The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1867-03-22

Home,


Home.
Various would be the answers, Il
every person were separately asked
the question. WlIat is home? The
difference in homes, and the differ
ent estimates of what constitutes
home, would tend to suggest the va
rfety of meaning above alluded TO.
The man of mere business, whose
soul is absorbed in dollar making,
looks upon home rs a place where he
gets the yictoals, which strengthen
his body so that he can endure the
labor of mind aud body, necessary
to success. lie also finds home q
place where lie sleeps few of the
twenty four hours away, in less dis
turbed repose than he could elswhere.
These convenicnces he enjoys at
home, cheaper than he could at the
hotel, else perhaps he would have no
home A man of such tastes and
habits, can have no just idea OF what
home really is. His wife and chill.
dren are to him fellow boarders and
their society is endured, not enjoyed.
Home is not place to charm such n
man. Take another case. Here
is family of boys and girls, grow
ing up without social and moral cul.
ture. There is no family altar,
around which, with their parents, to
daily kneel. The obligations of re-
ligion are, to say the best, only as.
sented to, not complied with In prac-
tice. FREQUENT jars and strifes ban.
ish that peace that ought to dwell in
every home. Labor and obedience
are exacted Ivy stern necessity, and
severe and unpleasant authority
The parents hold the children IN Gus.
tody as prisoners, and provide for
them from other stern obligations,
perhaps as much as from parental
affection. And while there is low
order of affectionate ties, there is in
fact more of the "sweet and tender
sympathies of life"
Very naturally those boys and girls
will look upon home as a place from
which it would be desirable to es
cape The boys seek the street, the
saloon, or the wide world, because
home is unhappy. The girls grow
up unteminine in their tastes, and fall
into early, unsuitable marriage rcla.
tions, as much from a distaste OF
home, as from pure affection to the
one chosen as n partner in life.
n 10 l,N th
q just estimate of home, to them it is
q charmed spot, to which their
hearts cords are tied; and though
they are called away at times by th,
notice OF duty, yet distance only
stretches those cords, causing them
to vibrate with finer, sweeter sound
Home, the place where loved ones
cluster, where father greets, caress
cs, guides, protects and provides ioi
the helpless; where mother cherish.
es, loves and cheers as no one else
can; where brothers and sister:
bound together by silken cords o.
love, striving to make each other hap
py, and succeed. Home is just villa
we make it. Fathers should carr,
sunshine into it from the outer world
mothers should keep it there, child
rem should warm by it, and the Who'll,
family should strive to make hom,
what the Divinely appointed famil,
relation designs it to be, a happl
iplace. Neatness, order, cleanliness
books, newspapers, kind words
smiles, the merry laugh, all combine
to make real home. And ther
Religion must be in the home to max,
it happy. Not bigotry, not cold
stern formality, nor severe retraint
that seeks to put old heads on young
shoulders, and to bring Hermit's
manners into the family circle; but
sweet, warm, cheerful religion, thai
makes the face brighter and th'
heart more joyous as you have th,
more of 1t. Reader! strive 10 make
your home something more than 8
mere place at which to board and
lodge. Your happiness depends
much on the kind of home you have
A. K.