But the mighty mother nature, who had been so
sly with us, as if she felt she owed us some indemnity, insinuates into
the Pandora box of marriage some deep and serious benefits and some
great joys." "It is a mistake to consider marriage merely as a scheme of
happiness," says Chapin; "it is also a bond of service. It is the most
ancient form of that social ministration which God has ordained for
human beings, and which is symbolized by all the relations of nature."
"Marriage" says Selden, "is a desperate thing;
THE FROGS IN AESOP
were extremely wise; they had a great mind to some water, but they would
not leap into the well, because they could not get out again." Why were
they wise? They were not wise at all. I have seen frogs in wells who are
more contented than they would be outside. "Men are April when they woo,
December when they wed," says Shakspeare; but he also says that "maids
are May when they are maids, but the sky changes when they are wives,"
so it is an even tilt between two forms of human nature. "If idleness be
the root of all evil," says Vanbruch, "then matrimony is good for
something, for it sets many a poor woman to work.
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