When Looking for a Wife, Acknowledge the Dangers of the “Matrimonial Seas”

John Newton speaks of a friend who is looking for a wife. He speaks of the dangers of finding a bad wife. In a letter, he refers to a mutual friend who was,

“very busy about that precious piece of furniture called a wife. May the Lord direct and bless His choice! In Captain Cook's voyage to the South Sea, some fish were caught which looked as well as others, but those who ate of them were poisoned: alas! for the poor man who catches a poisonous wife! There are such to be met with in the matrimonial seas, that look passing well to the eye, but a connexion with them proves baneful to domestic peace, and hurtful to the life of grace. I know two or three people, perhaps a few more, who have great reason to be thankful to Him who sent the fish with the money in its mouth to Peter's hook. He secretly instructed and guided us where to angle; and if we have caught prizes, we owe it not to our own skill, much less to our deserts, but to His goodness.”

A letter on “Worries about the Journey--A Good Wife,” by John Newton, July 15, 1777