MARRIAGE-A FINE ART.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1667, 6 February 1913, Page 2

MARRIAGE-A FINE ART.

, The real solution of tho' troubles 'of matrimony is to make of marriage a. fine art,,to lift it from the' Slough of Despond, ttnd raise it to a heicht in which diplo-macy-hasitsgi-iat end perfect work, and where a'. lonian _T?ho" ' aloi)g ,with ,a husband;'without a ruffle oyer the bills, or the cooking, or tho rearing tho children, will'occupy the., same, position of eminence in tho community as that which we accord to the man who has been' ambassador extraordinary and Minister plenipotentiary' to the Court of St. James's, said Dorothy Dix in a speech 'at the annual breakfast' of the Lite as a Fine Art Club in America. Too long have we been tinder the. delusion that marriage' wns a snap that any girl with ri pink' and white oomploxion and soulful eyos could execute .without previous training or experience. Now we are beginning to realise that matrimony is the most complicated profession l on earth, and the one requiring the most divergent talents and abilities to fill. The wisdom of tho serpent,' the liarmlesshess of \tho dove, tho patience of Job, the'long-suffer-ing of Grisclda,the financial ' of Hetty Green, tho eportiveness',of' a.ehorus girl, tho ability'-of- Mrs.' ltoi-cr. with' a cooking stove, and an unlimited power of forgiveness aro only a few of tho qualities tlmt go to make up the successful wife, and why on earth matrimony ever got the reputation of being a sort of trado that any amateur could ■ practise, nobody knows. '■ • • ■ , No wonder, the land is full of divorces; but with a recognition that it is up to every bride to make of her married life what she will, that she can turn it into a grand sweet song as well 'as a ;scream; that sho csm be a skilful pilot who can avoid the icebergs and frosts of matrimony as easily as she can recklessly hit "them in head-on collisions and go to smash, wo shall have a new era of domestic calm and happiness. Wo are indeed the architects of our fate, and wo make our own success or failure. This is as true of existence itself, and it is true now, as never before, that it is not enough for us just to live, we must make' of life a fine art. .