Milford chronicle., 1925-09-04
THE SECRET OF BEING HAPPILY
MARRIED
By Irving Bacheller

The love between a man and a
woman is like a plant. 1t must grow
or die. It can not stand still. Moth
ing stands still. Ones love either
crows wider and deeper or it grows
less. The first passion is not the real
thing, it is only a phase OF IT,
kind of preparation. That will pass.
If should be the beginning OF that
affection which endures and is pa
tient If it is to grow it must have
tbe bread of friendship and mutual
sacrifice to feed upon. Love is cap
able of miracles, but there is one
miracle which it can not perform: IL
can not fast and grow strong. IL is
like every other thing that has LLe'
It must be fed. When you get a wlte'
don't expect the ravens to teed her
love for you. -
Most men and women could be
inst as happily married as we, II
thew would put into the enterprise
the same sense and honor that is
needed in running a successful pea
nut-stand. You could not succeed
with inferior goods and dlshonest
measurements. You know the nrsC
step in making a hare pie is to eaten
vour hare. The first step toward
making a happy marriage is a de-
cent boy and a decent girl. The
world is full of them. They are not
hard to find. Nobody Of ordinary
common sense can long be fooled IN
choosing a mate. It's as easy to dis
tinguish between a good and a Dad
person as it is to tell a straight
from a crooked stick. The first I'M
portant function of the human intel
lect is to help one in choosing his !
mate and his way. If one is foolish
enough to marry without consulting
his intellect as well as his heart, ne
is almost sure to be unhappy.
Once the well-chosen two are mar
ried the rest is mostly up to- the
man. He is the leader, the captain
the pathfinder. Much depends upon
his honor and courage and good
faith. At the altar he has taken upon
himself the most solemn and bind
ing obligation known to this world
of ours. Before God and man he has
promised to be true to the woman OF
his choice, and leaving all others to
cleave to her. Does he mean 1t? Is
he honest in this great undertaking
as honest as he would be with a
business partner? Will he treat his
wife with as much good faith as ne
gives to Smith and Jones, who are
associated with him in the shop? Are
he laws of God as sacred to him as
he bylaws of his corporation? If so,
here is not one chance in a hundred
hat his marriage will be unhappy
or the wife will be apt to follow in
lis footsteps whichever way they
cad. It is natural that it should be
10. I'll
We should all understand that a
nan who is a traitor to his home,
Who breaks the heart and spirit of
lis wife and brings discredit upon
lis children, is guilty of the gross
st breach of honor of which man
$ capable. I would sooner forgive
i'm who defaults in the counting
DOM. There may be some faint flaw III
r of righteousness in his motive,
nd he Is always hoping to restore III
he sum he steals. In any event he is
OF seriously undermining the foun-
ations of civilized life. III
So many men try to stand on both III
Ides of the fence in this matter-to
e openly straight and secretly
rocked. How sure they are to wreck
leir homes and build up growing
istrust of themselves! For here is
great truth. No man ever fooled iii
Is wife or his community for long MI
to the exact condition of his char III
,ter. It will come out, somehow, in III
hispers that travel like the winds
heaven.-From The Delineator
agazine for September. iii