The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1853-11-17
For the National Era.
i" HOME"
BY MARY IRVING.

youth, who had, in the progress OF an evening
call taken up that touching song OF Dempsters
from the open piano. Turning to his cOmpan-
ion and interpretation he was a stranger in
our land and a novice in our language-he
asked, eagerly
What call you that word Home in Fran
cls!"
The question proved puzzllng one; for, alas
the poor French possess neither in name nor IN
reality the counterpart Of that sweet Saxon
monosylIable. His friend tioally succeeded, by
a series of crcumocuting French phrases in
conveying a shadow of the idea to the young
foreigners mind His fine face, which had
been almost distorted with bewllderment
cleared up like spring morning
"Ah, see!" he exclaimed, laying his hand
emphatlcally upon his heart. Home y 10 is
ono good word shall it remember
One good word indeed Whose soul does
not acknowledge its charm The pulse of
prince and of peasant bounds equally at its
sound.
But who can define the dear word never,
before the little incident above related, realized
the difficulty of telling, in the words Of any Ian
guage, what home is.
lie is the place where people stay my dear :"
was the response | once heard rather impa
tently given by mother to an inquiring child
leaning on her lap, who had been teasing her
as to the whereabouts of n fayorite playmate 4
home, and wished ~ bright children generally
do to explore the subject throughout the laby-
rinth of its why's and wherefores.
The place where people stay" Ii sounds
plausbly, aud it satisfied the chld-questloner
for the hour. But is it synonym of Home!
Ask the orphan apprentice girl sitting in
her dreary corner, stitching signs into the en-
broidered velvet of her mistress's wardrobe.
Ask the over-tasked slave, in his unshared
howell Ask the prisoner, in his dark, damp
cell. Ask the bed-ridden pauper in the poor
house Ask the outcast, in the crumbling city
garnet. Are these homeSt
Can a boarding house however quiet and
comfortable its arrangements, be a home! Ii
is delicate question Go breach but the voice
of many hearts, and of much bitter experience,
will bear out the earnest answer, "No!"
Still, limiting the word to a place of abiding,
hallowed by association with kindred onos--
are all homes that pass for such in the worlds
great eye!
We all know what and where a child's home
is; it never plays the hypocrite From the hour
when its little feet began to make Journeys
from the maternal door, out among the flowers
and thorns of life, the first threatening of dan
ger, or token of unexpected pleasure, is sure tC
hurry the growing or glad creature home. ,
Grown older, it will 90 farther and farther
eway-like a ripple on the Disturbed wave
miles over green meadows and through nut
bearing woods; but in the hour of fatignc o
fear, it is sure to bound back home Tire
of play, at sun setting, the boy thinks only O
his clean-spread supper, his mothers good
night kiss, his evening prayer and then TIN
soft, nice bed, with its patch counterpart,
of many colors These, and like comforts
make "home" to the butterfly hearted child
But the time comes when these are not oil Of
home to his heart. He goes farther away-tC
school, to college. Years pass; and when nex
that beloved hill and landscape rise on his ho
rizon, he thinks not of home rs place only o.
refre.hment and of rest. The sisters laugh Of
wild dclight--the brothers glad hand press
ure - the mothers fearful greeting - the
fathers fervent blcssing--in brief the sweet
affections born and nurtured under that roof
tree, are what make "sweet home" to him
| now
All well these natural affections are happy
and hallowed things; but they do not always
make "home," after all The heart will e
abroad into the wilderness Of humanity to seek
its other half, as soon IA it is old enough---tot
often long before it is wise enough--nr the
perilous quest. How many of these searcher,
find home in any heart How many hearth
stones, encircled by family faces, are worthy t.
be called honest How many fashionable par.
lors from which the "hearth stoneo of oden
days has been RACED over whose soft carpets little
feet tread lightly and on whose plowy lounges
pale faces lean langudly in the late morning
after the last nights party How many West
ern land Eastern tool farm-houses, where the
wife wears herself away in toll disprOportioned
TO her strength, and nnsoothed by the sympa
thy of the hard working but hale lord and
master, who thinks "Tis no use making a (uS
over women folks conn lsints-they must bea,
their end of the log Of life, to be sure it al
ways spoils them to pet them" The same
negligent and selfish philosophy has prevailed
over the little yard surrounding the house, anc
over all pertaining to the external adOrnmen
Of things in general. "The main chance mus
be minded '--wheatfelds must be sown anc
reaped and what signifies keeping scythes
door-steps, gates or anything cse inanimate, in
its proper place! Home" is IL IT'S place
to eat and sleep in tits place, M the wife snd
mother well knows, to drudge and weep in
tits place for children to whimper, dogs I,
bark, and careless workmen to lounge and
grumble But il it that sacred thing, q home
Forbid it, Peace and Love!
Many one who "marries for home" a,
the phrase is, finds only an aching void The
siok-bcarted factory girl, tired with toiling Al
the beck Of the merciless wheel or the sens
tive school-mistress, worn with duties and care,
that torture her aching brain and lonely heart
may grasp the offer that promises home, snt
| find too late, that it was but mirage on the
desert Of life. mo healing spring nor health
full shade is there What can the poor vic
tim of such n deusion do ? for there is no re
tracing the irrevocable step! Either sink int,
soulleSs adaptation to tho being and abode d
her choice-thus buryng alive her nobler ma
ture--or await, in resignation, accomplishing
save 10 God, the summons 10 that Home who's,
"many mansions Of peace are prepared foI
all the weary
The union Of two loving hearts makes the
shrine Of home the "holy Of holes" within thu
domestic tabernacle Bat even the truly
ded may be "away from home" or their cho
sen abode may lack that exquisite adaptation
to the circumstances and character Of the in
mates, which constitutes the perfection o
Home.
Z" never could call such hotel.lke palac
my home" said u friend, who had been inspec,
ing tho splendid residence Of General R,
nabob OF q Western city. Splendor and osten
tation are indeed poor exchange for comfor
and quiet. Yet abodes OF rare luxury seen
well fitted to some exotic-hke beings.
Passing a costly-pillared residence in tn
suburbs Of H, environed by gardens an'
grounds fitted TO charm luxurious lasts,
companion said To me-
~ could never feel at home in house lik
that; but it is just such u house rs | ooul'
fancy for our Luoie c.; do you not thinl
| M