must be on the verge of lunacy. The sense of being unable to endure one's own company augurs ill for the moral equilibrium. To preserve good health and sound nerves, women should always make it a rule to be quite alone at least for a couple of hours in the course of each day. Let them take that space to think, to read, to rest, and mentally review their own thoughts, words and actions in the light of a quiet conscience-time of pause and meditation. Home is the best place so to rest and meditate,—and the hours that are spent in thinking how to make that home happier will never be wasted. It should be very seriously borne in mind that it is only in the home life that marriage can be proved successful or the reverse, and, to quote Mr. Lecky once more:
"A moral basis of sterling qualities is of capital
importance. A true, honest and trustworthy nature,
capable of self-sacrifice and self-restraint,
should rank in the first line, and after that, a
kindly, equable and contented temper, a power
of sympathy, a habit of looking at the better and
brighter side of men and things. Of intellectual
qualities, judgment, tact and order, are perhaps
the most valuable. . . . Grace and the charm of
manner will retain their full attraction to the last.
They brighten in innumerable ways the little things
of life, and life is mainly made up of little things,
exposed to petty frictions, and requiring small
decisions and small sacrifices. Wide interests and
large appreciations are in the marriage relation
more important than any great constructive or
creative talent, and the power to soothe, to sym-
