The star of the north. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1849-1866, 1861-03-06


kiss is Ikea sermon 'sit requires flco
heads and an oppbcahon'' II deals with the
hidden spirit by means of tangible symbols
II is Ike faith. in that it is ''the substance
of things hoped for.' II is the language of
affection. the echo of love and the concen-
tration of bliss; it is of ''good report" and
pleasing to our ears il is eloqnence ''Gwel-
ling with sweet accents npon the lips" 1t
il both vocal and instrumental "harmonies''
in a language and with sentiment intelli-
gible in all languages and in all ages II is
the sseal" of fathers blessing, the "wit-
ness" OF a morher's love. the guarantee"
of brothers protection, the surety" of a
sisters devotion. the "gate' 10 lovers
heaven, and something that mere friends
have nothing to do with
Il is very fashionable for Misses of GER
lain age 70 insis, that ''Ii is all foolishness.
and decidedly silly" We never hear such
an expression without thinking of a cir
cumstau-e thai actually occurred, sofne-
where in Indiana, II we rightly remember
A gentleman stopped at house by The
waysiie for Information as TO the route he
was taking and found a woman ironing.
with her little child trying to amuse itself
ppon The floor, the little one was some two
and half years old, very neatly dressed,
evidently scrupulously cared for and emi-
renily handsome The gentleman, while
taking 10 The mother. picked up tie child
and kissed it; me little one looked up in
such perfect astonishmen. that The gentle-
man remarked, ''why, my lille dear. one
would think that you were not used 10 be
being kissed " The mother answered for
the child, 81 don't believe. sir. that she
was ever kissed before in her Iife I'm
sure never did such a thing, and never
knew iis father 10 do 500 Lord have mer-
cy on thai child and send il somebody 10
love it, was the gentfeman's prayer as he
made sure that his wallet was in its place,
and icok himself out OF the house as fast as
possible. Not TO know the holy kiss of
the earnest lip press of brother or sister,
is to tai. in Development of the soul in an
essential and vial degree and surely what
is 50 wondrousholy in infancy so refining in
childhood, so worthy in parents, AMI SO
prevalent upon the hearthstone, is not a
matter TO be disposed of with sneer, or
dismissed with 'spooh %
kissing. like the marriage bells, or the
blessed truths of the blessed Bible, never
wears ont; il is, like them, always new,
fresh and interesting and, for the same
reason, viz: il deals with The affections,
which, unlike the intellect, loves the famil.
lar, delights 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 fraiernal, the kiss connubial, (and pre-
connu5ial,; and the kiss promiscuous. The
last two varieties are the only ones 10 which
we object. We have often thou ght, in ref
erence to the kiss promiscuous, one of the
blessings of the man over the woman con
sisted in being relieved Of this conventional
duty Il seems 10 rs, in very many insian-
ces, like casting pearls before swine, and
in illustration of the old adage, aFamiIarity
breeds conlemptD A man or a woman
who makes himself common in this respect
must not wonder il they are not always ap-
preciated
Notwithstanding all that we have sai1 we
are not slow 10 confess thai in many cases
the practice is carried 10 unseemly aud rid
icuIous lengths. What sense is there in a
lady receiving every feminine caller with
the same expressions that she would greer
the return Of q long absent brother or hus-
band Il L not 3 hvnocriticaI lie for Mrs