HUSBAND AND WIFE

" CELEBACY,HOWEVER GLOOMY AND PAINFUL IT MAY SOMETIMES BE,IS BETTER THAN A BAD MARRIAGE "

He undertakes no light task who ventures to give counsel in a relationship so ancient-- as that of husband and wife.Many might think that the task was not only presumptuous but also superfluous,for who can hope to improve upon the counsel given in Holy Scriptures,and summarized in the Marriage Service of the Common Prayer and other manuals ? There is,however, a field which lies outside the technically religious territory that experience and genial common-sense,free from cynicism,may help to cultivate .In view of the aforesaid, none will dispute the above mentioned dictum.

"In the selection of a wife,tenderness and purity are prime requisites,and no gifts of speculative intellect or practical ability can compensate their absence".The wife should be in fact:

" A creature not too bright or good

For human nature's daily food;

      For transient sorrows,simple wiles,

                   Praises,blame,love,kisses,tears and smiles"

So sings Wordsworth in his exquisite "Portrait".And Byron,albeit not himself a model husband,is scarcely less successful in his "Bride of Abydos" in depicting the qualities expected in a good wife"

     " To soothe thy sickness,watch thy health,

Partake but never waste thy wealth,

  Or stand with smiles unmurmuring by,And lighten half thy poverty".

But what about the choice of a husband ?Just see the remarks of Mrs Fitzpatrick in Fielding's "Tom Jones:-

"It requires a most penetrating eye to discover a fool through the disguises of gaiety and good breeding....Among my acquaintances,the silliest fellows are the worst husbands;and I will venture to assert as a fact,that a man of sense rarely behaves very ill to a wife who deserves very well".

(Next:- Compatibility,approximate equality & conditions of Married happiness)