Delaware State journal and statesman., 1862-01-28
NO. 8.
Bnt. aunt. the virtues are nOthing

So soon as they degenerate Into inslpid
insolence and listlessness.
And manly courage z
Becomes imperious rudeness
And modest diffidence Y
Turns to fawning humility.
And noble pride?'
TO vulgar haughtiness.'
'And readiness to oblige 2
Becomes habit of too ready friend
ship and servility.'
Dear aunt, you make me almost angry.
My future husband can never degenerate
thus. He has one virtue which will pre-
serve him as he is forever A deep sense,
an indestructible feeling for everything
that is great, and good, and noble, dwells
in me also, hope, as well 9s in him.
This is the innate pledge and security for
our happiness
But if it should grow old with you
if it should change to hateful excitabili-
ty and excitability is the worst enemy
of matrimony. You both possess sensi-
bility That do not deny but beware
lest this grace should degenerate into an
irritable and quarrelsome mortal
'Ah, dearest, if / might never become
old ! Vert thou always as fresh and
beautiful as to-day, still thy husbands
eyes would by custom of years become in
different to these advantages. Custom is
the greatest enchantress in the world, and
in the house of one of the most beneVo,
lent farriers. She renders that which is
the most beautiful, as well as the ugliest,
familiar. The wife is young and becomes
old it is custom which hinders the hus-
band from perceiving the change. On
the contrary, did she remain young while
he grew old, it might bring consequences,
and render the man in years jealous. 1t
is hetter as kind Providence has ordered
it, Imagine that thou hast grown TO be
an old woman and thy husband were u
blooming youth, how wondst thon then
feel p
Louise rubbed her chin, and replied, L
cannot tell
Her aunt continued But l will call
thy attention TO secret which,
'That is it, interrupted Louise, hastily,
that is it which long so much TO hear
Her aunt said Listen to me atten-
lively. What / now tell thee | have
proved. 1t consists of Two parts. The
first part of the means to render a mar
riage happy, of itself prevents every pos
sibility of dissension, and wonld even at
last make the spider and the fly the best
of friends with each other. The second
part is the best aud surest method of pre-
serving feminine attractions
'Ahp exclaimed Louise
'The former half means, then in the
first solitary hour after the ceremony, take
thy bridegroom and demand a solemn
vow of him, and give him q vow in return.
Promise one 'another sacredly aerer, not
even IN jest, 10 a0rdegle aCiM each other +:
never TO handy words, OF indulge in the
least ill-humor Ne0er! | say; never
wrangle in jest, and putting on an air of
ill-humor merely to tease, becomes earnest
by practice. Mark that Next promise
each other sincerely and solemnly, necer
to haze secret from each other under
whatever pretext with whatever excuse it
may be. You must continually, and eve
ry moment see clearly into each others
bosom. Even when one of you have com
mitted fault wait not an instant, but
confess it ireely-let it cost tears, but
confess it. And as you keep nothing Sc
cret from each other, so, on the contrary,
preserve the privacies of your house,
marriage state and heart, from father,
mother, brother, sister, aunt, and all the
rest of the world You two, with Gods
help, build your own quiet world every
third or fourth one you draw into it will
form a party, and stand between you two
That should never be. Promise this to
each other. Renew the vow at each
temptation. You will find your own ac-
count in it. Your souls will grow as it
were together, and will at last become as
one. All if many a young pair had on
their wedding day known this secret, how
many marriages were happier than, alas,
they are =
Louise kissed her aunt's hand with
-ardor. Il feel that it must be so-
Where this confidence is absent, the mar
ried, even after wedlock, are two stran-
gers who do not know each other. 1t
should be so without this, there can be
no happiness And now, aunt, the best
preservative of female bcGutyY
Her aunt smiled, and said We may
not conceal from ourselves that a hand
some man pleases us a hundred times
more than an Unlocking one, and the men
are pleased with us when we are pretty.
But what we call beautiful, what in the
woman pleascs the man, is not skin and
hair, the shape and color, as in picture
or statue il is the character, it is the
soul that is within these, that enchants us
by looks aud words, earnestness, and joy
and sorrow The men admire us the
more they suppose those virtues of the
mind to exist in us which the outside
promises and We think a malicious man
disagreeablc, however graceful and hand
some he may be. Let young maiden,
then, preserve that purity of soul those
sweet qualities of the mind, those virtues,
in short, by which she first drew her lover
to her feet And the best preservation of
virtue, to render it unchanged, and keep
it ever young, is rehgion-that inward
union with the Deity and eternity and
faith-is piety, that walketh with God, so
pure, so peaceful so benefcent with
mortals,'
See, dear heart continued the aunt,
there are virtues which arise out of mere
experience These grow old with time,
and alter, because by change of circum-
stances and inclinations, prudence alters
her rules Of action, and because her growth
does not always keep pace with that Of
our years and passions. But religious
virtues can never change these remain
etenally the same, because our God is
always the same, and that eternity the