14.  CAUTION.—­A young lady should never encourage the attentions of a young man, who shows no interest in his sisters.  If a young man is indifferent to his sisters he will become indifferent to his wife as soon as the honey moon is over.  There are few if any exceptions to this rule.  The brother who will not be kind and loving in his mother’s home will make a very poor husband.

15.  THE OLD RULE:  “Never marry a man that does not make his mother a Christmas present every Christmas,” is a good one.  The young lady makes no mistake in uniting her destinies with the man that loves his mother and respects his sisters and brothers.

[Illustration]

[Illustration:  A CHINESE BRIDE AND GROOM.]

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SAFE HINTS.

1.  Marry in your own position in life.  If there is any difference in social position, it is better that the husband should be the superior.  A woman does not like to look down upon her husband, and to be obliged to do so is a poor guarantee for their happiness.

2.  It is best to marry persons of your own faith and religious convictions, unless one is willing to adopt those of the other.  Difference of faith is apt to divide families, and to produce great trouble in after life.  A pious woman should beware of marrying an irreligious man.

3.  Don’t be afraid of marrying a poor man or woman.  Good health, cheerful disposition, stout hearts and industrious hands will bring happiness and comfort.

4.  Bright red hair should marry jet black, and jet black auburn or bright red, etc.  And the more red-faced and bearded or impulsive a man, the more dark, calm, cool and quiet should his wife be; and vice versa.  The florid should not marry the florid, but those who are dark, in proportion as they themselves are light.

5.  Red-whiskered men should marry brunettes, but no blondes; the color of the whiskers being more determinate of the temperament than that of the hair.

6.  The color of the eyes is still more important.  Gray eyes must marry some other color, almost any other except gray; and so of blue, dark, hazel, etc.

7.  Those very fleshy should not marry those equally so, but those too spare and slim; and this is doubly true of females.  A spare man is much better adapted to a fleshy woman than a round-favored man.  Two who are short, thick-set and stocky, should not unite in marriage, but should choose those differently constituted; but on no account one of their own make.  And, in general, those predisposed to corpulence are therefore less inclined to marriage.

8.  Those with little hair or beard should marry those whose hair is naturally abundant; still those who once had plenty, but who have lost it, may marry those who are either bald or have but little; for in this, as in all other cases, all depends on what one is by nature, little on present states.