We will suppose you have read and profited by the excellent suggestions contained in an article published in a previous issue of this library, under the head of “How to Woo, Win and Wed.” You have succeeded in winning the object of your affections, and have set sail upon the sea of matrimony. It is often called a troublous sea. Such indeed it proves in truth to be for those who embark upon it not fully prepared for the voyage. Do you really, married or unmarried, know the full meaning of the word marriage. It is something far more serious than a mere civil contract or religious ceremony. These are only the marks of outward show. There is a good deal behind these—a good deal that you ought to know, and of which, perchance, you are ignorant. The aim of this article is to give some practical advice to those who have already entered into the bonds of matrimony, and it will not, it is hoped, come amiss to those about to marry, but who have not yet taken the step that leads to misery or bliss. “Marriage,” says Selden, “is a desperate thing; the frogs in Æsop 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.” Would that most of us possessed the wisdom of the fabled frogs.