"Sir," cried L——, starting round in a passion. Fixing his eyes for a moment on my wooden phiz, however, he burst into a fit of laughter, and then as suddenly assuming a most doleful change of countenance, he squeezed my hand and said to me apart, in a tragic tone, "Ah, my dear friend, you were right—you were right."
"He that would lead a happy married life,
First learn to rule, and then to have, a wife,"
say Beaumont and Fletcher—and a pleasant aphorism it is too—and a wise and useful—but with a slight alteration, a periphrasis comprehending advice not less to the purpose may be presented—
"He that would lead a happy wedded life,
Beware of marrying a too youthful wife."