303. [281.] The Dutch
How formally and courteously the Dutch invite their wives to join them!* They also go to them and conduct them to their houses, and show them how well it is with people who live in harmony in their own homes. They show them, too, how clean and ornamented the homes of those people are, and conversely how unclean they are when one exercises control over the other. Moreover, tasty food is given to those who live together in harmony. The husbands also teach their wives what delight those people have when one belongs to the other, and this mutually and reciprocally. As a result, when the wives see these things and perceive them to be true, they desist from their exercise of mastery, and they then acquire a dwelling closer to the center and are introduced into a more ornate home. The reason is that married love** then reigns, which regarded in itself is the essence of heavenly love. * The context for this report is found in no. [22] above. ** Or, conjugial love.