woman without individuality or will of her owna nonentity. Thus, in the old play of "Tom Tyler and his Wife," one of the songs says:

"To marry a sheep, to marry a shrew,

To meet with a friend, to meet with a foe :
These checks of chance can no man flie
But God Himself that rules the skie."

And when it is remembered that—

"The best or worst thing to Man for his life,

Is good or ill-choosing his good or ill wife”.

it is no matter of surprise that he is warned to be prudent, for, as the old proverb already quoted

runs

"Who weds ere he be wise,
Shall die ere he thrive."

Chinese folk-lore contains much proverbial wisdom relative to women and marriage, much of which, if not always instructive, is amusing. Thus, it is said, "If heaven wants to rain, or your mother to marry again, nothing can prevent them ;" and, according to a popular rhyme

"In the great majority of cases,

Wives have fair and husbands ugly faces;
Yet there are many on the other side
Where the man is bound to an ugly bride."

Again, it is said, "A talented bridegroom is sometimes married to a worthless bride, and a clever woman is sometimes matched with a dolt "-an aphorism, indeed, which is found in the proverbial

literature of most countries; a Hindustani proverb warning the fair sex that "A clever maid married to a fool sorrows." On the other hand, when a young girl is about to be married, if the family on either side is agreeable to the union of the two, it is considered a matter for congratulation, for, as the Chinese proverb runs

"Marriages, when properly negotiated,
Cause neither family to be aggravated;

and, on this account, a young lady's parents are thus enjoined :

"In betrothing a daughter to any young man,
Very careful inquiry's the only safe plan;

or, as another version has it, "In marrying a daughter select an excellent son-in-law,' and the reason for taking this precaution is given in another admonitory proverb

-

"The bride that is linked to a worthless groom
Is like a man buried in a luckless tomb."

And, it may be added, it is also said, "In marrying a son seek a virtuous maiden, and scheme not for a rich dowry."

The bait of money as an inducement to matrimony has always been condemned, for, as the Dutch say

"Who weds a sot to get his lot,

Will lose the cot and get the sot."

But perhaps some of the strictest warnings are

to be found in the Sanskrit folk-tales and proverbs, in which only too often women are pictured in a far from favourable light, one reason, we are told, being that even marriage does not satisfy a woman's vanity, which is never satisfied. Accordingly, it is said, "The fire is never satisfied with the addition of fuel, the ocean with the influx of rivers, the Angel of Death with the mortality of all things which hath seen life, nor a beautiful woman with the conquest of all mankind;" and, it is added, "Women will forsake a husband who is possessed of every good qualityreputable, comely, good, obsequious, rich, and generous to steal to the company of some wretch who is destitute of every accomplishment and virtue." And yet, however much the advisability of marriage, in most countries, may be questioned, the Chinese adage must be allowed to pass without contradiction:

"For wives your sons are longing, your maids for husbands call;

This is the one arena in which strive one and all;

to which may be added the Talmud proverb, which runs thus: "God did not make woman from man's head, that she should not rule over him; nor from his feet, that she should not be his slave; but from his side, that she should be near his heart;"I and, as it is said in Russian proverbial lore, "All meat is to be eaten, all maids to be wed."

Cf. another Talmud proverb : "Women are parts cut

out of men."

"I

N buying horses and taking a wife," runs an Italian proverb, "shut your eyes and commend yourself to God;" and, according to an old English proverb, "One should choose a wife with the ears rather than with the eyes," for "A man's best fortune, or his worst, is his wife ; whereas another Italian proverb says that if a man would be really happy he should" praise a wife but remain a bachelor."

The fact that, in all ages, the taking of a wife has been regarded as a hazardous blessing accounts for the numerous proverbial aphorisms on the subject; for, as the Scotch say :

"The gude or ill hap o' a gude or ill life
Is the gude or ill choice o' a gude or ill wife;'

a further version of which runs as follows:

"Him that has a good wife no evil in life that may not be borne can befall,

Him that has a bad wife no good thing in life can chance to, that good you may call ;'

the equivalent of which is found in China, Negligent farming may induce temporary poverty, but a mistake in marrying blights a whole life." And there is another version, "When a man's vessel is upset and its masts broken, he is poor for a time; but when a man marries a bad wife he is poor for life." Indeed, since the wife is the key of the house, he is by general consent a fortunate man who alights on a good one, for

And again :

"A little house well filled,

A little land well tilled,
And a little wife well willed
Are great riches."

"Two things doth prolong this life,
A quiet heart and a loving wife;'

whereas a bad wife, as the Germans say, "is the shipwreck of her husband.”

Under a variety of forms we find this folkrhyme current in different parts of the country, and hence, it is said, "in choosing a wife and buying a sword, we ought not to trust another.' And so rarely is a good wife, we are told, to be found that, to quote an old adage, “there is one