HOW TO TREAT BROTHERS.



GIRLS, be kind to your brothers. Don't be afraid you will spoil them by showing them plenty of sisterly attention. They are tiresome fellows sometimes, important and overbearing, treating their sisters like inferior beings. But never mind that, girls; carry with you the two bears, bear and forbear. The consequential age generally passes off with the growth of the incipient moustache, and when real manhood dawns upon them, they will realize how gentle and kind their sisters have been.

Make home pleasant to them; let them see and feel you enjoy their company sometimes as well as that of some other girl's brother. If you sing or play on the piano, do your best for brother Will or Ned, or whatever his name may be, and reward him with a smile when he turns over your music or gives up his seat to you, just as you would any other gentleman. Lay aside your work or book to have a pleasant chat or innocent game with your brother; draw out of him with whom and where he spends his evenings outside of the family circle. Encourage him to speak of his associates. A sister often has more influence with a brother than a parent. If he can confide in his sister regarding his friends and amusements, you need have no fear of how he spends his time when away from you. Let him see that you take an interest in his studies or his business. 

When he asks you to sew on a button or mend his glove, don't put on an aggrieved air; do it cheerfully, willingly. He will reward you in his secret heart with a wealth of brotherly love, though he may not show it, for some think it unmanly to display affection. Treat his friends with politeness, even if they are not of your style. Throw all the safeguards you possibly can around your young brothers, by sisterly 'kindness and forbearance. Try to make home the happiest and dearest place on earth. 




Christian at Work.