The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1872-07-18
Home Interests.
sUNBEAMs FROM CUcUMBEEs.

The protitc-~ task OF extracting ~uuboam-
from cucumberS Is one To which more people
are devoted than we at first sight imagine.
Whenever YOU see an individual trying t0
entertain one friend by holding up the faults
Of another, that person is engaged in cN-
tracing suubeams from cucumbcrs. When
ever you find a knot ut a sewing circle, at 4
corner grocery, at quiet tea party, at an
afternoon PIC mic, on the deck of steam
boat, pulling 10 pieces the characters of alb
sent ones retailing petty gossip, guessing az
family secrets, making Inydlous remarks,
there the process of extracting 5uubcamS
from cucumbers Is actively going ON. This
tendency TO sCandal-mougcring, which to
some extent intcstS all communities, all cir
ces, high and low, mean and mighty i- "a
perycrson of a noble sentiment. Familiar
to everybody is the quotation hmm sum y
&c | am "A man, and whatever touches hu-
manity touches me also" Intensely inter
csted a, We are individually In our own
affairs, we cannot choose but watch those of
our neghbor-, weep with them i'm affection.
rejoice with them in their joy, and -ympa-
thizc with them i'm the hittersWoct chalicC
of human life. But IL is only when We look
upon the noble side of their characters 10
initiate what is praiscworthy, or upon their
defects, that we may aid them To attain "a
higher life that we are fulfilling the spirit of
the Apostolic injunction" Look not every
man on his own things, but every man ON
the things of others There are many we
grieve to say, who are but idlcr- here i'm
this busy world. For them the stars burn
in the azure depths i'm vain; their souls
never mount upward To scale the lofty alti-
tudes that soar to the Infinite; in vain for
them the treasures Of the earth are spread
ont in shining ore, IN curious crystal; i'm
vain Is the wondcrous alchcm- cycrmore
carried on around Us, by which nature trans
mutes into life and beauty all forms Of cor
ruption and death. They learn no lesson
from this teaching. And that other field ON
which mighty moral combat- are necessarily
wdged, where demons fight against angels,
and ApollyOn against God, is 90 them "a
myth, a nonentity Having eyes they see
not, having ears they hear not, neither do
they understand. Upon what can such souls
feed but garbage? They are the natural
crows Of society, with their hoarsc cawings,
their ungainly aspect, and their vile appe-
titles announcing the presence of that which
all noble animals abhOr.
Every dwelling house has rear entrance
with appropriate and indispensable out
houses. These we keep with scrupuDu-
care, that no typhoid poison the healthftl
blood. We throw lime about our sink
drains, we remove or cover with fresh earth
anything that may pollute the air about Us.
ltlAl We w liDl tA pet Ril EN'~l@ ~ 'llAfi ~
the bJckdoOr of our kitchens 10 satisfy
themselves by ocular inspection that our
housekeeping Is faultlesS 80 every charac-
ter has It's noble and it, weak side. We may
not know the secret wound that has injured
tue ~apling oak, and made Its maturity
dwarfed and irregular, we cannot see the
faint Inherited that tincture- all the blood
and puzzles the viii we know 50 little Of
the secret warfare iu the hearts of those
about NJ, how can we presume to judge
thcm2
A. no one can take fire into his bosom and
not be- burned, 50 no one can partake OF the
spirit of the gossip without soaring his moral
nature. Like rattle-nakc poison, it is "A fer
ment in the blood that works till the whole
nature l. infected But says one, eve
must talk scandal or nothing with some
folks" Very true; talk nothing; talk sew
Ing machine talk weather, talk about the
CROP. hut when the characters Of your
neighhor- are brought mp, be dumb, or soar
10 high themes and noble subjects.
There are various antidote- that may cure
people of the folly of trying in the way
above limited at 10 extract sunbeam- from
cucumber. 4 good, live newspaper apprc-
ciatively read viii do it; a classic author
faithfully c3uned viii DO IL; better than
either, "a realizing sense of what IL is to live
a noble life mere under the sun, with a sim
cere purpose to leave the world better than
we found il, this viii lift Us out of the low
atmosphere where only scandal and gossip
can flourish On the Alpine heights of
thought and experience, that vile fungus is
never found. II -hun- the influence Of cir
cuiating libraries, of poetry. of art, of lltera-
ture, Of lofty morality, and in proportion a.
We cultivate these, the weeds of gossip shall
be shaded down and rooted out
1t l. told Of .he Vicar Of Wakefield that
lac had hung in his parlor a beautiful pic
tured fIce which he called the portrait of his
wife. not that it did really at all resemble
her. but that she should strive by her life 10
grow into such AN expression Of c0untenancc.
~ it seems to me it might be- well If we
had framed some Of the beautiful things
that good friends say Of u, but which we
certainly could not say Of ourselves, that we
may grow up to the picture they draw of
us-Julia Ward Howe.
There is a man in Buffalo who has regis
tered vow never TO make a humane sOci-
ETY. of himself again" He took off his coat
and leaped into the canal TO save a lady
from drowning, when pckpocket stole ten
dollars from his coat, and the rescued wo-
man was mad because he pulled her chignon
off in getting her out.
An elderly gentleman travelling in a stage
coach was amused by the constant tire Of
words kept up by two ladies. One Of them
at last kindly inquired if the conversation
did not make his head ache, when he an