d
domestic influence. Man is strong, but his heart is not adamant. He
delights in enterprise and action; but to sustain him he needs a
tranquil mind, and a whole heart. He needs his moral force in the
conflicts of the world. To recover his equanimity and composure, home
must be to him a place of repose, of peace, of cheerfulness, of
comfort; and his soul renews its strength again, and goes forth with
fresh vigour to encounter the labour and troubles of life. But if at
home he find no rest, and is there met with bad temper, sullenness, or
gloom, or is assailed by discontent or complaint, hope vanishes, and
he sinks into despair.

2189. Husband and Wife.

Being hints to each other for the good of both, as actually delivered
at our own table:

2190. Hints for Wives (1).

If your husband occasionally looks a little troubled when he comes
home, do not say to him, with an alarmed countenance, "What ails you,
my dear?" Don't bother him; he will tell you of his own accord, if
need be. Be observant and quiet. Let him alone until he is inclined
to talk; take up your book or your needlework pleasantly and
cheerfully; and wait until he is inclined to be sociable. Don't let
him ever find a shirt-button missing. A shirt-button being off a
collar or wrist-band has frequently produced the first impatient word
in married Life.

2191. Hints for Husbands (1).

If your wife complain that young ladies of the present day are very
forward, don't accuse her of jealousy. A little concern on her part
only proves her love for you, and you may enjoy your triumph without
saying a word. Don't evince your weakness either, by complaining of
every trifling neglect. What though her knitting and crochet seem to
absorb too large a share of her attention; depend upon it, that as her
eyes watch the intertwinings of the threads, and the manoeuvres of the
needles, she is thinking of the events of byegone times, which
entangled your two hearts in the network of love, whose meshes you can
neither of you unravel or escape.

2192. Hints for Wives (2).

Never complain that your husband pores too much over the newspaper, to
the exclusion of that pleasing converse which you formerly enjoyed
with him. Don't hide the paper, but when the boy leaves it at the
door, take it in pleasantly, and lay it down before him. Think what
man would be without a newspaper, and how much good ne