Alexandria daily gazette, commercial & political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1808-1812, 1809-08-26
A SERMON.

:" " hos0 fndsth a Wife fndsth a go0d
thing"
So said Solomon, the prince of gallantry !;
and Solomon ought to know. The soft
moments spent by the Jewish Monarch IN
coniugal endearments and sweetest DALI
ance with tie enchanting fair, bore testlmo-
ny. no doubt, to the tra,h of his assertion !;
and, when surrounded by his numerous
wives he had good right TO conclude, that
he was in possession not only OF one good
thing, but of three hund, cd
I ne age of poliSamy is happily past; and
on the threshold Of domestic felicity, rem
dyred douby pleasing by the fascinating
smile of those we love, have the deep drawn
pseiudices and superb ial maxims, OF bar
bnous oriental nations been sacrificed, and
the shrine OF exclusive individual affection,
erected on the ruins of divided friendship.
For myself, have no hesitation in declar-
ing that, in my opinion, one wife, particu-
larly modern one, is amply sufficient tor
one husband or in otker words, one y0od
thing at time is enough to answer ali the
purposes. of human life.
In discussing my subject, I shall divide IL
into two general heads, and proceed, by way
ofenquiry, to ascrrtain-First, what is q
wife Secondly, in what sense she can be
considered good thing ? And lastly, shall
wind up the interesting subject, by bflei
Improvement of the whole.
First-What is awiie (! And here, to
... ~ a.,;Ie cF !, ceoc nrious and ,na}jp
nant world, it may be necessary Tor tn
preacher, TO hint truth, which the MD
night curtain-lectuie of many hopeless be
nedict, if they could be obtained, would con
firm, beyond the possibility of doubt, viz
that wives, as well as other subunary things,
very naturally divide themselves into two
permanent classes the good and the bad !;
or the fruitful and the unfruitfll. But as
Solomon meant TO include only the better
class, / shall take it for granted there was
slight omission in my text, and presume that
the idea which he intended TO communicate
was, that a good WIFE was a good thing III
family, and treat the matter accordingly.
a good wife is a being selected by be-
nign Providence, TO scatter the roses of con-
tentment and strew the dark and serpentine
paths of life with the choicest, the most
fadeless flowers and is truely the {" last,
bestgift of God to man." Formed to charm,
to allure and fascinate the whole soul fan
afectionate husband, she can, at any time,
transfase portion of her own spirit into his,
and by the powerful magic OF a smile change
in moment the bitter draughts of his ex-
istence, to streams of the most delicious nee
tar. tits selfish race, unkind and does
the tickle goodies, Fortune, frown disdain-
fully on his wretched prospects He re-
tires serenely from the empty hustle of man
kind, and fondly pillowing his aching head
on her snowy bosom, he applies his fervid
lips to hers, generously glowing with hope
and love, and drinks a long oblivion to his
wrongs and injuries. This brings me to my
second proposition, vix.-In what sense she
can be considered good thing
have already, IN some measure, antici-
pated AN answer to this question, in the pre-.
ceding section of my sermon, because the
two points were very nearly, not to say in,
separately, connected together.
A good WIFE may be considered goo1
thing; nay, the very best of things, wher
she fills up the measure of her domestic du
ties, and presides with pleasure over the