THE EDUCATION OF HUSBANDS
How suggestive is the new year of bills; and bills of housekeeping. It is fearful to reflect how many persons rush into matrimony, totally unprepared for the awful change that awaits them. A man may take a wife at twenty-one, before he knows the difference between a chip and a Leghorn! We would no more grant a marriage licence to anybody simply because he is of age, than a licence, on that ground only, to practise as an apothecary. Husbands ought to be educated. We should like to have the following questions put to young and inexperienced "Persons about to Marry:"—
Are you aware, sir, of the price of coals and candles?
Do you know which is more economical, the aitch-bone, or the round?
How far, young man, will a leg of mutton go in a small family?
How much dearer, now, is silver than Britannia?
Please to give the average price of a four-poster.