"How sweet it were, if without feeble fright At evening in our room, and bend on ours His divine eyes, and bring us from his bowers A child, a friend, a wife whose soft heart sings Milton tells us that a good wife is "Heaven's last, best gift to man." If she is in the highest sense good, she is virtuous, pure in thought and feeling, generous in temper, forgiving in disposition, patient, spirited, industrious, cultivated and refined. She has ability to govern her household with gentle resolution, and rightly to comprehend the situation of her husband's affairs. Solomon described such a one in his day when he suggested that the value of a virtuous woman is far above rubies. "The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life. She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms. She stretcheth out her hand to the poor. She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet. She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple. Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land. She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness." For the ladies we find equally good advice about marrying. With women, as with men, deliberation is sensible. Those that marry in haste not infrequently repent at leisure. In these days when, by taking care of health and seeking a measure of business qualification, women can easily earn their own living, it is not necessary for them to marry simply for a home and sustenance. Before allowing themselves to be courted, they should first decide |