Produced by Dagny; and John Bickers
"To be or not to be,
That is the question."
—Shakspeare, Hamlet.
When a man reaches the position in which the first part of this booksets him, we suppose that the idea of his wife being possessed byanother makes his heart beat, and rekindles his passion, either by anappeal to his amour propre, his egotism, or his self-interest, forunless he is still on his wife's side, he must be one of the lowest ofmen and deserves his fate.
In this trying moment it is very difficult for a husband to avoidmaking mistakes; for, with regard to most men, the art of ruling awife is even less known than that of judiciously choosing one.However, marital policy consists chiefly in the practical applicationof three principles which should be the soul of your conduct. Thefirst is never to believe what a woman says; the second, always tolook for the spirit without dwelling too much upon the letter of heractions; and the third, not to forget that a woman is never sogarrulous as when she holds her tongue, and is never working with moreenergy than when she keeps quiet.
From the moment that your suspicions are aroused, you ought to be likea man mounted on a tricky horse, who always watches the ears of thebeast, in fear of being thrown from the saddle.
But art consists not so much in the knowledge of principles, as in themanner of applying them; to reveal them to ignorant people is to put arazor in the hand of a monkey. Moreover, the first and most vital ofyour duties consists in perpetual dissimulation, an accomplishment inwhich most husbands are sadly lacking. In detecting the symptoms ofminotaurism a little too plainly marked in the conduct of their wives,most men at once indulge in the most insulting suspicions. Their mindscontract a tinge of bitterness which manifests itself in theirconversation, and in their manners; and the alarm which fills theirheart, like the gas flame in a glass globe, lights up theircountenances so plainly, that it accounts for their conduct.
Now a woman, who has twelve hours more than you have each day toreflect and to study you, reads the suspicion written upon your faceat the very moment that it arises. She will never forget thisgratuitous insult. Nothing can ever remedy that. All is now said anddone, and the very next day, if she has opportunity, she will join theranks of inconsistent women.
You ought then to begin under these circumstances to affect towardsyour wife the same boundless confidence that you have hitherto had inher. If you begin to lull her anxieties by honeyed words, you arelost, she will not believe you; for she has her policy as you haveyours. Now there is as much need for tact as for kindliness in yourbehavior, in order to inculcate in her, without her knowing it, afeeling of security, which will lead her to lay back her ears, andprevent you from using rein or spur at the wrong moment.
But how can we compare a horse, the frankest of all animals, to abeing, the flashes of whose thought, and the movements of whoseimpulses render her