10. DO NOT MARRY BECAUSE SOMEONE ELSE MAY SEEK THE SAME HAND.--One glove
may not fit all hands equally well.
11. DO NOT MARRY TO GET RID OF ANYBODY.--The coward who shot himself to
escape from being drafted was insane.
12. DO NOT MARRY MERELY FOR THE IMPULSE OF LOVE.--Love is a principle as
well as an emotion. So far as it is a sentiment it is a blind guide. It
does not wait to test the presence of exalted character in its object
before breaking out into a flame. Shavings make a hot fire, but hard coal
is better for the Winter.
13. DO NOT MARRY WITHOUT LOVE.--A body without a soul soon becomes
offensive.
14. TEST CAREFULLY THE EFFECT OF PROTRACTED ASSOCIATION.--If familiarity
breeds contempt before marriage it will afterward.
15. TEST CAREFULLY THE EFFECT OF PROTRACTED SEPARATION.--True love will
defy both time and space.
16. CONSIDER CAREFULLY the right of your children under the laws of
heredity. It is doubtful whether you have a right to increase the number of
invalids and cripples.
17. DO NOT MARRY SIMPLY BECAUSE YOU HAVE PROMISED TO DO SO.--If a seam
opens between you now it will widen into {176} a gulf. It is less offensive
to retract a mistaken promise than to perjure your soul before the altar.
Your intended spouse has a right to absolute integrity.
[Illustration: GOING TO BE MARRIED.]