Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1861-01-02
MISCELLANEOUS FEEDING.

A kiss is like a sermon. 1T requires t,ro
heads and an application" 1t deals with
the hidden spirit by means OF tangible
symbols 1t is like faith, in that it is 'the
substance of things hoped for" 1t is the
language Of affection, the echo of love and
concentration Of bliss; it is Of t'good report"
and pleasing to our ears; II is eloqueIce
dwelling with sweet accents upon the lips.
II is both vocal and instrumental "harmo-
nies" in Il language and With sentiment
inteligible III AL languages and in all ages.
Ii is the seal of fathers blessing, the
''witness" of Il mothers love, the "guaran-
tee" of brother's protection, the surety of
sisters devotion, the gate to u lovcr's
heaven, and something that mere friends
have nothing to do with. 1t is very fash
ionabie for Misses of certain age to insist
that ait is all fooishness, and decidedly sill
w." We never near such an expression
without thinking Of circumstance that ac-
tualy occurred, somewhere in Indiana five
remember rightly. A gentleman stopped at
house by the wayside for information as
to the route he was taking. and found q wo-
man ironing, with her little child trying to
amuse itself upon the floor; the little one
vas some two and half years old, very
neatly dressed, evidently scrupulously car
ed for, and cminently handsome The gen
teman, while talking to the mother, picked
up the child and kissed it; the little one
looked up in such perfect astonishment that
the gentleman remarked, "Why my little
dear one would think that you were not
used to being kissed" The mother answer
ed for the child, II don't believe, sir, that
she was ever kissed before in her life. I'm
sure ! never did such thing, and never
knew its father to do So" Lord have mer-
cy on that child and send it somebody to love
it, was the gentleman's prayer, as he made
sure that his wallet was i'll it's place, and took
himself out of the house as fast as possible.
Not to know the holy kiss of a mother, the
fondling embrace Of father, the earnest lip
press of brothers and sisters, is to fail in the
DEVELOPMENT of the soul in an essential and
vital degree and surely what is so vendor
Gus holy in infancy, so refining in childhood,
so worthy in parents SD prevalent upon the
hearthstune, is not a matter to be disposed
Of with a sneer, or dismissed with "Pooh"
Kissing, like the marriage bells, or the
blessed truths Of the blessed Bible, never
| wears out it is, like them, always new,
fresh, and interesting; and, for the same rca-
son, viz, it deals with the affections, which,
unlike the intellect, loves the familiar; de-
lghts in the old, and is coy of the new and
strange.
The variety of kisses is not small There
is the kiss paternal, the kiss traternal, the
kiss connubial, land pre-connubial,) and the
kiss pfonscuous. The last two varieties arc
the only ones to which we object. We
have often thought, in reference to the kiss
proniscuous, one of the blessings of the man
over the woman consisted in being relieved of
this conventional duty. 1t seems to US, in
very many instances, like casting pearls be-
fore swine; aud in illustration Of the old adage
"Famiiarty breeds contempt Aman or
| woman who makes himself or herself COM
mon iu this respect, must not wonder IT they
are not always appreciated. Notwlthstand.
ing all that we have said, we are not slow to
| confess that in many cases the practice is
carried to unseemingly and ridiculous
lengths What sense is there 10 ladys re-
ceiving every feminine caller with the same
expressions that she would greet the leturn
| ufa long absent brother or husband? Is 1t
| not Il hypucritical lie for Mrs. Jones to thus
| express affection for Mrs. Quidnunc, when,
in her heart, Mrs. j. wishes Mrs. q. at
home? Is it not outrageous to bo expected
to put mothers lips To eyerybody's baby,
clean or dirty?-L0nd0n Critic.