But good my brother,
     Do not as some ungracious pastors do,
     Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven,
     Whilst like a puffed and reckless libertine,
     Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads,
     And recks not his own rede.—­Shakspeare.

There has always been a charm for me in the speech of the haughty Coriolanus concerning Valeria, the sister of Publicola.  There is such a noble alliance of the brother and the sister.  The one is a man in high regard; therefore his sister likewise takes on those correlative qualities which make her the moon of Rome, the Goddess Diana, as it were.  The young man of good quality will begin his life with an exalted appreciation of his sister.  He will give her that tender regard and assistance which is her gentle due, and she, in turn, will form her ideas of young men by the character of her brother, and, in choosing a man upon whom to settle her womanly affections, will be largely guided by her estimate of her brother’s manhood.  The young man can not over-estimate the importance of his influence in this connection.  Depend upon it, if he be high-minded, courteous, attentive, self-sacrificing at the proper times,

HIS SISTER WILL DEMAND,

in the man who aspires to be her companion in life, the qualities of a high mind, a courteous demeanor, an attentive inclination, and a willingness to put aside self at the time that duty and manhood demand.  The brother’s acquaintances and associates are often the first young men introduced to the sister on terms of intimacy.  If the brother lower the standard of his life, the colors of his house are also trailed.  His family pride should be, and usually is, one of the strongest supports in holding him to a course of action that will retain the entire respect of his community.  When a son with a sister grown plunges into ways of disrepute, there is no more sorrowful example of the utter selfishness of a depraved human heart.

HOW MUCH LESS GRASPING IS THE BURGLAR

who is not willing to let the hard-working citizen keep his earnings, but steals upon him in the night and robs him into poverty—­how much less selfish, I say, is he than the brother who steals upon the fair young life of a pure, good maiden, brands her as the sister of a disreputable loafer, and leaves her to choose loafers for a husband, or marry a stranger who may afterward taunt her with her low connection!  I can conceive of no keener spur to the young man of pride and purpose than to keep this view of things before him, that he may be worthy of the company of young men who, in turn, will be worthy of the company of his sister.

MANY OF THE NOBLEST YOUNG MEN