consists in unfit marriages, and that people marry together who are no more fit for each other than "hell for a powderhouse." Alas! that the house should ever be a powder-house" instead of the green bower of content, which it may and should be made.

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There are very few cases, probably, even when marriage is entered into, in the right spirit, from right motives, when it is not to a certain degree an experiment of doubtful issue, so far as happiness is concerned. The relation between lovers is very different from that which unites husbands and wives, and to a certain degree, is a poor preparation for it. The one bears the same relation to the other, as the easy, graceful prelude to the long, complicated, difficult composition that follows it; as the holiday to a working day, as a quiet sail on some lovely stream, at dawn or sunset, when the heavens, as well as the inward world, are" couleur de rosc," to a long and exposed voyage over a stormy sea. But it is only the intricate composi

tion, the working day, the difficult voyage, that worthily tax and develope the faculties they are respectively to exercise. Two young hearts are put in perfect tune by Love's skilful hand, and nothing probably occurs to disturb their harmony. Afterwards, in Life's jarring conflict, discords are almost inevitably caused, and unless the tuning is repeated, these musical hearts may become "like sweet bells jangled." It is said that the reason why lovers are so happy, is because love, then, is perfectly unselfish. It has all that it asks for, and gives without effort all that is demanded of it. But this cannot always be so. When the relation becomes of a more intimate nature, collisions of feeling, of tastes, and inclinations must perpetually occur; for there are no two human beings that agree perfectly in all these; and it seems moreover to be one of God's arrangements that people attract each other most, who are most unlike; and therefore this diversity is particularly striking, often, in the married.

Then comes the necessity for mutual sacrifices. These are probably harder, at first, for the wife, because her lover was her worshipper, and "to receive" only, is the part of the idol. From this dream the sooner she wakes the better. If the altar remain, she must herself supply the frankincense and the myrrh.

If both parties have generous minds, each will

feel pleasure in sacrificing to the other. They will find instinctively the proper meeting line of mutual accommodation, and be all the happier for paying regard to it.

If one party be selfish and the other generous, one will claim everything and the other be apt to yield everything; which last, however, it is never entirely wise or right to do, because then the selfishness of the one is confirmed and increased, and the just rights of the other are withheld. Justice is a noble attribute, and in its exercise we should embrace ourselves as well as others. If both parties are selfish, they must draw at opposite ends of the rope for the waters of life.

I think it has been affirmed more than once, that the first year of marriage is the most important of all, and decides the character of all that follow. I dare say this is very nearly true, and often perilous consequences result from causes in themselves trivial. A scratch in a stick of timber may lead to its splitting asunder, and a word rashly spoken, and unretracted, may have in it the voice of doom.

As soon as you find out what your husband's faults of temper are, take care not to give them exercise, not to touch him in a tender point. If he gives you an undeserved reproof, take it patiently; "answer not again," but wait until the mood has passed by before you tell him how much he