The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1869-10-08
ABBEVII,LE, S. c., FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1862

he asks himself, could such perfect
Hover have sprung up, in this hot,
house ofangry passions ? Angels do
! not consort with devils; and in such
pandcmonium tho appearance of an
incongruous visitor provol1cs suspi.
cion. This young brother, for cxam-
pie, is the incarnation OF bad temper,
and even seems conscious OF it. lie
confcsscs to having got into a ragc
about nothing, and having kept him
self and his family OH tcntcrhooks
during dinner, simply through fit OF
sulkincss. Ifhc gets a bad hand al
whist, he flings down the cards in Il
passion, and goes of to his own room
if he misses afavoritc stroke at bill
liards, he dashcs his cuc on the table,
cuts the cloth. and sits down, morse
and rcd-faccd. Tic makes no effort to
control himself; and in these childish
moods beware that you do not speak
TO him Of that sister in whom you are
interested. lie will tell the truth
about her, or, rather, he will tell what
his ungovcrnablc passion, venting it.
self upon every object Of his contcm-
platon, would have you to consider
tho truth. 1t is small matter what
the boy says butt is q grave matter
that such un%ovcrnablo temp crs
should be in = fatally. Insanity,
scroiu'a, dipsomania arc not the only
hereditary ailments which the man
who would marry has to guard against.
besides the disease Of an inGammablc
temper, there is that Of Inconsistency
OF thc affections, which is as often as
not q purely physical defect. There
are persons whose affections arc in
hcrcnt]y devoid Of performance to
expect them TO remain constant
through any period Of absence or tri-
al is to expect 4 blind man to sec.
They arc gifted or cursed with 4 Eaciic
aad transitory nature. which natural
ly clinys TO the object nearest it, and
yet does not cling pertinaciously.
Half a dozen words, 4 single look: Il
railway journey, an introduction
any one Of the ordinary incidents of
lifH-mav transfe: The unsubs;antial
arSStrcacherous regard Of such pc"-
sc3s tc other objects. Nor can we
blame them. They arc not ncccssa-
rily voluntary agents. Their radical
weakness causes them 10 shift their
uncertain love aud it would only be
useless hypocrisy, possibly attend
with lircfaI results, for thcm TO pre-
tcn'! that it had not shifted. To as.
sumo the vi".uc Of constancy is Il
crime, while TO be honestly inconsis.
tent is to accept ones misfortune.
Hero: also, the brother is irvalua-
bic. The lover watches him closely.
TO perceive whether he shows symp.
toms Of that perpetual indccision OF
the affections which have produced
so many tragedies in domestic life.
He regards this young mans flirta-
tons with his sisters friends with q
peculiar interest. The lover almost
feels that his own fate is dependent Oh
the amount OF honesty and couStancy
which this youth cvinccs and reads
iii the actions and sentiments Of the
boy the horoscope Of his own future
All this takes place when The lover is
rs yet undecided, end the study is the
most engaging and fascinating that
he can find. Whether it ever pos
scsscs any practical results is quite g
another matter because, IS u rule
men who find their swccthcart's
younger brothers interesting COM
panlons, have gone too far to draw
back, whatever warning they may
receive.