They are a brace of birds of Paradise. They multiply their joys by sharing them, and lessen their troubles by dividing them. This is fine arithmetic. The wagon of care rolls lightly along as they pull together; and when it drags a little heavy, or there is a hitch anywhere, they love each other all the more, and so lighten the labor.-SPURGEON.

A Woman's Answer to a Man's Question.

Do you know you have asked for the costliest thing Ever made by the Hand above

A woman's heart and a woman's life

And a woman's wonderful love?

Do you know you have asked for this priceless thing
As a child might ask for a toy?
Demanding what others have died to win
With the reckless dash of a boy!

You have written my lesson of duty out;
Man-like, you have questioned me.
Now stand at the bar of my woman's soul
Until I shall question thee.

You require your mutton shall always be hot;
Your socks and your shirts shall be whole.

I require your heart shall be true as God's stars;
And pure as Heaven your soul.

You require a cook for your mutton and beef;
I require a far grander thing.

A seamstress you 're wanting for stockings and shirts;

I look for a man and a king.

A king for a beautiful realm called home,
And a man whom the maker, God,

Shall look upon as He did the first,

I am fair and young, but the rose will fade
From my soft, young cheek one day.
Will you love me then, 'mid the falling leaves,
As you did 'mid the bloom of May?

Is your

heart an ocean so strong and deep
I may launch my all on its tide?
A loving woman finds Heaven or hell
On the day she is made a bride.

I require all things that are grand and true;
All things that a man should be.

If you give this all I would stake my life.
To be all you demand of me.

If you can not do this, a laundress and cook
You can hire with little to pay;

But a woman's heart and a woman's life

Are not to be won that way.

MARY T. LATHROP.

Marriage Happy.

My experience of my first wife-who will, I hope, live to be my last is much as follows: Matrimony came from Paradise, and leads to it. I never was half so happy before I was a married man as I am now. When you

are married, your bliss begins. I have no doubt that where there is much love there will be much to love, and where love is scant faults will be plentiful. If there is only one good wife in Englard, I am the man who put the ring on her finger, and 'ong may she wear it! God bless the dear soul! If she can put up with me, she shall never be put down by me.

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If I were not married today, and saw a suitable partner, I would be married tomorrow morning before breakfast. What think you of that? Why," says one, "I think John would get a new wife if he was left a widower." Well, and what if he did? How could he better show that he was happy with his first? I declare I would not say, as some do, that they married to have some one to look after the children. I should marry to have some

one to look after myself.—Spurgeon.

An Old Song.

I recollect an old ballad which Gaffer Brooks used to sing about a man's being better hanged than married. It shows how common it was to abuse married life. It is almost too bad to print it, but here it is, as near as I remember it:

"There was a victim in a cart,

One day for to be hanged.

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But his reprieve was granted.

And the cart made for to stand.

'Come, marry a wife and save your life!'
The judge aloud did cry.

'Oh, why should I corrupt my life?'
The victim did reply.

'For here's a crowd of every sort,

And why should I prevent their sport?

The bargain's bad in every part.

The wife's the worst-drive on the cart.'"

Now, this rubbish does not prove that the women are bad, but that their husbands are good for nothing, or else they would not make up such abominable slanders about their partners. The rottenest bough cracks first, and it looks as if the male side of the house was the worse of the two, for it certainly has made up the most grumbling proverbs. SPURGEON.

Spurgeon on Marriage.

A true wife is her husband's better half, his lump of delight, his flower of beauty, his guardian angel, and his heart's treasure. He says to her: "" I shall in thee most happy be. In thee, my choice, I do rejoice. In thee I find content of mind. God's appointment is my contentment." In her company he finds his earthly Heaven. She is the light of his home, the comfort of his soul and (for this world) the soul of his comfort. Whatever forɩ

Some men can

une God may send him, he is rich so long as she lives. A good husband makes a good wife. neither do without wives nor with them. They are wretched alone in what is called single blessedness, and

they make their homes miserable when they get married. They are like Tompkin's dɔg, which could not bear to be loose, and howled when it was tied up. Happy bachelors are likely to be happy husbands, and a happy husband is the happiest of men.

The question was once asked: marry?" The merry answer was:

"When should a man "For young men, it

is too soon; for old men, it is too late." This is all very fine, but it will not wash. Both the wisdom and the folly of men seem banded together to make a mock of this doctrine. Men are such fools that they must and will marry, even if they marry fools. It is wise to marry when we can marry wisely, and then the sooner the better. How many show their sense in choosing a partner it is not for me to say, but I fear that in many cases love is blind, and makes a very blind choice. I do not suppose that some people would ever get married at all if love had its wits about it.

It is a mystery how certain parties ever found partners. Truly, there is no accounting for tastes. However, as they make their bed they must lie on it, and as they tie the knot they must be tied by it. If a man catches a Tartar, or lets a Tartar catch him, he must take his dose of tartaric acid, and make as few ugly faces as he can. If a three-legged stool comes flying through the air, he must be thankful for such a plain token of love from the woman of his choice, and the best thing he can do is to sit down on it and wait for the next little article.-SPURGEON.