The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-09-18

towards her parents and brothers and sisters
be the same when visitors are absent as when
they are present; If her interest in literature
aud the arts be not assumed; and if she is, in
brief. an angel in disposition and soundly-
cultivated woman in attainments, no study of
the brothers character will destroy or alter
ones regard for her. On the contrary, when
he sees all these good qualities displayed In
their raw material-when the youth OF lpgen-
uous pardon betrays the same fine attributes,
o trihe less harmonized and polIshed, which
his sister exhibits, the lover feels assured OF
the wisdom of his choice. He goss forward to
the inevitable goal with courage and hope.
The period OF hesitation is over, and rivals are
hidden to beware.
On the other hand, the brother may unwit-
tingly tell tales of the most disastrous kind.
One OF the chief tests OF character ls lts re-
gard for truth; and veracity is so much mat
ter of habit-so much dependant on the edu-
likely to have notions on the subject more or
less similar. OF course, we do not mean that
intentional lying is likely to accrue from q
cert,in kind of bringing up, however much it
NAV help towards it; but that habit OF utter
ing inaccurate Observation-Disclosures through q
transient wish OF making matters look pleas
ant to ones companion, or whether through
certain intellectual tasclnation for dramatic
points, which misplaces what is for what might
be-is one of the commouest OF human fail
ings. The brother will show you whether that
tendency has been largely developed in the
family, He has not the skill to be consis-
tent iu his innocent misrepresentation. To
please you, perhaps, he will profess an ardent
admiration for some mutual acquaintance, and
saw how much that acquaintance is admired
and liked by his (the brother's) family; and
then, next day, having forgotten all about the
matter, he will call the acquaintance tiresome
old fool, whom his sisters detest. Another re-
lated point on which he will yield much impor-
tant information to the anxious lover is the
extent to which the family has been brought
up "ior show"-whether that exceeding cour-
tesy and perfect amlability OF the sister is q
natural or acquired product. He. too, it may
has been taught, that the chief duty 10 life is
to look we'll in the estimation of friends, and
he will display in the most ingenious
fashion the means which the family ira
ditions have thought requisite for that pur-
pose. He will profess love for intellectual
and artistic pursuits which you see he does
not feel merely because it is right and proper
that he should do 80. Ii he has been taught
to assume sincerity as virtue, be viii betray
the conflict between his own nature and the
assumption. Play with him at billiards, and
in fits and starts he will exhibit an astonish
ing candor in confessing to "fukes"
ly priding himself on his honesty, and hoping
that you admire it; and the next minute you
will find him relapsing into his real self. and
making statements about intended 'csnnons'
which are calculated to strike you with awe
and wonder. In many similar directions, the
brother may be led to give evidence up IN fami-
ly Qualities, irrespective of those chance lights
which YOU may obtain from his direct asser-
tions.
But the grand point, in which he is an al
most infalhble guide, is temper. We know
OF few more interesting amusements-even for
those who ore long past the age at which con-
than the noting Of the strange resemblances
and differences between the family disposition
as it is exhibited in q son, and the same as it
is exhibited in daughter. These minute
shades of discrepancy, tempered by all the
VARYING conditions OF sex, age, and opportuDi
ty, form sort of physical kaleidoscope per-
petually offering new, combinations. And
when it is your brotherlu-law whom you are
the interests indefinitely increased,
There Ia not fit Of querelous wayw ardness
in the brother that does not beget qualm in
the heart OF the sisters suitor, and there is
nothing which rejoces the latter 80 much as
to observe courageously confederate attitude
in the temper aud disposition OF the boy or
man, In the caec OF tto bIvtfrcr ttrcrc urO Iru
petty feminine DISCUSSES to conceal the true
State Of affairs. and the lover rapidly forms an
intimacy which is full OF surprises to him.
Anxiously does he inquire whether this his
possible brother. iD-law is always governed by
the absolute indecision Of Judgment and way
ward temper which he sometimes exhibits. He
looks with dismay upon the brothers peevish
irrtability, and Is so shocked by his intractable
and obstinate folly as scarcely to be able to re
monstrate. Perhaps there are two or three
brothers. all gifted with the irascible and child
ish temperament; and, perhaps. both father
and mother are dangerous subjects 10 deal
with, when the soup is cold or the dressmaker
diatory.
With all these indications. it is possible that
his faith in his own sweet friend should not
be troubled. How, he asks himself, could such
q perfect flower have sprung up in this hot
house Of angry passions? Angels do not con-
sort with devils; and in such paudemonium
the appearance of an incongruous visitor pro-
vokes suspicion. This young brother, for ex-
ample is the incarnation Of bad temper, and
even seems conscious OF it. he confesses to
having got into q rage about nothing, and
having Kept himself and hIs family on tenter-
hooks during dinner simply through tit OF
sulkiness. II he gets q bad hand at whist,
he filings down the cards in passion, and
goes OF to his own room; il he misses
favorite stroke at billiards, he dashes his cue
on the table, cuts the CLOTH ana SITS down,
morose and red-faced. He makes no effort
to control himself; and in these child
l6n mOOub D6Wdro ludI you wv uo. oPOah w
him of that sister IN whom you are interest ID.
He will tel the truth about her, or, rather, he
will tell what his uneovernable passion, vent
ing itself upon every object OF his conter pla-
ton, would have you to consider the truth.
It's small matter what the boy says; but 1t
is grave matter that such ungovernable tenn
D .rs should be in a family. lnssnity, s.rofsla,
dipsomania are not the only hereditary all
ments which the man who would marry has to
guard against. Besides the disease OF an in
fammable temper, there is that OF INCONSISTENCY
of the affections, which is as often as not
purely physical defect. There are persons whose
affections are Inherently devoid CT permanence;
to expect them 10 remain constant through
any period OF absence or TRAILS to expect a
blind man to see. They are gifted or cursed
with facile and transitory nature. which natu-
rally clings to the object nearest It, and yet
does not cling pertinaclously. half dozen
words, a single look, railway journey, an in
troduction-apy one of tic ordinary incidents
of life-may transfer the unsubstantial and
treacherous regard of such persons to other
objects. Nor can we blame them. They are
not necessarily voluntary agents. Their radi-
cal weakness causes them to shift their uncer-
tain love; and it would only be useless hvpocri-
sy, possibly attended with dircful results, for
them to pretend that it ha not shifted. To
assume the virtue OF constancy is CRIME,
while to be honestly inconsistent is to accept
ones misfortune.
Here, also, the brother is invaluable. The
lover watches him closely to perceive whether
he shows symptoms OF that perpetual lndecl-
sion Of the affections which has produced 80
many tragedies in domestic life. He regards
this Young mans flirtations with his sister 3
friends with peculiar interest. The lover al
f.. L. foka 10 6annnGapt IN