The Plymouth Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1869-1941, 1870-08-04
The Family Iyrant.

HOME should be to the family the cen
ire of all that is lovely and desirable. Its
attractions should be such that every
member of the family shall feel the loss OF
them when away, and shall hail with JOY
the time of return. By attractions, we
do not mean elegant furniture and rare
and costly works of art. These, though
not TO be despised, are, fortunately
for persons Of slender incomes, not essen
tial to a happy home. There may be
splendid misery in q palace, and substan-
tial happiness in a cottage. Cody con
tentment will bring the truest pleasure to
any abode If, with godliness, one can
have paintings and statuary, and books
and music, and other objects to minister
to refined and cultivated taste, it is mat
ter of thankfulness; but if, in Gods
providence, these be denied, there is still
reason for gratitude in the fact that one
may be happy without them.
The real attractions of home are to be
| found in the moral qualities of its in
mates; qualities not affected by the state
of the money market, the rise and fall of
| stocks, Or the price of real estate. The
! location and the eXternals of the home
may be thus influenced, and in the con-
vulsiOns of trade may be changed, but the
home will be the same. The sweet smiles
and gentle voices, and winning manners,
and uncounted offices of affection, which
| bestowed an indescribable charm on the
old home, are transferred to the new,
and make it an attractive place in spite Of
| the changes of circumstances. Attrac.
| tions like these have a wholesome moral
influence on all the menbers OF the house
hold, especially on those of the ruder sex.
The husband and father looks to slch q
home as place OF rest from daily toll,
and the sons find no reason for visiting
haunts OF dissipation in quest OF society
and fellowship. Young men who go to
vile places from such homes must, indeed,
| be hardened in sin.
The intlut nee of woman on home hap
piness has often been spoken of; we have
| alluded to it above. Her influence Is truly
great, but it is not the only essential
mower to be considered. 1t may be nearly
if not entirely neutralized by the counter
influence of the husband and father.
There are beautiful homes made wretched
by the conduct of the head of the family.
| We refer not only to men who, in spite OF
the attractions of their homes, go astray
in the ways of sin, spend their nights in
drinking and gaming, and reel home al
late hours, cursing wife and children In
drunken frenzy. Such men do, indeed,
make their abodes the dwelling place OF
misery they are to be pitied much, their
families to be pitied more. Nor do we
allude to those men who, though sober
are shiftless, lazy and improvident, com
pelling their famikes to live in trembling
proximity to the starvation point; nor
| vet to others who are neither incorporate
nor indolent, but who live by habitual
dishonesty, so that every knock at the
door suggests the approach Of the police,
and strikes terror to the soul. The class
| of men we refer TO are To be
found among sober, industrious and
honest citizens some of them mem
bers of the Church, and, it may
| be, even preachers of the Gospel.
They may be described as family tyrants,
and often become so from sheer thought.
lessness. With the best possible motives,
| and possessed with the singular notion