Our life-story does not end, as it does in the novel, when the
wedding-bells ring. After that comes the real life. The wedding-bells
are but the call to more faithful duties, more earnest, unselfish love,
greater effort to be attractive, more pains to make the husband happy
than were taken to win his love. They ring out the birth of a love that
is until death. They ring out the knell of all coyness and romance.
The hero becomes the very human man: the shy girl is a woman who is to
be his helpmeet. They ring out the beginning of a battle where man and
woman must stand shoulder to shoulder if they would win. They tell
of a conflict where there will be strength in union, but in division
weakness, destruction of happiness, complete failure, disgrace, and
sometimes even death.
A girl rarely considers the deep responsibilities she takes upon
herself when she marries. She is more often thinking of the happiness
it will give her than of what she is to be to the man. She does not
stop to think whether or not she is going to make her husband happy.
She forgets that from that time his whole happiness, his success in
life, almost his soul, are in her keeping. “A man must ask his wife’s
leave to thrive” is altogether true. A wife may be a dead weight or
an inspiration. The dead weight drags even the strongest down, and an
inspiration helps him to conquer every time. I have heard a man with a
bad wife say: “Oh, I have no heart in me to do anything. She takes it
all out of me.” I have known a man with less ability, but with a true
wife to inspire him, to conquer where the other failed.
Marriage itself is not happiness unalloyed. Life never is in any state.
You are happier married than single, but marriage has its hard places.
The romance soon dies out. Real life comes. The every day living
together brings friction. It is for better and for worse. It seems a
light thing to say at the time when you are sure it will all be for
the better. You fancy you have only half learned his goodness. In many
cases that is so. In many more it is not: it is for the worse. Then
the break comes. Gradually his weaknesses will be revealed to you. The
golden idol shows clay feet. Slowly the gilding is all rubbed off, and
the idol is seen to be clay all through. Many a woman meets with this
disappointment. It is the great disappointment of her life. God help
the woman who finds that her husband is unworthy of her love! A weak
woman sinks under the blow, and drags him even farther down. A strong
woman will stand up bravely and in the end draw him up to her heights.
She must gather together all her love for him. She must allow religion
to take the helm with this love or all is lost. Sometimes love reels:
sometimes the senses do. Then, of all times, a woman must watch herself
well. She is fighting a terrible battle with her disappointment as well
as with his faults. They must be silent battles: the more silent the
stronger they will be, and the more sure she will be of victory. She
must never by hint or word let any one outside know of his failings.
If they are of the kind which go before or which are well known by the
community, she must show the world that she is blind to them. She must
never speak against her husband even to her own mother. She must never
admit that he has a fault. She has entered into a partnership where
one partner cannot be untrue to the other. She has promised before
God to honor him. Her loyalty may save him. It is certain that if she
does talk about him, and it comes to his ears, it will drive him away
from her. When a breach is made between husband and wife, it widens
continually. What in the beginning is a tiny thread soon becomes a
broad gulf. It is really wonderful what a little while it takes for
this breach to widen, and how disastrous are the effects. Our daily
papers are a continual illustration of that fact.
A perfect wife will never allow her opinion of her unworthy husband to
be known. If he is unkind to her, she hides it as she hides her own
misdeeds. Indeed, she would rather take upon herself the blame for
any trouble others may have seen. She is pleased always with any kind
attention he receives. A lady wrote her sister, with whom her husband
was stopping for a few days: “He writes me you are doing every thing to
make his visit pleasant. Thank you. Whatever kindness you bestow upon
him you bestow upon me.”
You will find plenty of listeners when you tell of your husband’s
faults and your own wrongs. They will be your apparent sympathizers.
Not one, however, will respect you for doing so. No one will care about
you. Almost all will repeat it to some one else. It will be generally
said that you live unhappily with your husband. You will have as much
blame as he has. It is the way of the world. It knows pretty well that
the wife who so far forgets herself as to talk against her husband
is as much to blame for the trouble as he is. She cannot be a good,
loving, Christian wife, who is trying to lead him to better things.
Such a woman would hold her tongue. In telling, you have simply opened
all the doors and windows of your house and invited the community to
look their fill at your most private affairs. The rest of the doors
and windows of the community are closed. You have noticed--have you
not?--that your confidence has not been returned. No, indeed. It is
well known that the woman who cannot guard her husband’s honor cannot
respect another’s confidence. If only in the sight of men then, the
untrue wife is the loser. She sends him into greater wrong. She undoes
herself as she undoes him. Together they must rise or fall. Many a
woman in her blind anger at her husband has tried to crush him. Like
Samson, when he would crush the Philistines, she has succeeded, but
only to bury herself in the ruins with him.
That her husband is not what she thought him, is no excuse: she took
him for worse as well as better. She is simply showing that she is not
one whit above him, and that he has been decidedly deceived in her. He
has gotten the worse too.
Unfortunately true, good men have bad wives, too--they are not confined
to bad husbands only. There are wives of good men who forget that the
husband’s whole happiness depends upon them. Many a wife forgets this
great responsibility. His business may be successful and everything
outside going along satisfactorily, but if he has no peace at home
he has no happiness. A woman who does not make her husband happy
fails in her great life-work. She is unworthy to be the mother of his
children. God gave woman to man to be his helpmeet; she is no helpmeet
if she makes his life wretched. It is her highest pleasure, her great
“rights,” to smooth his path. If she fail there, she far better never
have married.
What a man wants in his wife is companionship, sympathy, and love.
He wants to feel that she is his best friend. He never wants to look
anywhere else for sympathy and help: he never will if he can get all
he needs from her. His life has many hard places: he needs a companion
to go over them with him. He is often overtaken by misfortunes: he
needs some one to stand by him and sympathize as she helps him to bear
them. He has to fight with poverty often, and he needs a woman whom
he feels, when he puts his arms about her, is worth fighting for.
He has many enemies: he needs a wife whose loving words will make up
for the bitter ones he hears from them. He needs a wife who will make
him forget, when he is in her presence, that there is an unkind world
outside. He meets sin everywhere: he wants a wife who will give him
words of counsel, and who will take his hands and lead him to greater
faith in, and love for, the Father. Storms will come all through life,
he must encounter them. He needs a woman who will cling to him through
the hardest. He needs her love through sunshine and victory as well.
He wants to feel through all that his refuge is in her arms as hers is
in his. He wants a wife upon whose breast he can lay his head, when
sorrows come, and weep. He wants one who will make him feel that no
matter where else death strikes, as long as he has her he can endure
life. I remember a man who, when his dearly-beloved sister died, laid
his head on his wife’s shoulder, weeping, and said, “If it were you I
should die.”
There are in history women upon whose strong hearts strong men have
leaned and have become more strengthened in that leaning. Weak men have
become manly through a womanly wife. Strong men have been weakened by
a weak, wicked wife. Truly a man is made or marred when he marries. He
must indeed ask his wife leave to thrive.
It is in every woman’s power to be a well-loved wife. She cannot exact
it: she must win it. She has his affection to start upon. She must
increase it, instead of allowing it to decrease. She must not go upon
the principle that because she is his wife it is his duty to worship
her. If she does, she will be bankrupt as far as his affection is
concerned. Men are not made in that way, as I have said before, and you
must take them as you find them if you take one at all. Many a wife has
allowed her husband’s affection to die. She has fancied, maybe, that
she was lowering her dignity to try to keep what she considered was her
due. Nothing is our due of which we are not worthy. We are not worthy
of a love we do not try to keep. Women who are exacting after marriage
are generally the ones who tried the hardest to attract the man at
first. It is generally the girl who runs after a man till she gets him
who makes no effort after marriage to retain his love, and who talks
the loudest about her “rights, and not grovelling at his feet,” if it
is suggested that she do better.
Before she married she dressed for him. Nothing she owned was too
pretty to put on when she knew he would see her. She was careful to
be tidy in her person. She would never let him see a room in her home
which was in disorder. She was courteous always. She never said an
impatient word to him or before him. If he was cross, she bore it like
an angel. She greeted him always when he came with a sweet smile and
caress. She had loving words for him as she told him how she wanted to
see him every minute since they had parted. She desired in every way
to appear at her best before him. She hid every defect of temper or
disposition.
After marriage she does not care how untidy she is when he comes home.
She never thinks of dressing for him. She is not courteous to him. She
has no loving word, and she never hesitates to speak a cross one to
him. She has smiles yet for the outside world, but none for the man
whom she has promised to love and honor. She talks to him as she would
be ashamed to have any one hear her speak. She never bears with him. If
he is cross, she is crosser. Is it any wonder she loses his love? She
is not what he thought she was, or what he thought he was marrying. If
he had seen her in her true colors before the fatal words were spoken,
he never would have bound himself to her. The beautiful soul, the sweet
smile that won him, are gone. The gentle spirit he fancied he detected,
was a delusion. What he loved, he does not possess. He possesses an
unwomanly wife, and that he did not woo. With a weak man there comes a
break. He often seeks his happiness with another woman. A strong man
endures in silence, growing old and sad, broken in his youth.
Ought this to be? There is no reason, because you have grown familiar
to each other, you should not try to hide your temper as you did
before. There is no reason, because he is “caught” and cannot get away
from you, that you should cease to be attractive to him. You spread
your net well. Now make the nest so attractive that he will be glad
that he was “caught.” Be all that you led him to fancy you were.
Why should not a woman dress for her husband? Why should she not
cultivate a sweet disposition for him and endeavor to make his home
the happiest spot on earth? Why not try to banish from it every cloud,
everything that will annoy or irritate? Is it of no use? It is of the
greatest earthly use. It is a means of helping you both on to Heaven.
If you must be selfish, remember it is making yourself happier to have
your husband love you as he loves no other earthly being. Men, after
all, are easily pleased--you found that out in your courtship days.
They are easily managed too. A man will do almost everything for the
wife that makes him happy. He is almost too much of a slave to her.
She can do what she will to him. With him, getting her own way is only
a matter of tact and sweetness. Husbands are almost all like the man
in the fable of the wind and sun. The sun beat in the end. Warmth of
love and sweetness of manner will gain a victory, where an ill-tempered
insisting upon “rights” fails completely.
Ward McAllister says in his “Society as I Have Found It,” “My advice to
all married women is to keep up flirting with their husbands as much
after marriage as before; to make themselves as attractive after their
marriage as they were when they captivated them; not to neglect their
toilet, but rather to improve it: to be as coquettish and coy after
they are bound together as before when no ties held them.”
Choice Selections in Poetry and Prose.
Compiled by RHODUM L. GRIGGS.
INTRODUCTION.
We know that there is an unfortunate tendency in human nature to treat
with levity the subject of love, courtship and marriage. But a moment’s
consideration should convince you how utterly repugnant it is to all
manly feelings to jest in these matters. They are the most serious
questions of your life, as your weal or woe, and the weal and woe of
those who come after you, depend in great measure, upon the wisdom and
virtue with which you conduct your preparations for marriage. The whole
tendency of such lightness is to cause the marriage relation to be
lightly esteemed, and the true aim of courtship to be lost sight of,
for unless you view it in its true light, with that sober earnestness
which the subject demands, your courtship will be nothing more than a
grand game of hypocrisy, resulting in misery the most deplorable.
LOVE.
Love is an actual need, an urgent requirement of the heart. Every
properly constituted human being who entertains an appreciation of
loneliness and looks forward to a home of happiness and content, feels
the necessity of loving.
Without love, life is unfinished; hope, without aim; nature defective,
and man miserable. Love is the ruling element of life; the great
instrument of nature; that soft, subduing sun against whose melting
beams there is not one human soul in a million, not a thousand men in
all earth’s domain, whose hearts are hardened. Love, if pure, unselfish
and discreet, constitutes the chief happiness of human life. No man
or woman is complete in their experience of life until they have been
subdued into union with the world through their affections. The bosom
which does not feel love is cold; the mind which does not conceive
it is dull; the philosophy which does not accept it is false; the
only true religion in the world has pure, undying love for its basis.
Look back over your life; if there is a bright spot to be seen, it is
where the star of love shed its light; if there is a plant, flower or
any beautiful thing visible it is where the smiles and tears of your
affections were spent; where some fond eye met your own; where some
endearing heart was clasped to yours.
Love, to make your life and home beautiful, must shine on through
years, and its radiance linger till the shadows of death darken
altogether.
COURTSHIP
Is the first turning point in your life, crowded with perils and
temptations. The rose tints of affection dazzle and bewilder your
imagination. You should not trust too much to the impulse of the heart,
or be too easily captivated by a winning exterior.
Not once in a hundred times do two natures, brought side by side,
harmonize in every part. While always bearing in mind that life without
love is a wilderness, it should not be overlooked that true affection
requires solid support. Your object in courtship should not be to
charm, gratify, nor please simply for the present pleasure, but for
the selection of a companion who must bear, suffer and enjoy life
with you in all its forms; one who will walk pleasantly, willingly
and confidingly by your side through all the intricate and changing
vicissitudes incident to mortal life; one possessed of a constitution
of soul similar to your own; of similar age, opinions, tastes, habits,
modes of thought and feeling; one who under any given combination of
circumstances would be affected as you would; one who would approve
what you approve and condemn what you condemn; not for the purpose of
agreeing with you but of her own free will; one who is already united
to you by the ties of spiritual harmony. In the selection of a wife, a
pure, loving heart and good common sense are many times more valuable
than personal beauty or wealth, for once installed in the affections
of such a woman, you have a life claim on her good offices, and no
sacrifice that she can make is too great, no adversity so strong
that it can shake her firmness. True courtship is withal a beautiful
sight. Only the coarse and illiterate can see there aught for ridicule
or jest. It is the flowing together of two separate lives that have
heretofore been divided, now mysteriously brought together, to flow on
through all time, and only God in His infinite wisdom knows how far in
the shadowy hereafter.
MARRIAGE.
For all professions, trades and callings in life, men and women prepare
themselves by previous attention to their principles and duties. They
study them, devote time and money to them. Every imaginable case,
difficulty or trial is considered and duly disposed of according to
the general principles of the trade or profession. But marriage, the
most important and holy relation of life, involving the most sacred
responsibilities and influences, social, civil and religious, that bear
upon men and women, is entered upon in hot haste or blind stupidity by
a great majority of the men and women of to-day.
No man has a right to ask a woman to enter matrimonial bonds with him
unless he is thoroughly acquainted with the female constitution and
character, for he who knows not her nature knows not how to gratify
or satisfy that nature. It is ignorance in these matters that causes
a great amount of matrimonial infelicity. Marriage, to be a blessing,
must be properly entered. It has its fundamental laws, which must be
obeyed.
The conditions upon which its joys and advantages are realized may be
learned beforehand, and should not be entered in blindness, but in
the light of a perfect knowledge of its rules and regulations, its
promises, conditions, laws and privileges, so that no uncertainty shall
follow a knowledge of its reality. Some are disappointed in marriage
because they expect too much from it. Their imagination has pictured a
condition of things never experienced on this side of heaven. With the
marriage ceremony you enter a new world, if you enter understandingly,
and live as becomes thoughtful, considerate human beings, each
trying to bear with the other’s infirmities, and to consider the
other’s happiness as paramount to their own. Marriage then becomes a
delightful scene of domestic happiness, to which all true men and women
look forward as the condition of life most consonant to their true
happiness.
SELECTION OF A HUSBAND.
To the young woman who is just about to determine her start in life,
we would say: Give up your whole mind to this problem of finding a
husband whom you can love, and who can love you. It is worthy of your
utmost effort. Remember that in selecting the father of your child
the qualities which will show in the little one have no relation to
his accomplishments, and that even the homeliest features may become
beautiful, shining with the light of his noble qualities.
The profession of motherhood stands ready to give you every repayment
if you will but devote to fitting yourself for its duties the same
patient effort you would give to the study of any science, or the same
energy you would throw into social duties.
Unlike social distinction, it will not be disappointing; but as the
years go by, loving children will stand ready to enthrone you in their
hearts and gratefully recognize your every effort in their behalf.
_First_--Give perfect truth and exact it.
_Second_--Use every endeavor to eradicate your own faults, and gently,
patiently and lovingly help your companion to do the same.
_Third_--Do not expect too much from either yourself or your mate. Be
humble, with a clear understanding of your own limitations; but be firm
in the determination that with each day you will climb together to a
higher level.
_Fourth_--Do not be discouraged at slow progress. Do not doubt that in
the end you will be repaid for all effort. So also do not doubt that if
you are careless, selfish or deceitful you will be planting seeds for
eventual catastrophe.
WHAT PLEASES MEN AND WOMEN.
THE WOMAN.
It pleases her to be told that she is fascinating; to be called well
dressed; to be called sensible; to depend on some man and pretend
that she is ruling him; to be told that she improves man by her
companionship; to be treated courteously and with respect, and to be
talked to reasonably.
It pleases her to be treated sensibly and honestly; to be considered
and questioned, and not treated as a butterfly with no head or heart.
It pleases her to be loved and admired by a man who is strong enough
to subdue her and make _his_ way her way; to lead her and take care
of her; and it pleases her to find happiness in being ruled by an
intellect that she can look up to admiringly, and one to whom her mind
bows in reverence.
THE MAN.
It pleases the man to have a woman love him; to have her lead him in
the way he wants to go; to have her sometimes treat him as a great big
baby, to be cared for, petted and caressed; also to have her think
him great, and good, and true, and favor him with her attentions
accordingly. It pleases him to have a woman’s bright eyes expressing
the approbation, approval and admiration the lips do not speak.
It pleases him to have her hand smooth away the careworn expression
and wrinkles from his brow, and to have her strength to help him over
the weak places in life. It pleases a worthy man who tries to be good
to have a sweet woman lead him in the way called beautiful. A woman
can sink a man to the depths of misery or help him to the zenith of
happiness; her smile inspires him.
MOODY’S EULOGY ON WOMEN.
“I think that the Almighty intended the work of woman in this world
should be, above all, the rearing of a family. He gave into her keeping
the souls and characters of the young, to make or mar. And surely there
is no nobler or more responsible work than this. From the home--the
domain of woman--spring most of the highest impulses of humanity. And
to fit woman for her great work the Creator made her of a finer cast
than man; there is nothing on earth so noble, so pure, so exalted, so
near the ideal of character, as a woman. Woman can rise higher than
man, but she can likewise sink lower. The very height which she can
attain seems to make her fall the greater when she does fall. There
is great strength and great weakness in woman’s character; and it is
a vital duty of men, whose greater evenness of temperament gives them
greater self-control, and consequently a commanding position, to do
everything in their power to enable the woman to be true to her higher
nature.
“I believe that, other things being equal, the happiest woman is the
woman who is a mother and the maker of a home; but if she cannot fulfil
her true destiny, if she must enter the business world, she should be
given the greatest consideration, simply because she is a woman. I have
heard women say that they ask for nothing on the ground of sex. Perhaps
they don’t, but personally I cannot forget their sex. Even in a purely
business matter, my attitude and manner toward them are not just what
they would be toward men.”--_Dwight L. Moody._
* * * * *
“God has made the mind of woman the complement to the mind of man.
“When properly coupled they are a source of strength to each other.
As steel and flint strike fire, so the brightest wit and best thought
spring from the intellectual union of man and wife. Beginning as a
stimulus to research and higher endeavor, each learns to know the mind
of the other. A glance often reads thought without the spoken word.”
A MOTHER’S SMILE.
Though a mother may seem void of beauty,
Her tongue have no art to beguile,
To her children there’s nothing so lovely
As her face when bright with a smile.
When they wake from the slumbers of childhood,
And gaze on the world, half afraid,
If they see mother’s face bending o’er them,
Their swift-starting fears are allayed.
To their fingers her cheek is the softest,
Though care may have hardened its lines,
And their bruises are healed by her kisses,
From lips on which age has its signs.
She’s a comrade to share in their pastimes,
A refuge if dangers betide,
There is always a comfort in troubles,
A haven of peace at her side.
Oh, ye mothers, smile oft on your children,
For blest is the woman whose face,
Once impressed on these hearts in their childhood,
Nor distance nor time can efface.
And more happy the man or the woman,
Immersed in the world’s snare and wile,
Who bears upon memory’s tablets
The thought of a mother’s fond smile.
A LOW VOICE IN WOMAN.
Yes, we agree with that old poet, who said that a low, soft voice
was an excellent thing in woman. Indeed, we feel inclined to go much
farther than he has on the subject, and call it one of her crowning
charms. How often the spell of beauty is rudely broken by coarse, loud
talking! How often you are irresistibly drawn to a plain, unassuming
woman, whose soft, silvery tones render her positively attractive. In
the social circle, how pleasant it is to hear a woman talk in that
low key which always characterizes the true lady. In the sanctuary of
home how such a voice soothes the fretful child and cheers the weary
husband.
CONNUBIALITIES.
It is the hardest thing in love to feign it where it is not, or hide it
where it is; but it is easier counterfeited than concealed. The face
of her we love is the fairest of sights, and her voice the sweetest
harmony in the world. A man is more reserved in his friend’s concerns
than in his own; a woman, on the contrary, keeps her own concerns
better than another’s. A woman will think herself slighted if she is
not courted, yet pretends to know herself too well to believe your
flattery. Absence is to love what fasting is to the body; a little
stimulates it, but a long abstinence is fatal. The greatest pleasure
of life is love; the greatest treasure, contentment; the greatest
possession, health; the greatest ease is sleep; and the greatest
medicine, a true friend.
LOVE.
“It helps us to bear with the trouble,
It helps us to stand in the strife,
It brightens the skies for the sorrowing eyes,
And lightens the burdens of life.
“It makes the rose bloom in the desert,
And brings down the dew on the sod;
The tempest may beat, but the pathway is sweet
With the roses and lilies of God.”
YOU KISSED ME.
“My forehead drooped low on your breast,
With a feeling of shelter and infinite rest,
While the holy emotion my tongue dared not speak
Flashed up like a flame from my heart to my cheek.
“Your arms held me fast--Oh! your arms were so bold--
Heart beat against heart in that passionate fold.
Your glances seemed drawing my soul through my eyes,
As the sun draws the mist from the sea to the skies.
“You kissed me! My heart and my breath and my will,
In delicious joy, for the moment, stood still.
Life had for me then no temptations, no charms,
No vision of pleasure outside of your arms.”
THE MARRIAGE QUESTION.
“Thousands marry and the majority of them live together all their
lives. But I think that not more than one couple in ten love each
other, continuously, during that time.
“As soon as they have taken the marriage vows they feel an ownership
of each other, feel that they are bound so that they cannot get away,
and so grow careless about each other’s comforts and pleasures, until,
before they realize it, love has flown, and then it depends upon the
dispositions of the two whether it is a cat-and-dog life or one of
friendship and companionship without love. Remember this: It is nature
to love, and if you do not retain the love of your husband or wife,
some one else is liable to do so.
“For a while you may bind a person to you by marriage vows, but love
can only be bound by love, and it takes the same devotion, the same
love after it is won that it takes to win it in the first place.”--_Goe
Van Hise_, Glendale, Cal.
* * * * *
Many boys and girls enter matrimony before they are old enough to
realize the responsibility they assume, and they frequently fill
their lives with bitterness by acting so rashly. Wait till you are
old enough to exercise judgment in the choice of your companion; then
choose wisely, and enthrone the goddess of Love upon a heart stamped
with eternal fidelity, and be your home a palace or a cottage, it will
indeed be a “sweet, sweet home.”
THE AGES OF LOVE.
The Outlook, in the Thorwaldsen Gallery, Copenhagen.
* * * * *
Friend--It reminds me forcibly of the time when “they were both naked
and were not ashamed.” Indeed, it gave me a new comprehension of the
meaning of that text.
Guide--Which of all Thorwaldsen’s works did you like the best?
Philosopher--How is it possible to tell? There were at least a dozen
best.
Friend--The “Ages of Love,” because it suggested a sermon to me which I
am going to preach some time.
* * * * *
The “Ages of Love” is a bas-relief consisting essentially of six
figures, though so combined as to make, as it were, one tableau. In
the first, a covered basket contains a number of imprisoned Cupids,
and a child is curiously lifting a corner of the cover to look in
and learn what love is like. In the second an attendant female
figure--Venus?--has taken a Cupid out of the basket, and a maiden is
eagerly and imploringly reaching out both hands to receive it. In the
third her prayer has been granted, and the woman clasps the Cupid
to her breast. In the fourth the woman is still holding Cupid, but
carelessly by the wings, her mind evidently on other things intent. In
the fifth a man sits looking upon the ground, while Cupid sits perched
upon his back, and he knows not why he is there. In the sixth Cupid
has taken his flight and is just beyond the reach of an old man, who
stretches out his hands in vain to recover the fugitive.
* * * * *
Guide--And pray, parson, what would your sermon be?
Friend--Just Thorwaldsen’s sermon; nothing more. It would be in five
subdivisions. First: Childhood inquiring into love. It is right to
inquire. The father and mother should answer the inquiry and not leave
the child to learn of this most sacred mystery of life from profane
lips. Second: Maidenhood seeking love. She is right to seek it. It
is idle to sing, “Love not, love not! the thing you love will die.”
Love is “the greatest thing in the world,” above all others best worth
seeking. Third: Motherhood possessing. Love is wealth indeed, and the
only wealth worth having. The poorest is rich if he have love, and the
richest is poor if he have it not. Fourth: Manhood forgetting love.
Alas, that so many of us no sooner possess love than we forget it, and
are indifferent to it, and put it aside. Love, the most valuable of all
knowledge, has been bestowed on us, and we forget it; the most sacred
of all possessions has been given us, and we turn our backs upon it.
Ambition usurps love’s crown, and the true king is forgotten. And
thus, fifth, and last of all: Love, forgotten, flies away, and the
unloved old man looks longingly about for some one to love him, and
there is none, and he drops into his grave unloved and not missed. It
is the tragedy of life: youth inquiring; maidenhood seeking; motherhood
possessing; manhood forgetting; old age losing.
Guide--When you preach that sermon, give us notice and we will come to
hear it.
Friend--Better, instead, buy a photograph of Thorwaldsen’s bas-relief
and study that. The sermon is all there--and more is there besides.
WHICH ONE?
One of us, dear, with grief untold,
Must the other’s death with pain behold,
Must stand with hand in living hold
Of stiffened fingers growing cold.
Dearest, which one?
One of us, dear, bereft of cheer,
Must pause beside a flower-strewn bier,
Must kneel alone and drop a tear
Upon a form to heart so dear.
Dearest, which one?
One of us, dear, with heart like lead,
Must stand beside a narrow bed,
Must hear the sod fall on the dead
With anguished breath and nameless dread.
Dearest, which one?
One of us, dear, with stifled moan,
Must henceforth walk the world alone;
Must ever yearn for a tender tone,
Heard only around the Great White Throne.
Dearest, which one?
KIND WORDS.
Kind words may prove pearls of the highest price; soften and turn away
wrath; make friendship out of enmity, and build a monument of good that
the storms of time cannot destroy. Cherish them, dear boys and girls. A
kind heart full of love and sympathy and loving words, will spring to
your lips to bless, to help and to comfort all around you. “That which
the fountain sends forth returns again to the fountain.”
Better to hope, though the clouds hang low,
And to keep the eyes still lifted,
For the still blue sky will still peep through
When the ominous clouds are rifted.
There was never a night without a day,
Or an evening without a morning;
And the darkest hour, as the proverb goes,
“Is the hour before the dawning.”
A life of real virtue, of nobleness, of true greatness, is not an
accident. It comes, if it comes at all, from lofty aspirations, from
incorruptible motives, long cherished, and held sacred as life.
SIN.
“Sin is the most expensive thing possible. It wastes money. It wears
the body into decay. But, bad as these things are, there are even worse
behind, for it blights the intellect and withers the moral nature
of man. It weakens the will; it blunts the conscience; it hardens
the heart. It dries up all the finer feelings of the soul, so that
ultimately all regard for truth and holiness and purity is gone. But
worse yet, sin is an enslaving thing. It becomes the master of the
man who indulges in it and sets him to do the hardest drudgery. It
hires him out, as it were, to feed swine, leaving him to feed along
with them. That which was at first a joy becomes in the end a bondage.
That which was first a pleasant companion becomes at length a cruel
task-master, which compels him to make bricks without straw, and
sometimes even without clay.”--_Dr. W. M. Taylor._
Let not sin, therefore, reign in your M-O-R-T-A-L body.--Rom. vi. 12.
A HYMN.
“O, help me, Lord, by grace to win
The victory o’er this world of sin,
For I am weak when left alone,
I have no strength to call my own.
“O! lead me by Thy gentle hand,
Across this desert’s burning sand,
And when I’m weary let me rest
My aching head upon Thy breast.
“Direct my mind to things divine,
And keep my thoughts as pure as Thine;
Oh, let no wicked thoughts come in.
Let nothing cause my soul to sin.
“Upon Thy bosom let me lean
And keep my words so pure and clean
That angels hearing would not blush,
Nor heaven’s cry my voice to hush.
“REFRAIN.
“O, help me, Lord, by grace to win
The victory o’er this world of sin,
And o’er the billows safely guide
Me to life’s port on the other side.”
JOHN W. GRIGGS,
Upshaw, Ala.
Jan. 26, 1903.
THE SCULPTOR’S DREAM.
“Chisel in hand stood a sculptor boy,
With his marble block before him,
And his face lit up with a smile of joy,
As an angel dream passed o’er him.
He carved the dream on that shapeless stone,
With many a sharp incision;
With heaven’s own light the sculptor shone--
He had caught the angel-vision.
“Sculptors of life are we, as we stand,
With our soul uncarved before us,
Waiting the hour, when at God’s command,
Our life-dream passes o’er us.
If we carve it then on the yielding stone,
With many a sharp incision,
Its heavenly beauty shall be our own--
Our lives that angel-vision.”
BISHOP G. W. DOANE.
BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.
“If you have a gray-haired mother
In the old home far away,
Sit down and write the letter
You put off day by day.
Don’t wait until her tired steps
Reach heaven’s pearly gate--
But show her that you think of her
Before it is too late.
“If you’ve a tender message
Or a loving word to say,
Don’t wait till you forget it,
But whisper it to-day.
Who knows what bitter memories
May haunt you if you wait?--
So make your loved ones happy
Before it is too late.
“We live but in the present,
The future is unknown--
To-morrow is a mystery,
To-day is all our own.
The chance that fortune lends to us
May vanish while we wait,
So spend your life’s rich treasure
Before it is too late.
“The tender words unspoken,
The letter never sent,
The long-forgotten messages,
The wealth of love unspent.
For these some hearts are breaking,
For these some loved ones wait--
So show them that you care for them
Before it is too late.”
HOW TO TALK TO MEN.
There are many young girls who complain that they do not know how to
talk to men. They have probably been brought up almost exclusively
among their own sex, and, therefore, look upon men very much as upon
beings of another world, and when they find themselves in masculine
society they are at a loss to know how to make themselves agreeable,
and what to talk about. Their task would be lightened if they realized
that men are, after all, very nearly akin to themselves, and that they
have very much the same ideas, feelings and sentiments. The failure
to recognize this fact generally earns them the character among their
male acquaintances for unamiability or pride; seldom, indeed, are they
credited with the timidity of ignorance. The girl who generally is
acceptable with men is without self-consciousness, and talks to a man
much in the same style as she would to a girl friend.
She is not always thinking of herself and the impression she creates,
but she is kind and sympathetic, and she interests herself in him and
his affairs, and lets him feel it; always, however, taking care to
avoid excess in this respect. When talking with him she shows interest
in the matter under discussion, but, while holding to her own opinions,
she takes care not to assert them with too great eagerness.
No man was ever really influenced by a self-assertive, dogmatic woman,
and the woman who wishes to have men friends must remember that the
secret of both her power and her popularity lies in her gentleness,
sweetness and good temper. She must be cheery, too, and ready with
her smiles; but that is quite another thing, be it remembered, from
the senseless giggling which some girls seem to fancy is particularly
charming to the other sex.
ABOUT ATTRACTING HUSBANDS.
Men have, since the world began, been angled for deliberately by girls,
and times out of count have been caught.
Girls will continue to fish for husbands, and will continue to catch
them as long as marriage is a fashion--a state likely to coincide with
the length of time the world lasts.
But for all that, it need not be asserted, as it so often is, that
all girls angle. Why should the word be used, moreover, with such
bitterness? Surely it is not wrong of girls to behave charmingly and
make themselves look attractive and pretty, and especially so in the
eyes of those men for whose good opinion they are most anxious? If they
were to wear sackcloth and go about veritable kill-joys, is it likely
that they would succeed in winning what they want?
It is said that love is never evenly distributed, and that in every
engaged couple there is more love on one side than on the other. Women
fall in love with the opposite sex just as often as the opposite sex
does with them. What is to happen if a girl sees a man she believes she
could fondly love, and whom she is sure would fondly love her, if she
is debarred from angling for him?
A girl may not propose to a man. She may not put to him the anxious
question, “Do you love me?” From her lips it would be unpardonable were
the tender pleading, “Will you marry me?” to proceed. But she sees one
whom she has good reason to think she could wed and be happy with, and
the sole step she can rightly take to bring about a declaration of love
from him is just this: She can make herself so pleasant and fascinating
that he falls in love with her, and asks her that sweet question she
has so deeply longed to hear from him.
The feminine angler should be very cautious. Let her declare her
purpose--should it be only by a startled word--and a hundred eyes will
dart scorn at her, a hundred tongues condemn her. She who is wise,
however, is careful--both for the sake of the man she loves and her own
reputation--that the little wiles she practices shall appeal only to
him, and shall not be observable by those onlookers who are popularly
supposed to see most of the game. Women are undoubtedly endowed with
a special measure of instinct, and are therefore able to accomplish
wonders, apparently never planned or premeditated. Woe be it to the
swain who does not want to fall in love, should some fair daughter of
Eve will that he shall!
There is this to console him, however: that the said daughter of Eve,
should she be discreet and diplomatic, will so work matters that
the happy man will never guess that he has been singled out for
preference. He will take the bait and greedily swallow it, all the time
under the impression that he was the angler, and that it was only after
the greatest struggle that he managed to land his prize.
He will be as proud of his achievement as he can be--that is to say, if
the girl who has caught him has been very canny during her maneuvers.
She need not be deceitful, nor forward, nor unwomanly, nor any of the
other plain-spoken and objectionable epithets applied to the feminine
angler.
As has been pointed out, she need merely be a tactful, purposeful,
clever girl, one who, knowing her own powers to charm, exercises them
for the most valuable end and aim life offers--that of forming a home
in which two persons may be happy, and from which they may radiate
a sufficiency of joy to make the world about it more contented and
felicitous than it was before.
Do marriages arranged as an outcome of the angling principle turn out
well? Does the fascinating little woman whose bright eyes, pretty ways
and dainty dress won her a husband, having secured what she desired,
make for the man whose helpmeet she has elected to be a good wife? If
she does, a dozen to one he will never find out that he was caught; or
if she in some sweet moment should divulge to him the secret, and tell
him in whispers and with shy kisses, how she did her best to draw him
to her, he will, with further kisses, solemnly declare unto her his
delight and gratitude that she so thoughtfully and cleverly made things
easy for a blundering idiot like himself.
On the contrary, should she abandon every effort to please directly
or soon after the golden circlet is firmly on her finger, how rapidly
will his eyes be opened to all the crude and ugly scheming she employed
to secure him! How bitterly will he rue the weak moment in which he
succumbed to her blandishments. Then will the memory of her charming
little speeches and sweet little ways be dust and ashes to him. He will
cease to believe in women, taught by his captor to distrust the sex for
her sake.
There is all the difference in the world between the girl who angles
honestly, so that a happy union may be had with the man she loves, and
the girl who angles simply for the achievement of some tribute to her
vanity--a wealthy husband, a husband with more money than her friend’s
husband possesses, or a husband who will give her a title and position.
There are few women so purely calculating that, once having achieved
their object, they can deliberately show themselves in their true
colors. Captious, irritable, ill-tempered, untidy--all these
distressing characteristics they may reveal to their miserable husbands
later, but for the first few weeks of marriage they rarely unmask. It
is when the home is settled into, and the regular routine of existence
begins, that the test is fairly made.
The admirable angler now shows herself in her true colors. She means
to be a good housekeeper, so she studies her husband’s likes and
dislikes, and incontestably, though silently, demonstrates to him that
since he hates bacon he shall not have it every morning. Above all, she
reflects, and recollects, and realizes that what he loved her for in
those very early days, when first she taught him to grow fond of her,
were her pretty ways. And who shall say, with so glorious a result as
this winning woman shall achieve, that she was wrong in her girlhood to
be an angler?
If there were more of them! But there are more than is imagined. Only
it is the happy country that has no history, and the successful angler
that has no historian.
DUTIES OF AN ENGAGED GIRL.
An engaged girl should endeavor to be both a comfort and a help to her
lover; not merely a pet and plaything. It is a very bad augury for the
future when a man instinctively feels that a wax doll would be of as
much use to his worries as she whom he intends making his helpmeet for
life. And yet, only the other day, a gentleman was heard to exclaim:
“No, no; I would not trouble Lily for the world; why, she is only made
for the sunshine and the flowers.”
Again, it is the engaged girl’s duty to be open and candid in all
her relations with her lover. The seeds of much future distrust and
unhappiness are sown if once he suspects she is keeping a secret from
him. It is also her duty to be considerate of his wishes, and if he
have a harmless antipathy to any little thing or other, let her humor
him in this. No doubt she also has some little “fads” which require
consideration.
For instance, that girl was wise who ceased adopting “mannish” ways
because her sweetheart disapproved. By doing so she only rendered
herself more charming than ever in his eyes. To be punctual is another
of the engaged girl’s duties. She has no more business to keep her
lover waiting than he has to keep her waiting. Tardiness is not a sign
of maidenly indifference, as some damsels seem to think. It is merely
an indication of bad manners. Of course, it is her bounden duty to be
engaged openly. Her lover should be known to her parents, and, where
practicable, should visit her at her own house. In conclusion, I will
mention the last and most important duty of all, and that is that she
should love her lover with her whole heart, mind and strength. If she
does not perform this office thoroughly and well, the others might just
as easily be left alone.
PREMATURE MATRIMONY.
Marriage is a divine and beautiful arrangement, as designed in
God’s providence. It is the blending of two spirits in one. Man is
incomplete without his wife: he has strength, she has beauty. “It is
not good that man should be alone.” “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a
good thing.”
“Of all the joys that man can feel,
The purest sure are there.
While o’er his heart affections steal,
Like balmy summer air;
His wife’s caress, his children’s smile,
Unlike the world are free from guile.”
Premature marriages are among the greatest evils of the times--the
result of fancy. The ballroom or evening party never develops real
character. Matches made at such places, or made under similar
circumstances, are not of the class that originate in heaven. They more
generally are conceived in the opposite place, and bring forth only
iniquity.
The true way to study and learn one another is to do it at home, in
the parlor, in the kitchen, and on occasions that test the temper.
We see the result of premature unions in the almost daily divorces
that are taking place; in the running away of husbands--leaving their
wives and children to starve--and in the elopement of wives. Not only
this, but we witness it in broken-spirited men, made old in the prime
of life, struggling on for mere food, clothing, and mere shelter; and
in woman, cross, sluttish and wrinkled. And the result does not stop
with the husband and wife. There are the children; they partake of the
feebleness and vices of the parents, both physical and moral, and go
out into the world stunted and gnarled. Young friends, _beware_!
“O lasses take care where fancy lights,
This world’s full of snares:
The end of frolicsome fancy’s flights
Is oft a nest of cares.”
A judicious writer, alluding to the matrimonial state, says: “There
is not a city, scarcely a township, which does not number among its
inhabitants women who have married on very short acquaintance, only
to be abused, deserted, and left a burden and a lifelong sorrow to
the families in which they were born and reared, and which they most
imprudently and improperly deserted to share the fortunes of relative
strangers.”
If young ladies would realize how grossly indelicate, as well as
culpably reckless, such marriages appear in the eyes of the observing,
they surely would forbear. A year’s thorough acquaintance, with
the most circumstantial accounts, from disinterested and reliable
witnesses, of the antecedents from childhood, are the very least
guarantee which any woman who realizes what marriage is, will require
of a stranger.
Even then, if her parents are not fully satisfied, as well as herself,
she should still hesitate. Marriage is an undertaking in which no delay
can be so hazardous as undue precipitation.
“A prudent man foreseeth the evil and hideth himself; but the simple
pass on and are punished.”--_Solomon._
In how many instances, of the present day, is marriage merely a
union of hands--the affection not being taken into consideration.
The question on the one side, “Is she handsome? has she money?” on
the other, “Can he support me in style? shall I be able to make an
appearance?” How much better would it be to ask, “Has the woman a
heart capable of pure affection?” “Will she be willing to share with
me adversity as well as prosperity?” “Will she forsake all others and
cleave only to me through weal and woe?”
And woman, yes, woman, she whose very nature ought to stimulate her
to higher and holier motives for taking upon herself the marriage
relation, is too often anxious only as to the length of her husband’s
purse, and the amount of his bank stock; the heart, the mind, the
intellect, in fact everything really worth marrying for, being
non-essentials.
But, oh, the misery which too often follows such marriages! The
husband, when it is too late, laments his blindness and his folly.
The wife is made to realize that riches take to themselves wings and
fly away; and then comes the consciousness of a want of sympathy and
congeniality of feelings. Both are thrown back upon themselves, for not
a chord in the breast of one vibrates in unison with the other.
Let the young beware how they enter the marriage state from such
motives, lest they wake too late from the delusion. Consult the
judgment, and hesitate when that says “Beware.” Let the property be
_in_ rather than _with_ the companion.
Oh, the loneliness of an unwedded heart! The hands may be united, but
to feel that in heart you are separated must be misery indeed. To think
of being obliged to associate for life with one who has not a feeling
of sympathy with you, and who is, moreover, in sentiment, taste and
feeling directly opposed to you--how revolting the thought! Then, let
love, not ambition, lead you to form those ties that naught but death
can honorably sever.
Weigh well the consequences of one wrong or hasty step in the choice
of a companion for life. Walk softly here, lest you fall, to rise no
more. Seek wisdom from above. “In all thy ways acknowledge the Lord,
and He shall direct thy paths.” “Seek first the kingdom of God and His
righteousness” at all times, and you are safe.
“Oh, happy state! when souls each other draw;
When love is liberty and nature’s law;
All then is full, possessing and possessed,
No craving void left aching in the breast;
E’en thought meets thought, ere from the lips it part,
And each warm wish springs mutual from the heart.”
THE GIFT OF GIFTS--A WORD TO HUSBANDS.
Husband, have you this gift of gifts? Has God in superabounding
mercy given you a dear wife, lovely, virtuous, prudent, sensible,
intelligent, and above all a God-fearing wife, meek, modest, humble,
Christlike?--“an helpmeet” in very deed? Well, what do you think of it?
Do you appreciate the blessing duly?--make suitable returns? _Can_ you
do it? Such a gift is unspeakable. How few, comparatively, appreciate
the gift of a good wife?
A very godly man said to us recently, “I thank the Lord daily,
hourly, for the jewel of a wife God hath given me.” A distinguished
writer--speaking of the value of a good wife--remarks thus: “In the
true wife the husband finds not affection only, but companionship--a
companionship with which no other can compare. The family relation
gives retirement without solitude, and society without the rough
intrusion of the world. It plants in the husband’s dwelling a friend
who can listen to the details of his interests with sympathy, who
can appreciate his repetition of events, only important as they are
embalmed in the heart. Common friends are linked to us by a slender
thread. We must retain them by ministering, in some way, to their
interest or their enjoyment. What a luxury it is for a man to feel
that in his house there is a true and affectionate being, in whose
presence he may throw off restraint without danger to his dignity; he
may confide without the fear of treachery, and be sick or unfortunate
without being abandoned. If in the outward world he grow weary of human
selfishness, his heart can safely trust in one whose soul yearns for
his happiness, and whose indulgence overlooks his defects.”
Give your wives to understand that you esteem them above all others;
make them your confidants; confide in them and they will confide in
you; confidence begets confidence, love begets love, sweetness begets
sweetness.
Above all, sympathize with the wives of your bosoms in the hour of
affliction. Rejoice with them when they rejoice, and weep with them
when they weep. Who, if not a bosom companion, will wipe from the cheek
the falling tear of sorrow? Finally, husbands, remember that death
will soon sever the connubial cord! When you behold her, with whom you
lived, and toiled, and wept, and rejoiced, cold and lifeless, laid in
the coffin--
“Think of the happiness so deep and tender
That filled thy heart when wandering by her side,
Think how her faintest smile had power to render
The darkest moment one of love and pride.
“And now that this frail form in death grows colder,
A sweet, calm rapture fills the parting hour,
That thou art with her, though a sad beholder,
A witness of the dear Redeemer’s power!”
Will you _then_ regret that you studied _always_ to promote her
happiness? that the law of kindness and love dwelt on your lips
_evermore_? O think, and be _now_ her ministering angel!
“A prudent wife is from the Lord,” _directly_; to God be all the praise.
THE GOOD WIFE.
Jeremy Taylor says, “If you are for pleasure, marry; if you prize
rosy health, marry; and if money is your object, marry. A good wife
is heaven’s best gift to man--his angel and minister of graces
innumerable--his gem of many virtues--his casket of jewels--her
voice, his sweetest music--her smiles, his brightest day--her kiss,
the guardian of his innocence--her arms, the pale of his safety, the
balm of his health, the balsam of his life--her industry, his surest
wealth--her economy, his safest steward--her lips his faithful
counselors--her bosom, the safest pillow of his cares--and her prayers
the ablest advocates of heaven’s blessings on his head.”
WOMAN.
“She ne’er with treacherous kiss her Saviour stung,
Nor e’er denied Him with unholy tongue;
She, when apostles shrank, could danger brave;
Last at His cross and earliest at His grave.”
* * * * *
“To think of summers yet to come,
That I am not to see;
To think a weed is yet to bloom
From dust that I shall be!
“To think when heaven and earth are fled,
And times and seasons o’er,
When all that can die shall be dead,
That I must die no more!
“Ah! where will then my portion be?
How shall I spend eternity!”
* * * * *
The Literary Sensation of the Hour
IS
The Confessions of A Young Girl
_By VERA_
[Illustration]
WOULD YOU care to see love revealed in a new and entrancing light,
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Then seize this momentous opportunity and reap an experience which no
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THE CONFESSIONS OF A YOUNG GIRL
The book that has caused a sensation in the old world and is now
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THE LITERARY SENSATION OF TWO CONTINENTS
Printed from large type, and bound in paper cover with illustration in
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* * * * *
TWO HUNDRED OLD-TIME SONGS.
This volume contains the _words and music_ of choicest gems of the old
and familiar songs we used to sing when we were young. It has been
arranged with great care and we have no hesitation in saying that it is
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of Contents=. The book contains 130 songs besides the ones mentioned
here and would cost $50 in sheet music form.
[Illustration]
Willie, We Have Missed You.
Wait for the Wagon.
Oh Dear! What Can the Matter be.
Oh Why do you Tease Me.
Oh, Would I Were a Bird.
Oh, Would I Were a Boy Again.
Over the Garden Wall.
Pilgrim Fathers, The.
Pat Malloy.
Pauper’s Drive, The.
Paddle Your Own Canoe.
Robin Adair.
Robinson Crusoe.
Don’t You Go, Tommy.
Free as a Bird.
In the Gloaming.
John Anderson, My Joe.
Katie’s Letter.
Little Annie Rooney.
Larboard Watch.
Life on the Ocean Wave, A.
Low Backed Car, The.
Mollie, Put the Kettle On.
Meet Me by Moonlight.
Nancy Lee.
O, Boys Carry Me ’Long.
Oh! Susannah.
Our Flag is There.
O Had I Wings Like a Dove.
Old Oaken Bucket, The.
O Come, Come Away.
Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep.
Rock Me to Sleep, Mother.
Sparkling and Bright.
There was an Old Woman.
’Tis the Last Rose of Summer.
Rose of Allandale.
Star Spangled Banner, The.
Saint Patrick Was a Gentleman.
See Saw, Margery Daw.
Sing a Song of Sixpence.
See, the Conquering Hero Comes.
Stop Dat Knockin’.
Sally in Our Alley.
Scots, What Ha’e Wi’ Wallace Bled.
Sword of Bunker Hill, The.
Spider and the Fly, The.
Shells of Ocean.
Steal Away.
Take Back the Heart.
Three Fishers Went Sailing.
Ten Little Niggers.
’Tis the Last Rose of Summer.
Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Ay.
Thou Art Gone From My Gaze.
There is a Green Hill far Away.
There was a Jolly Miller.
This book of 176 pages containing the above entire list of songs and
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* * * * *
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[Illustration]
saves money, saves labor. Makes cooking pleasurable, easy and
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of this magic volume, the busy housewife can quickly learn to make
hundreds of savory, appetizing, nourishing dishes, plain or fancy,
dainty or substantial.
Easy! Practical! Economical! Concise!
THE EVERYDAY COOK BOOK
is the Aladdin’s lamp that converts the kitchen into fairy land, and
the stove, oven and range into magic producers of appetizing and
delicious edibles.
TWO THOUSAND FAVORITE RECIPES
for cooking every known variety of food. Dishes that tickle the palate,
satisfy the appetite, aid digestion, promote health and prolong life.
The magic portal to a world of toothsome delights.
IT TELLS YOU HOW! IT SHOWS YOU HOW!
Makes Poor Cooks Good Cooks!
Converts Drudgery Into Pleasure, Toil Into Delight!
It Tells You What to Eat! When to Eat! How to Eat!
What to Buy! When to Buy! How to Buy!
Every recipe has been thoroughly tried and tested, and pronounced by
numerous housewives to be _par excellence_, not only as to pleasant
results, but also in regard to the _small cost_ involved. Also contains
scores of immensely valuable household hints and information on every
subject of interest to the cook, housewife and home-keeper.
A Cook Book and Home Encyclopedia All in One!
Invaluable for the Kitchen! Unequalled for the Home!
You Want it! You Cannot do Without It! Buy It Now!
The book contains 200 pages, size 7 x 5 inches, is bound in heavy paper
cover, and will be sent by mail, postpaid, upon receipt of only 30
cents in stamps or silver.
* * * * *
FORTUNE-TELLING BY CARDS, DICE, and CRYSTAL.
[Illustration]
Here, indeed, is a book every young man or woman should have. You must
have often noticed at card parties, while sitting or standing around
waiting for late arrivals to come, there are a few moments when you
wish they’d start, or you wish there was “something doing.” Just at
this moment is your chance to make a hit with your fortune-telling
by cards. No matter how poor you are at it, the crowd will flock
around you four and five deep. You will be the king bee, as it were,
and you will have the inward pleasure of making the others feel like
a long skirt on a rainy day--very damp. In addition to the above,
“Fortune-Telling by the Magic Crystal” is gone into in detail, giving
all the symbols for a correct divination of the future. “The Oraculum:
or, Napoleon Buonaparte’s Book of Fate” (especially translated) is
given here for perhaps the first time in the English language. A table
of questions generally applicable has been compiled, and 16 pages
of answers, to suit any temperament or individuality, are given.
“Fortune-Telling With Dice” is very complete, giving an assorted list
of 32 answers to questions for every possible throw of two dice. Get
this book, study it, and use it at the first opportunity, and if the
girls don’t say you are certainly IT we’ll refund the money. Here’s a
chance to make a hit.
The book contains 100 pages, fully illustrated, is bound in paper
cover, and will be sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt of price, 30
cents. Address
* * * * *
HAND BOOK SERIES.
The following list contains the BEST that is written on dreams,
recitations and the art of DOING THINGS. All of them are well printed,
and bound in handsome colored covers, most of them being illustrated
throughout.
[Illustration]
Twelve Hundred New Riddles.
Model Letter Writer.
Gipsy Dream Book and Fortune Teller.
Amateur’s Guide to Magic and Mystery.
How to Entertain a Social Party.
How to Woo and How to Win.
The Old Witches’ Dream Book and Fortune Teller.
Two Hundred After-Dinner Stories.
The Swindlers of America.
Art of Ventriloquism.
Howard Thurston’s Card Tricks.
Hand-Shadows on the Wall.
Your Hand is Your Fortune.
Southwick’s Jokes and Recitations.
Southwick’s Irish Dialect Poems and Recitations.
Fortune Telling by Cards, Dice, Crystal, Etc.
Carter’s Magic and Magicians.
Taylor’s Popular Recitations.
Love, Courtship and Marriage.
Temptations of the Stage.
Behind the Scenes.
Children’s Recitations.
Recitations For Little People.
A Hundred Ways of Kissing Girls.
Five Hundred Toasts.
Great Words of Great Men.
After-Dinner Stories.
A Thousand Conundrums.
How to Mix Drinks.
How to Read Character by Handwriting.
Green Room Gossip.
The Art of Kissing.
Palmistry.
How To Become Beautiful.
The Album Writer’s Friend.
The Confessions of a Young Girl.
Vail’s Dream Book.
Pocket Manual of Useful Information.
Any of these books will be mailed, postpaid, for 30 cents.
OHIO CARD CO.,
COLUMBUS OHIO
* * * * *
Transcriber’s Notes:
“A Young Widow” is a pen name of Irene W. Hartt.
Punctuation has been made consistent.
Variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in
the original publication, except that obvious typographical errors have
been corrected.
The following change was made:
p. 7: illegible first letter assumed to be y (with yearning only,)
p. 63: her inserted (as her parents)
Ad for “FORTUNE-TELLING BY CARDS, DICE, and CRYSTAL”: The address is
missing at the end of the ad after the “Address” label.