Page:Wedding-ring, fit for the finger, or, The salve of divinity on the sore of humanity (5).pdf/22

22 two suitors courted her together, the one rich, and a fool; the other wise, but poor; and being demanded which of the two he had rather his daughter should have? he answered, ''Mallen virum fine pecunia, &c. I had rather she should have a man without money, than money without a man.''

3. Chuse not by your ears, for the dignity of her parentage. A good old stock may nourish a fruitless branch. There are many children who are not the blessings, but the blemishes of their parents They are nobly descended, but ignobly minded. Such was Aurelius Antonius, of whom it was said, That he injured his country in nothing, but being the father of such a child. There are many low in their descents, that are high in their deserts. Such as the cobler's son, who grew to be a famous captain; when a great person upbraided the meanness of his original, My nobility, saith he, begins with me, but thy nobility ends with thee Piety is a greater honour than parentage. She is the best gentlewoman that is heir to her own deserts, and not the degenerate offspring of another's virtue. To present you with a good choice in three things:

1. Chuse such a one as will be subject to your dominion. Take heed of yoking yourselves with untamed heifers.

2. Chuse such a one as may sympathize with you in your affliction. Marriage is just like a sea-voyage; he that enters into this ship, must look to meet with storms and tempests, 1 Cor. vii. 26. They that marry shall have trouble in