oved uneasily in his chair.

"We want to live as well as others," said Esther.

"We want to live within our means, Esther," exclaimed George.

"I am sure we can afford it as well as the Morgans, and Millers, and
Thorns; we do not wish to appear mean."

George's cheek crimsoned.

"Mean! I am not mean!" he cried angrily.

"Then we do not wish to appear so," said the wife. "To complete this
room, and make it look like other people's we want a piano and
camphene lamps."

"We want--we want!" muttered the husband, "there's no satisfying
woman's wants, do what you may," and he abruptly left the room.

How many husbands are in a similar dilemma? How many houses and
husbands are rendered uncomfortable by the constant dissatisfaction of
a wife with present comforts and present provisions! How many bright
prospects for business have ended in bankruptcy and ruin in order to
satisfy this secret hankering after fashionable superfluities! Could
the real cause of many failures be known, it would be found to result
from useless expenditures at home--expenses to answer the demands of
fashion and "what will people think?"

"My wife has made my fortune," said a gentleman of great possessions,
"by her thrift, and prudence, and cheerfulness, when I was just
beginning."

"And mine has lost my fortune," answered his companion, "by useless
extravagance and repining when I was doing well."

What a world does this open to the influence which a wife possesses
over the future prosperity of her family! Let the wife know her
influence, and try to use it wisely and well.

Be satisfied to commence on a small scale. It is too common for young
housekeepers to begin where their mothers ended. Buy all that is
necessary to work skilfully with; adorn your house with all that will
render it comfortable. Do not look at richer homes, and covet their
costly furniture. If secret dissatisfaction is ready to spring up, go
a step further and visit the homes of the suffering poor; behold dark,
cheerless apartments, insufficient clothing, and absence of all the
comforts and refinements of social life, and then turn to your own
with a joyful spirit. You will then be prepared to meet your husband
with a grateful heart, and be ready to appreciate the toil of
self-denial which he has endured in the business world to surround you
with the delights of home; and you will be ready to co-operate
cheerfully with him in so arranging your expenses, that his mind wi