The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1869-02-06
GaietY in the Home.

Gaiety is indispensable to childhood. | doubt
whether it can be dispensed with in after life.
There Is an innocent craving for il even in old
age. God has scattered flowers upon our fallen
earth, and sent us the songs OF birds. WHY
should we turn away from them? Why should
mirth ard hearty laughter scandalize us?
II many Of us do not love our homes, the reason
Is far, far from IneXplictble. To tell the truth, |
have but Il poor opinion of homes where laughter
and merriment, and jokes and puns, nay, even
absurdities, are unknown. Measure the heart
lcssuc>s of that confession of Fonteuellc. - for the
last half century / have neither wcpt nor laugh
cd The two best things in life, those which
prove that we have Il heart and an imagination,
az well ar a brain, were lost to the man whose
universe was academies and drGrwing-roolns. We
are quite aware that there il Il forced gaietv and
II forced laughter. than which nothing Is more
sad and that this spirit Ilay become chronic, to
the humiliation of every serious thought. 1t
would be difficult To- choose between Fontenelle,
who never laughed. and The man who is always
laughing-diihcult To say which of the two had
sunk the lowest.
Without seriousness family life would hardly
deserve the name. There l. nothing 50 serious
as life nothing 50 serious as happiness. duty,
responsibility, the education Of children, personal
education. Is there anything - serious as our
sins, our repentance. our prayers ? any task more
serious than the charge of souls that we love?
but m proportion a. seriousness IL genuine.
chccriulness will be 80 too. There will be the
NaAHAN ~ ANNa-N anu AAAL AiHAt ~ NNiN. NAf-
mon tells us that the - wisdom of Il man makcth
his faith to shine, and his countcnance i. no more
That l. the magic of wisdom it is when
the heart il turned towards God that the coun-
tcuancc l. JOYOUS and bcneiicent.
y hearty hugh Is one of the best and rarcst of
things eaicty Is the privilege Of the simple
minded II u ono of the surcst symptoms of moral
health though Of course this Il rule by no means
without exceptions. EnHU must not be classed
among the virtues; we must not give way to
n0rOsc and languid moods. / know houses where
there l. a perpetual sighingOvcr the evils of human
Ia-t, present, and To- come after the evils
come the faults and after the faults the errors.
till the melancholy catalogue is gone through
bat that does not prevent 1t from being resumed
)n the morrow. There are complaints, political,
moral, artistic, and literary, always in
remember once visiting n neighbor who was
extremely deaf; every one made it a duty to con-
Iibute something for his amusement the speak
ng trumpet was passed from hand to hand aud
What were the themes that passed through il but
he sorrOws and calamities of the neighborhood
how ore poor gentleman had broken his leg:
low some poor lady had taken the smallpox. and
mother had lost n child. The most cOmmuni-
ativc added details of the faults and mistakes of
government. the fears entertained as 10 the har-
ests, the failure of sundry attempts TO do good:
nd the unfortunate listener lifted up his eyes to
Ieaven and sighed piteOusly but when the even
NJ had ended, every one congratulated himself
n having helped To amuse him for an hour.
If | were asked for a recipe for chcerlulness,
would say: Humbly enjoy the good gifts Of
iOd. love those around you tenderly, realize that
inability Is a binding virtue, and that we are
ound to ditiuse joy around Us in our homes.
there is just one more item in my prcscrip-
ion we must be willing to unbend. even to
toOp TO a little harmless folly. y love for ami
will encourage this the very presence Of
true but u~nassuming friends will do our
carts good. We may talk nonsense to them
hey introduce an element Of intellectual repose.
horses, cats, poultry, are 80 many contrib
tors 10 the gaiety and simplicity of our daily
10. We cannot enjoy them without loving
lcm. am NOT going 10 enter into the ranks OF
who contend that they have souls still |
opc my reader holds in equal abhorrence with
iy-clf the systems Of De>cartes and M~alebranche,
.hich would make them OUT 10 be mere machines.
ic have but 10 contemplate the dog that follows
:, watches Us, shares our fatigues and periis
Iluntarily. either 70 sink ut our side, or perhaps
follow " 70 the grave and die thereto reply
the theory Of mere mechanism. Animals are.
some sort. members of the family. They are
ie friends of young and old, and young and old
Ike enjoy and benefit by their gleetul. irrational
De GaSpGriu.