Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1845-11-20
CHOOSING A WIFE.
BY GRANT THoRBURN.

BY GRANT IEVhbOhN'
In choosing wife, let her be of family
not vain of their name or connexions, but
remarkable for their simplicity OF manners
and integrity of life Let her be alike free
from deformity and hereditary disease; mel
Their fix your eyes on celebrated beauty
she is apt to be too proud Of her pretty face
and afraid to soil her delicate hands. The
woman who washes her own silver spoons,
China cups and platters, and performs other
light services in the family, is always the
most healthy, the most happy and the most
COMMUNICATION thus she gains the approba-
ton of her husband and of her own conscl-
ence. The woman who leaves her family
four or five hours every day, running from
shop to shop, and making calls, is always
unhappy; for conscience says-you have
been sowing the wind, you shall reap the
whirlwind. Beauty is very desirable In
gredient in choosing a wife; you will be
proud of your handsome wife when you in
troduce her to friend; but by all means
find out if you can, whether or not she is
cain of her beauty. fyou find she is daily
washing her already pretty face with milk
of roses, and patent cosmetlcs-that she IS
daily pouring water and Macassar oil on
her already glossy hair-if this is the case,
it is rather an alarming symptom. A hand
some woman never looks SO we'll as when
she don't know it.
Good nature is another necessary virtue
in wife. This, though, is not so essential,
as man must be consummate blocE-head
if he cannot lead (not drive a woman by
fair words. A good manager is another in
dispensable qualification. After marriage, if
a woman does not pique herself on her
knowledge of family affairs, and laying out
money to the best advantage, let her be ever
so sweet tempered, gracefully made or ele-
gantly accomplished, she is no wife for a
man of business. When people are harness
ed in the yoke matrimonial, they must draw
together. Its mans duty to give to his
wife; its the wife's duty to use it with the
most scrupulous economy.
Having now resolved to get married, do
not distinguish your wedding day with too
much ostentation, nor suferit to pass with
out proper acknowledgements. Let it wear
SOOer Stnle3 SuCn as WOulu UeCOtle y OuI
partner and you for life; not to be convuls-
ed with riotous laughter, that leaves tears
in the eyes, and heaviness at the heart as
soon as the fit is over. Moderation in all
things is the very essence Of life; neither
fly to the mountain nor linger about the
springs; the money thus foolishly spent
would pay for all the coal you would burn
next winter; proceed in the usual and easy
tenor of your way, prosecuting your regu-
lar business with all the sober realities on
your back, for remember that the harvest
lasts not all the year. Continue to treat
your wife with the same cheerlulness on
your brow, the same tenderness in your
eyes, the same obliging turn in your beha-
viour with which you were wont to treat
her in the days of courtship; if you do this
her love will never change. Above all
things, never let her imagine it penance
for you to stay at home or that you prefer
any company whatever to hers; let her share
with you in all your pleasures. By these
and similar acts of kindness, you will Sc
cure her love and gratitude at once, and she
will say she is the haPpiest woman upon
earth.