Life and Literature Part 94

1301

Blessed their life whose marriage prospers well, But if things fall out ill, no happiness Awaits them, within doors or without,--so beware!

--_Unknown._

1302

THE MARRIAGE VOW.

Speak it not lightly; 'tis a holy thing-- A bond, enduring thro' long distant years, Life will not prove all suns.h.i.+ne; there will come Dark hours for all; oh! will ye, when the night Of sorrow gathers thickly round your home, Love as ye did in days when smooth and bright Seemed the sure path ye trod, untouched by care, And deemed the future, like the present, fair?

Age, with its silvery locks, will come stealing on, And bring the tottering step, the furrow'd cheek, The eye, from whence each l.u.s.trous gleam hath gone; And the pale lip, with accents low and weak; Will ye then think upon your youth's gay prime, And, smiling, bid love triumph over time?

Speak it not lightly; oh! beware! beware!

'Tis no vain promise, no unmeaning word; Before G.o.d's altar, now ye both do swear, And by the High and Holy One 'tis heard!

Be faithful to each other till life's close; Seek peace below, and you'll get Heaven's repose.

1303

Let him who weds, wed character, not money.

1304

A girl should look happy because she is not married; a wife because she is.

1305

_A Gentleman, but a Fool._--Chief Justice Marshall once found himself suddenly brought to a halt by a small tree which intervened between the front wheel and the body of his buggy. Seeing a servant at a short distance, he asked him to bring an axe and cut down the tree. The servant--a colored man--told the judge that there was no occasion for cutting down the tree, but just to back the buggy. Pleased at the good sense of the fellow, Judge Marshall told him that he would leave him something at the inn hard by, where he intended to stop, having then no small change. In due time the man applied, and a dollar was handed him.

Being asked if he knew who it was that gave him the dollar, he replied: "No, sir: I concluded he was a gentleman by his leaving the money, but I think he is the biggest fool I ever saw."

1306

If thou art a master, be sometimes blind, and sometimes deaf.

--_Fuller._

1307

Let no man be the servant of another who can be his own master.

1308

Our master is our--enemy.

--_From Amiel's Journal._

Applicable to those who have formed a useless habit.

1309

_Matrimony._--He hath tied a knot with his tongue that he cannot untie with all his teeth.

1310

_Numbers, x.x.xvi. 6_,--"Let them marry to whom they think best; only to the family of the tribe of their fathers shall they marry."

Mr. John Martin used to give two advices, both to his children and others, in reference to marriages. One was, "Keep within the bounds of your profession." The other was, "Look at suitableness in age, quality, education, temper, etc." He used to observe, from Genesis, ii, 18, "I will make him a help-meet for him;" that there is not meetness, there will not be much help. He commonly said to his children, with reference to their choice in marriage, "Please G.o.d, and please yourselves, and you shall never displease me;" and greatly blamed those parents who conclude matches for their children without their consent. He sometimes mentioned the saying of a pious gentlewoman, who had many daughters.--"The care of most people is how to get good husbands for their daughters; but my care is to fit my daughters to be good wives, and then let G.o.d provide for them."

1311

MATRIMONY.

The sum of all that makes a just man happy Consists in the well-choosing of his wife: And there, well to discharge it, does require Equality of years, of birth, of fortune; For beauty being poor, and not cried up By birth or wealth, can truly mix with neither.

And wealth, when there's such difference in years, And fair descent, must make the yoke uneasy.

--_Ma.s.singer._

1312

MATRIMONY.

1. That man must lead a happy life 2. Who is directed by a wife; 3. Who's free from matrimonial chains 4. Is sure to suffer for his pains.

5. Adam could find no solid peace 6. Till he beheld a woman's face; 7. When Eve was given for a mate, 8. Adam was in a happy state.

Epigram: Read alternate lines,--1,3; 2,4; 5,7; 6,8.

--_Cowper._

1313

FROM A WORK ENt.i.tLED "SKETCHES OF PERSIA."

The following admirable lines were inscribed upon a golden crown having five sides, which was found in the tomb of Noosherwan.