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-verses which I would that every young American had engraven on his memory:

"Far be it that I should write thee sin or blame,
Or think thee unbefitting holiest place.
Perpetual fountain of domestic sweets,
Whose bed is undefiled and chaste pronounced,
Present or past, as saints and patriarchs used.
Here love his constant shafts employs, here lights
His constant lamp, and waves his purple wings,
Reigns here and revels; not in the bought smile
Of harlots, loveless, joyless, unendear'd,
Casual fruition; nor in court amours,

Mix'd dance, or wanton mask, or midnight ball,
Or serenate, which the starved lover sings
To his proud fair, best quitted with disdain."

V.

THE WIFE AT HOME.

"For nothing lovelier can be found
In woman, than to study household good,
And good works in her husband to promote."

MILTON.

It has been one of my most serious apprehensions, that in the multitude of our societies and public combinations, men and women might chance to forget that they have any thing to do individually. We have societies to take care of our health, and societies to take care of our kitchens. Almsgiving, so far as practised at all, is practised chiefly by wholesale. Perhaps we may see the day when we shall dine together like the Spartans, and when all cookery and education shall be done upon the large scale.

These thoughts were suggested to my mind with greater force than common, a few days since, upon my making a visit to the house of Mrs. Nelson, the wife of a reputable farmer, a few miles from our village. If I were to attempt a portrait of this excellent lady, I should fill a volume; I can only give an outline. Mrs. Nelson is, in the American as well as the English

sense, a fine woman. Temperance, early rising, industry, and, above all, serene cheerfulness of soul, have left on her cheek at forty those roses which fashion and excitement often blast before fifteen. But what I took my pen to notice was, that truly feminine and Christian trait of my good friend-she is a " keeper at home."* Though I have been a church-going man many years, I do not remember to have heard any one of our clergy enlarge upon this Scripture phrase; and yet the older I grow, the more wisdom there seems to be in it. The best women in the world are those who stay at home; such is the opinion of the best judges, to wit, their husbands. The worst women are those who have no home, or who love all other places better; such is the verdict of those who meet them abroad. A wife at the hearth is as indispensable as a steersman at the wheel. There is scarcely any degree of prudence or firmness which will enable a man to have a wellordered family unless his partner have some of the same qualities. Even the success of out-door business is more dependent upon this than is commonly supposed: agreeably to a vulgar proverb, "He that would thrive, must ask his wife."

In

a house where children or apprentices are to be cared for, this is plainly true. A little procrastination, sloth, or want of thrift in the woman will suffice to make every thing go wrong. Who can

* Titus ii. 5.

count up the cases where poor fellows have been ruined by their wives?

Her

This is a hard saying, but if it were softened it would be less true. Surely it is no disrespect to the better sex to point out those rare exceptions, which, like the dim tarnish on the face of the moon, make the other tracts look all the brighter. After you shall have exaggerated to the utmost the number and the faults of idle, gadding, gossiping women, we shall still have a million of American housewives, brightening a million homes and hearts. Mrs. Nelson is one of them. husband is not the meekest man in the county, nor by nature the most hospitable, but she makes up for all, like the credit side of an account. In the exercise of the passive virtues, she finds her greatest happiness. She holds it to be one of the very first duties of life to render her home delightful, first to her husband, next to her children, and then to all who may enter her hospitable doors. Early in life, she observed that several of her husband's intimate acquaintances were becoming irregular in their habits; she talked it over with Nelson. He, being a rough man, declared it to be his intention to break off all connexion with Lang and Shepherd on the spot. "O, no, husband!" said she; "that would be cruel: remember the proverb, a soft word breaketh the bone.' Let me alone to bring them to their bearings; at any rate give me a month for an experiment." "You!" he exclaimed, in astonishment; "Mary,

you amaze me; surely you will not follow them to the bar-room, as Jemima Murphy does her goodman ?" "Perhaps not," said his wife, laughing; "but we women have some secrets left still. Wait but a month."

The month rolled round. It was with difficulty that Nelson kept himself from falling upon the two men violently, but he waited to see the issue, and even kept out of their way, that the incantation might not be interrupted. At the close of three weeks, Lang and Shepherd were two of the most quiet, orderly, and domestic men in the neighbourhood. Why, Mary," said Nelson, "what have you been doing to them?" "I! husband! I have not exchanged words with them for weeks."

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"Then you have had some witchcraft at work." "None in the world," she replied; "the story is soon related. I had observed for a long time that their homes were growing dismal: and I often told Mrs. Lang what I feared concerning her husband. Indeed, I had heard you tell of Lang's repeating over his glass that abominable saying, 'the devil's at home.' After talk with you my I set to work, not on the husbands, but their wives. Simple creatures! they scarcely knew what I meant. They wished indeed that the men would spend more time at home, and even wept about their late hours and beer-drinking. But they were not prepared for my telling them that they must redouble the attractions of their own fireside-make the cheer better

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