Let me say to the hundreds of young people in this house this morning,
before you give your heart and hand in holy alliance, use all caution;
inquire outside as to habits, explore the disposition, scrutinize the
taste, question the ancestry, and find out the ambitions. Do not take
the heroes and the heroines of cheap novels for a model. Do not put
your lifetime happiness in the keeping of a man who has a reputation
for being a little loose in morals or in the keeping of a woman who
dresses fast. Remember that while good looks are a kindly gift of God
wrinkles or accident may despoil them. Remember that Byron was no more
celebrated for his beauty than for his depravity. Remember that
Absalom's hair was not more splendid than his habits were despicable.
Hear it, hear it! The only foundation for happy marriage that ever has
been or ever will be, is good character.