will
act. If you are a devil they will scarcely be angels. Children are
keen observers. An old proverb says that a father is a looking-glass
by which children dress themselves. See to it, fathers, that the glass
be clean, so that your children's morals may be pure.

A little more memory on the part of the husband will prove a powerful
remedy for the eradication of unhappy marriages and for the lessening
of divorces. She is the same woman after marriage that she was during
the days of your courtship, and a good deal better. Why so forgetful
of all the sacred vows and solemn pledges which you plighted then? Why
so constant then and so inconstant now? Why so affable and faithful
and loving and attentive then, and why so inattentive and bitter and
sullen and neglectful now? Why such a profuseness then in your
courtesies and smiles and flowers and gifts and kisses, and why such a
lack of them now? Is it because of wrinkles? Is it because of her
faded beauty? She has lost it in your service. She has come honestly
by her wrinkles. She got them in the sick-bed, in the kitchen, in the
nursery, by the bed of your sick children, by the grave of your child,
by painful night-watches and overtaxing day toils, by your harsh words,
and by your heartless treatment. This is all she has in return for her
beauty and youth and cheerful mind and happy disposition, which she
laid at your feet when you asked her to join her destiny with yours. A
little courtesy, a kind attention, a bouquet of flowers, a small token,
a word of appreciation and of encouragement is not much to you, but it
is a world to your wife. Your smile is all the reward she craves. Her
heart thirsts for it, and when given, its effect upon her soul is as
the refreshing dew upon the withered grass. It is a mistake to believe
that she can draw in her married life on your love-deposits during
courtship. If love is to prosper, the supply must be ever fresh. The
love of the past will never satisfy the need of the present. Love
constantly and carefully cultivated will increase its blessings as
fruit trees double their bearing under the hand of the gardener. It
will be killed, as will the fruit tree, if the gardener's hand grows
neglectful and noxious influences are permitted to impede its growth.
Let your wife be your helpmate and not your housekeeper. She shares
your sorrows, your defeats, let her also share your thoughts and plans.
Unbosom your thoughts t