The Young Lady's Counsellor by Daniel Wise

246 THE YOUNG LADY'S COUNSELLOR.
pure spiritual affection insures their defilement, by excluding
the true spirit and higher ends of marriage.
Shame ! shame ! on such unwomanly mothers. My
reader, thank God, is not cursed with such an one.
They are found chiefly among the neartless worshippers
of fashion.
Your mother is, most likely, a true
woman. She has a mother's heart. She seeks to
-secure your best interests. Consult her, then, in
these matters of the heart. She will advise you
wisely, prudently, safely. Even if she has imprudently
indulged you, her maternal instinct will judge
acutely of the man who asks her daughter's love.
Beware how you slight her opinions ! Should you
be already listening to the bewitching whispers of a
youth from whose presence your mother shrinks with
fear, gaze a moment on the etching I will now lay
before you.
There was a
lady who had two graceful, accomplished
daughters. The eldest, — call her Myra, —
was addressed by a very prepossessing young man.
He had talents, opportunities, and connections, but he
aad vices also. He was a bver of wine. With