w near home
'Tis sweet to know there is an eye will mark
Our coming, and look brighter when we come.
BYRON, DON JUAN

1. Marriage is the natural state of man and woman. Matrimony greatly
contributes to the wealth and health of man.

2. Circumstances may compel a man not to select a companion until late
in life. Many may have parents or relatives, dependent brothers and
sisters to care for, yet family ties are cultivated; notwithstanding
the home is without a wife.

3. In Christian countries the laws of marriage have greatly added to
the health of man. Marriage in barbarous countries, where little or no
marriage ceremonies are required, benefits man but little. There
can be no true domestic blessedness without loyalty and love for the
select and married companion. All the licentiousness and lust of a
libertine, whether civilized or uncivilized, bring him only unrest and
premature decay.

4. A man, however, may be married and not mated, and consequently reap
trouble and unhappiness. A young couple should first carefully
learn each other by making the courtship a matter of business, and
sufficiently long that the disposition and temper of each may be
thoroughly exposed and understood.

5. First see that there is love; secondly, that there is adaptation;
thirdly, see that there are no physical defects, and if these
conditions are properly considered, cupid will go with you.

6. The happiest place on all earth is home. A loving wife and lovely
children are jewels without price, as Payne says:

"'Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam.
Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home."

7. Reciprocated love produces a general exhilaration of the system.
The elasticity of the muscles is increased, the circulation is
quickened, and every bodily function is stimulated to renewed activity
by a happy marriage.

8. The consummation desired by all who experience this affection, is
the union of souls in a true marriage. Whatever of beauty or
romance there may have been in the lover's dream, is enhanced and
spiritualized in the intimate communion of married life. The crown of
wifehood and maternity is purer, more divine than that of the maiden.
Passion is lost--emotions predominate.

9. TOO EARLY MARRIAGES.--Too early marriage is always bad for the
female. If a young girl marries, her system is weakened and a full
development of her body is prevented, and the dangers of confinement
are considerably inc