WHEN first thou go'st to court a maid,
If thou'dst succeed, implore God's aid,
And take his Spirit for thy guide,
Or thou'lt ne'er get a worthy bride.

A wife with modesty endow'd
And grace, is the best gift of God,
A gift, that none shall e'er obtain,
But they that in his fear remain.

Then beg of God, this gift to have,
And his divine assistance crave:
So shalt thou meet with good success,
And all will favour thy address.

Yet, ere thou weddest, as is fit,
Unto thy parent's will submit,
Ask their consent upon the knee:
So shall thy nuptials happy be!

God unto them, wou'd have thee bow,
Beg their advice, their pleasure know,
Ere thou presum'st a wife to take:
So no improper match they make.

Yet he'd not have them force thy mind
To marry, where thou'rt not inclin'd,
One, whom thy heart cou'd never love,
And ne'er cou'd thy affections move.

If full of Grace, if good in kind,
In body perfect, and in mind,
The maiden be - if bless'd with sense,
With Virtue, Wisdom, Competence,-
Follow where nature leads the way,
And the divine command obey.

Thy parents must the choice approve,
Or they'll resist the Lord above,
And in thy bosom light a fire,
To tempt inordinate desire.

Yet, if thou canst, ne'er fret thy sire,
But him, in all he shall require,
With filial duty seek to please,
And he'll thy wishes grant with ease.

A Protestant, of blameless life,
And truly pious, be thy wife:
Scarce e'er agreed the spouse and dame,
Whose principles were not the same!

Seek thou a maid, of honest kin,
Oft constitution sways to sin,-
And, if God does not guard her well,
Young miss will fall, where madam fell.

Clean, neat and lovely let her be,
From aukwardness and slutt'ry free:
Cold, tasteless, joyless, faint, the love,
(That's on a slattern plac'd) will prove.

Let her, whom thou'rt resolv'd to court,
Be of good life and good report -
Her temper mild - her words be few;
Worse than a scorpion is a shrew!

Let her be knowing, virtuous, wise,
And thou'lt above thine equals rise,
She'll fill thy house, thy fame advance,
And make thy heart with pleasure dance.

Courteous and clever, let her be,
And full of grace and charity:
Spare is his board, and hard his bed,
Who to unthriftiness is wed.

Let her be pleasing to behold;
Neither too young, nor yet too old:
The old and cold will starve thy love,
The young thy jealousy may move.

Like Sarah let her please her spouse,
And like Rebecca rule her house,
Like Rachel let the maid be fair,
And wise, like her, who Lemu'el bare.

Meek, mild, and gentle, let her be,
For manners, temp'rance, nurtur'd well:
Remark'd - obliging, nurtur'd well:
Three kingdoms wealth she'll then excel.

Of worthless, vain, coquets beware,
And of the slawny trapes, take care,
Nor to the dow'r-proud flirt incline:
She'll prove a plague to thee and thine.

Shun one too fair, too warm, too free,
Or she'll a bosom-serpent be:
For 'tis a chance that any find,
In a fam'd Toast, a modest mind.

Seek not the damsel to espouse,
Though rich, that cannot rule her house:
Like smoke, mists, floods, that fleet away,
Her wealth will lessen ev'ry day.

Shou'd two be plac'd before thy eyes,
One, merely rich - the other, wise -
Let thou the worthless fortune go,
And vig'rously the wise-one woo.

The wise-one will increase her store,
And daily raise her friends to pow'r,
'Till when her hand no respite knows,
Her sleepless eyes seek no repose.

The fool's the downfal of her race,
The wise-one e'en may cities raise,
The fool will make her husband sigh,
The wise will lift up her's on high.

The fool the stoutest heart will vex,
And the most wealthy spouse perplex;
She'll, to a little, much reduce,
'Till she has sham'd her friends and house:

She's a dead weight, a bosom-pain,
A ceaseless drop, a shameful stain,
A snake that stings, a yoke that galls:
Woe worth the Wight to whom she falls!

May heav'n direct thee to the best,
And be thou in a Consort blest,
With each good quality endow'd,
Belov'd by man, approv'd by God!