Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1881-02-02
Brothers and Sisters.


There is tendency in modern life to
make light OF relationship and TO emphasize
in their place the claims of society. Espe-
cially is this the case with regard TO the ties
which unite brothers and sisters. The
parental and flial relations are so evidently
necessary TO the maintenance of the race
that they are upheld with certain degree
OF persistence but the needfulness of fra
ternal bonds is not so Immediately palpable
and they are not, therefore, held so sacred
Children grow up in this mental atmosphere
and select their friends almost entirely out
side the family circle; sets, cliques and
clubs absorb their attention, different inter
ests engage their thoughts, different duties
and amusements occupy their time and i'm
perceptibly they drift away from each other,
retaining little more than the husk Of a re.
lationship which is rich in its possibilities
of human happiness. Yet the family is the
very core of all society, and those who do
not learn its lessons and taste its joys are
but very imperfectly prepared for the life
which they imagine to be so much broader
and fuller. If the loving authority of the
parent and the loving obedience of the child
give a peculiar fitness for the exercise Of
needful command, and the proper submission
to the powers that be, certain it is that no
better groundwork could be laid for that
equality, which we are so fond of proclaim.
ing, than in the right fulfllment of those
natural duties which fall to the lot of broth
ers and sisters under the same protecting
roof. Indeed brotherhood is the term in
common use to imply the spirit we should
cherish and the conduct we should practice
towards our fellow-men, showing how strong
is the sense of what the relation ought to in
volve. All that is noble and heroic in hui
manity all that is devoted and tender in
| friendship; all the courtesy and grace of re-
fined society; all the respect and chivalry
due to women; all the self-denial and gen
erosity which make life beautiful, have their
root in the family, and in its soil can they
be most surely and successfully cultivated.
Here are gathered together the young OF
both sexes, not Unfortunately, or without
guidance, but with similar interests, with con.
genial surroundings, with loving guardian
ship. There is every opportunity for in
dividual talent or taste to assert itself, and
and equal opportunity for mutual sympathy
and assistance. There are many varietie.
of temper, disposition and character, vel
they have common origin, and may blend
together for mutual good 1t would seen
that if there is any place on earth where en-
during friendships could flourish, gentle in
fluences descend, and affectonate gratitude
be shown where the simple and pure inter
course of the sexes might bring unrestraineC
delight where every inducement was Offered
for kindly offices, for pleasant surprises, fol
interesting exchanges of thought, for mu
tual aid, encouragement and sympathy, fo
everything in fact that binds men anc
women together in harmony and happines,
it must be in the society of brothers anc
ata fal tbAxr l,,V AZ.
by common interests, and by daily associa.
tion. Too much pains cannot be taken by
parents to cultivate this brotherly spirit
From their earliest years, children can be
drawn TO take pleasure in each others joys
and to feel sorrow at each others pain
They can be encouraged to confide in each
other, to help and console one another, to
respect each others rights, and to share in
each others interests. They can be trained
to practice little acts of selfdenial and gen.
| erosity, and to feel II keen delight in the
happiness they thus confer. There is much
more in habit about such things than we
are accustomed to imagine. A naturally
selfish disposition may, by continual and
gentle influences, be brought to rejoice in
anothers happiness and to work for it, while
a naturally generous heart may by GOODNESS
or carelessness be shut up, even from its
own warm instincts. The parents duty i:
not finished when he feeds clothes and edu
Gates his children, nor even when he has Sc
cured their filial attachment, and made each
one independent and self-respecting, unless
he also succeed in infusing into them the
sense of trust and dependence, in cultivating
in them the habit of confidence with each
other, and in maintaining in the home that
affectionate brotherly and sisterly inter
course which, while diffusing the truest
happiness through the household, also lays
the surest foundation for the social duties
and responsibilities that await them in the
future.-Pubiic Ledger.