eye be bright when thou lookest on her.
Let the law. of kindness be on thy lips
when thou speakest to her and of her.
Let her feel that thou confidest fully in
her at all times ; in short, let her feel that
she is respected, as well as loved by her j
husband. It is not enough that you do
not treat her with harshness. A fond
wife’s heart may be withered, and its eve- 1
ry bud of promise blighted, without one
angry word. Let her out see and feel
that her husband’s confidence and sym
pathy are withheld from her, and the deed
is done. And for this the clouded brow
and the sealed lip may be entirely suffi
cient. A woman’s heart may be petrified
by coldness, as well as broken by harsh
ness. Your wife is identified with you in
interest, therefore consultJwith her in all
matters affecting your mutual welfare. It :
will have a good effect, whether the ad
vice be implicitly followed or not; but in
most cases husbands would find their in*
terest promoted by following the advice
of a prudent helpmate. And should mis
fortune threaten you, and bankruptcy
knock at your door, don’t conceal it from
her who is, above all others, interested in
knowing it. Tell her at once, freely and
frankly, the whole matter, and it shall be
better for thee in all respects. I once
knew a gentleman, a merchant, who had
been for some time prosperous in business,
and his family of course were living in
comfort; but suddenly clouds gathered
around him ; he saw that he was ruined ;
but he concealed it from his wife. She
saw, however, the change of countenance,
and strove, with affectionate solicitude, to
elicit from him the character and cause of
his griefs, and at length succeeded. He
said, I am ruined, and the only thing that
troubles me is, that you are to be reduced
to want, and I am, to a great extent, phy
sically unable to labour for your support;
and this has made me .perfectly miserable.
And what said this excellent woman ?
“ And is, that all, ray husband, that has
been troubling you ? Don’t let that trou
ble you for another moment, I am in good
health, and can work to support us both ;
let the property go, God will provide for
us.” Now, here was' a wife worth hav
ing. But once more, treat your wife with
special regard before your children.
^ I have known some intelligent and re
spectablt tneii whos.eemed to jnc to take
special pains to mortify their wives by
finding fault with almost all their doings.
If at table, even when visitors were pre
sent, nothing on the table was exactly
right; the dishes were not well selected*
or they were not well dressed ; nothing
was as well prepared as he had found it
at somebody else’s house; or something
was wrong, either in meat or bread, or ve
getable, or pudding, or sauce. Now,
whether such gentlemen intend to exhibit
their own superior skill in cookery, or to
lecture their wives for inferior taste and
skill in this very important department,
we beg leave to suggest to them that it is
rather offensive boih to the visitors and to
the lady of the house, especially when it
happens (as 1 have sometimes known it,)
that the children unite in depreciating the
house-keeping qualifications of the mo
ther. Finally, remember that your wife
is a fallen and imperfect creature, subject
to many weaknesses in common with
yourself, and to some, perhaps, which are
peculiar to her sex; you will therefore
have need to understand well and practise
on the maxim bear and forbear. To con
clude on this point; you are to love your
wife as Christ loved the church. IIow
was that? He gave himself for it, his
life, his blood. So do you love your
wife.
And now for a little advice to wives.
The Apostle says, “ wives, submit your
selves to your husbands.” He takes for
granted that you love your husbands, and
proceeds to enforce that duty which you
might be most inclined to neglect. There
are some wives who seem to me to act
very unwisely in this matter. They are
all the while quarrelling with the Apostle
for giving them this advice. They main
tain that obedience is just a£ much the bu
siness of husbands as it is of wives ; and
their practice shows the sincerity of their
faith, since they are constantly struggling
for empire. They must needs bear rule
in every thing. There must be neither
buying nor selling without their approba
tion; and it is matter of special importance
with them to thwart their husbands in
matters where the public eye can discern
who rules. This class of wives are gen
erally fojid of displaying their superiority
in intellect, taste, ind judgment, over those
who are by God’s^ppointment constituted