Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1873-10-15
Housekeeping vs.. Housekeeping.

The truest homes are oiten in houses
especially well kept. where the comfort and
happiness Of the inmates. rather than the
preservation Of the furniture, is first con-
suited. The object Of home is to be the
center, the point Of tenderest interest, the
pivot on which family life turns The first
requisite is to make il attractive, so at.
tractive that none Of its inmates shall care
to lineer long outside it's limits. All erit-
innate means should be employed to this
end, and no effort spared that can contribute
to the purpose Many houses called homes,
kept with waxy neatness by painstaking,
anxious women, are so oppressive in their
nicely, as TO exclude all home-feeling from
their spoiless precincts The very name Of
home is synonymous with personal freedom
and relaxation from care. But neither Of
these can be felt where such mania for
external cleanliness pervades as to render
everything else subservient thereto. Many
housewives if they see a speck on floor or
wall, or even scrap Of thread or bit Of
paper on the floor. rush at it, as if it were
the seed of pesiileuce which must be re-.
moved on the instant Their temper de-
pends on their maintenance of perfect purity
and order. II there be any failure on their
part, or any combination Of circumstances
against them, they fall into pathetic
despair, and can hardly he lifted out. They
DO not see that checriulness is moro necdlu
to home than an the snotlessncss that ever
shone Thor disposition to wage war upon
maculateness Of any sort increases until
they become slaves Of the broom and dust
pan. Neainess is one thing, and a state Of
perpetual housc-clcaning quite another.
Out Of this grows by degrees the feeling
that certain things and apartments are too
good for daily use. Hence chairs and sofas
are covered, and rooms shut up save for
special occasions, when they are permitted
10 reveal their violated sacredness 10 a man-
ner that mars every pretcnse Of hospitality.
Nothing should be bought which is considered
roo fine for the fullest domestic appropra.
ton. Far better is the plainest furniture,
on which the children can climb than satin
and damask which must he viewed with
reverence. When anything is reserved or
secluded, to disguise the fact is extremely
liffcult A chilly air wraps it round, aud
'he repulsion Of strangeness is experienced
by the most nsensibe.
There are few persons who have not
visited houses where they have been intro
iuced to what is known as the company
oarlor. They must remember how uncom.
Portable they we're while sitting in it; how
they found it most impossible to be at ease,
md mainly for the reason that their hostess
we're not themselves at ease The children
we're watched with lyux eyes, lest they
should displace or soil something so that
the entertainments of friends became very
much like a social discipline. They must
recall, too, how sweet the fresh air seemed
out-of-doors, and how they inwardly vowed,
u leaving that temple Of form and fidgeti,
ness that something more than polteness
would be required to incite them to return.
Home is not a name, nor a form, nor a
routine. It is a spirit, a presence, prin-
iiple Material and method will not, and
cannot make it. 1t must get its light and
sweetness from those who inhabit from
lowers and sunshine, from the sympathetic
natures which, in their exercise Of sympa-
by, can lay aside the tyranny Of the broom
,nd the awful duty and endless scrubbing
-ScriJHer's for October