wrestling with domestic problems, and either dreads the
sudden departure of his cook-housekeeper or trembles under her
tyrannical sway. He finally takes a lady who cannot give him a month's
notice, nor leave his roof by stealth without unpleasant consequences
to herself. When he thus primarily marries for a housekeeper who will
promote his own comfort, he should be satisfied if she shows the
needful domestic efficiency. He sometimes finds that the one who was
intended to be little more than a dependant turns out to be his
mistress. There are plenty of level-headed women who have done with
romance, and who are perfectly willing to take up the position of wife
to a man who honestly states that he requires a companion to {120} help
his digestion by conversing at meals, to manage his house, entertain
his guests, and darn his socks. When such a couple meet together let
them show mutual respect for each other's motives, and invest the
arrangement with comfort and dignity in the absence of tenderer
emotions.

Concluding Remarks.

However short a marriage may fall of the high ideal standpoint, there
should never be recrimination in public between man and wife, nor the
utterance of taunts as to the avarice, expediency, or cowardice that
may have influenced either side in the presence of a third person. Few
attain to the highest happiness of which we are capable in this state:
few, perhaps, make the most of what they have; yet it is very rare to
find a married woman who honestly wishes herself single, and that is a
powerful argument in favour of an institution which seems to give the
weaker sex her full share of the burden. There is much soul-disquieting
discussion nowadays on the relative positions of the sexes. The following
lines express that which surely might make marriage a very heaven on
earth:--

"This is Woman's need;
To be a beacon when the air is dense,
A bower of peace, a lifelong recompense--
This is the sum of Woman's worldly creed.

And what is Man the while? And what his will?
And what the furtherance of his worldly hope?
To turn to Faith, to turn, as to a rope
A drowning sailor; all his blood to spill
For One he loves, to keep her out of ill--
This is the will of Man, and this his scope."

{121}

INDEX

Courtship and Marriage, Etiquette of--
Acting as a host during, 28
Amateur acting and, 17
Artistic fellowship in, 16
Athletic comradeship i