What follows is a charming essay, written by the Rev. James Bean, outlining the ingredients for marital happiness. Outwardly, marriage has changed since Mr. Bean first published his work in 1829. A new egalitarianism has replaced the rigid roles that prevailed in his era, when men were breadwinners and wives were subservient homemakers. But Bean's hints for marital success also reveal how little has changed and how constant the daily demands of marriage remain. It is a union constituted with a view not merely to the reciprocal benefit of the two persons who agree to form it, but likewise to the manners and the happiness of society at large.
Smaller communities are the nurseries of larger ones.
It can not thrive under indifference. And he urges them to treat in-laws and relatives kindly. Seek the improvement of your temper at any price. Above all, he stresses the value of religion in marriage. No one today knows whether the19th-century newlyweds, Maggie and Joseph, read Bean's book and forged a happy union.