Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1868-04-22
American Homes.

How little mankind in general and Ameri-
can in particular, enjoy life, compared with
what they might enjoy by simply exercising q
little more fore.houeht in the selection Of
their homes aud bestowing little more labor
aud care around aud within them. The
homes Of America will not become what they
should, until a true idea of life shall become
mlre widely implanted. The worship of the
" Almighty dollar does more to degrade
American homes and the life of those homes,
thin anything--than all things else Here,
utility is the God of almost uniyersel wor-
ship. The chief end of life is to gather gold,
and that gold is counted lost which hangs a
pilture upon the wall, which buys choice
hower or shrub for the yard, which brings a
TOY or a book to the eager hands of child
hood that time is counted wasted that is
spent with wife or children, in a ramble after
wild flowers, or autumn leaves or nuts, in
building rustic vase, or arbor in the yard,
or IN training to ways artistic the growth of
vine, or hedge or tree. Is this the whole
Df human life Then it is poor, meagre and
almost undesirable thing.
Z \ child will go forth from such home as
2 l.s horse will 60 forth from .siallmslad 70
influence of such home upon him in afte
life will be none at ALL or nothing good
Thousands are rushing from homes like thos,
every day. They crowd into cities and into
villages. They swarm into all places where
life is crowned with higher significance; and
the old shell of home is deserted by every
bird as soon as it can fly. Ancestral home-
steads aud patrmonial acres have no sacred
ness and when the father and mother die,
the strangers presence obiterates associations
which should be among the most sacred of all
things.
A radical reform is needed. We would
have you, who already possess home of your
own, abandon, at once and forever, all thoughts
of deserting it and you, who have no chosen
abiding place, should early select one, though
its acres be few or its buildings humble, and
let that choice be your permanent choice.
Then We would have you set yourselves
earnestly about improving aud identifying
that home. We would have you build up tor
yourselves and your children, a home which
will never be lightly parted with-a home
that shall be to all whose lives have been as.
sociated with it, the most interesting and pre-
cious spot on earth We would have that
home the abode of divinity, proprety, beauty
grace, love, genial felowships, innocent amuse'
ments and happy associations. Out from sucl
home, we would have good influences flow
into neighborhoods aud communities. In
such a home we would see noble ambition tax
ing root and receiving all generous culture
We would have you consider whether yor
1 ought not to be more in the habit of seekin!
honor for your descendants than your anees
tors thinking it better to be nobly romem
bered than nobly born; aud striving to live 5,
that your sons and your sons sons, for ages t,
come, might still lead their children reyeren
rally to the doors out of which you were car
tied to the grave, saying, Look, this was hi
house from that spring he drank that tre
he planted"