to bear, with all the cheerfulness and pleasure imaginable, in bringing up the children that are the delight of his eyes, and the strength of his old age he that considers this, I say, instead of taking pleasure in opposing and insulting the wife of his bosom, will find himself bound in gratitude, and by the mutual pledges of their love, to nourish and cherish her, even as his own flesh." And should his companion first be called away by death, how much would the desolate husband be consoled for her loss, could she address him, during her last moments, in the language of the dying “Vaudois Wife"

"And when this heart hath ceased to beat-O! think,

And let it mitigate thy wo's excess,

That thou hast been to me all tenderness,

And friend to more than human friendship just.

O! by that retrospect of happiness,

And by the hopes of an immortal trust,

God shall assuage thy pangs-when I am laid in dust." The following "Rules for Husbands" are taken from a late work, by a well-known writer.*

"I. Always regard your wife as your equal; treat her with kindness, respect, and attention; and never address her with the appearance of an air of authority, as if she were, as some misguided husbands appear to regard their wives, a mere housekeeper.

"II. Always keep her properly supplied with money for furnishing your table in a style proportioned to your means, and for the purchase of dress,

* Matthew Carey.

and whatever other articles she may require, suitable to her station in life.

"III. Cheerfully and promptly comply with all her reasonable requests; and, as far as practicable, anticipate them. Whatever you accord to her wishes, let it be done promptly and cheerfully, so as to enhance the merit of the matter by the

manner.

"IV. Never be so unjust as to lose your temper towards her, in consequence of indifferent cookery, or irregularity in the hours of meals, or any other mismanagement of her domestics; knowing the difficulty of making many of them do their duty.

"V. Never, on any account, chide or rebuke your wife in company, should she make any mistake in history, geography, or grammar, or indeed on any other subject. There are, I am persuaded, many wives of such keen feelings and high spirit, (and such wives deserve to be treated with the utmost delicacy,) that they would rather receive a severe and bitter scolding in private, than a comparatively mild rebuke in company, calculated to display their ignorance or folly, or to impair them in their own opinion, or in that of others."

I know of no place more appropriate, to insert a few remarks by the late Mr. Cobbett, in respect to the disposal of property by the husband at death. "I cannot refrain from offering my opin ion with regard to what is due from husband to wife, when the disposal of his property comes to

be thought of. When marriage is an affair set tled by deeds, contracts, and lawyers, the husband, being bound before hand, has really no will to make. But where he has a will to make, and a faithful wife to leave behind him, it is his first duty to provide for her future well-being, to the utmost of his power. Some men think, or act as if they thought, that if a wife bring no money, and if the husband gain money by his business or profession, that money is his and not hers, because she has not been doing any of those things for which the money has been received. But is this way of thinking just? By the marriage vow, the husband endows the wife with all his worldly goods. But does she not help to acquire the money? Speaking, for instance, of the farmer or merchant, the wife does not, indeed, go to plough, or to look after the ploughing or sowing; she does not purchase or sell the stock; she does not go to the fair or the market; but she enables him to do all these without injury to his affairs at home; she is the guardian of his property; she preserves what would otherwise be lost to him. The barn and the granary, though they create nothing, have, in the bringing of food to our mouths, as much merit as the fields themselves. The wife does not, indeed, assist in the merchant's counting-house, she does not go upon the exchange; she does not even know what he is doing-but she keeps his house in order; she rears up his children, she provides a scene of suitable resort for his friends; she ensures him a

constant retreat from the fatigues of his affairs; she makes his home pleasant, and she is the guardian of his income. In both these cases, the wife helps to gain the money, and in cases where there is no gain, where the income is by descent, or is fixed, she helps to prevent it from being squandered away. It is, therefore, as much hers as it is the husband's; and though the law gives him, in many cases, the power of keeping her share from her, no just man will ever avail himself of that power. With regard to the tying up of widows from marrying again, I will relate what took place in a case of this kind in America. A merchant, who had during his married state risen from poverty to very great riches, and who had, nevertheless, died at about forty years of age, left the whole of his property to his wife for her life, and at her disposal at her death, provided that she did not marry. The consequence was, that she took a husband without marrying, and at her death, (she having no children,) gave the whole of the property to the second husband! So much for posthumous jealousy! Where there are children, indeed, it is the duty of the husband to provide, in certain cases, against step-fathers, who are very prone not to be the most just and affectionate parents. It is an unhappy circumstance, when a dying father is com pelled to have fears of this sort.”

CHAPTER IV.

SEEKING ADVICE OF THE WIFE.

"Oft as clouds my paths o'erspread,
Doubtful where my steps should tread,
She, with judgment's steady ray,

Marks and smooths the better way."

SOME husbands, it would seem, deem it quite beneath them, quite derogatory to their character and dignity, to ask a wife's advice, in any business affair. "Must I apply to a woman,” they exclaim, "to learn how to manage my affairs? Ridiculous!" Not so ridiculous as your assumed superiority over one, who, I have no doubt, is endowed by nature with as great an amount of good sense as yourself, and who, instead of meriting your sneering remark, is deserving of your honor and respect. There are men who go on from year to year, in their business, without even dreaming of the propriety of resorting occasionally to their wives for advice. "I have known some husbands who made it a point to tell their wives nothing at all about their own concerns, except occasionally, as a mere matter of favor!-or a tribute to their own praise. If they get a good bargain, which often means about the same thing as to defraud some