Claiborne guardian. [volume] (Homer, La.) 1877-188?, 1877-09-05
Home Talks.

Those who seldom read can scarce
ly realize the pleasure derived from
literary pursuits, or the appetite
for reading which grows upon us b,
indulgence. 1t opens to us a new
world; new thoughts, new aspira
tons spring up, filling life with
countless riches. But care should
be used in the selection of books
Much of the morbid sentimental
writing of the day should be exclu
ded from the family circle, and only
such admitted as contain healthy
and truthful teachings.
Would that fathers and mothers
appreciated the great Importance OF
evening readings at home. How
many yakpg men might thus he
saved from ruin by furnishing for
them home pleasures, instead OF
leaving them to find their own
amusement among, perhaps, the dis.
so&ute and degraded. Let them
rather listen to the reading of well
written stories or biographies, and
gradually they will become interes.
ted, and learn to prefer the quiet en-.
;jOyments of home.
Many think that all romances
should be excluded from the read.
ing of the young. This is clearly q
mistake; for where else can they so
truly learn the manners and Gus.
toms of other countriesi Histories
tell Of their political events; and
while the greatest Importance should
be attached to this class of reading,
much can be learned from a lighter
class which it is not the province of
histories, travels or deeper works to
touch upon. Take for example the
pure writings of Fredrica Bremen,
from whose sweet home pictures We
have gathered more of the inner life
of Sweden than from all other
sources.
So also the grand old romances
of Sir Walter Scott, whose pages
embody so much of the early histO.
~ of Scotland. And when op.
pressed by care or sorrow, what a
relief to the mind is the perusal of
some of Dickens stories, such, for
instance, a. "David .Copperfield,"
or the "Old Curiosity Shop which
80 touched the heart that we cannot
wonder at the great good he has
accomplished. Many writer's rem.
der us dissatisfied with life. Dick.
ems, on the contrary, by the magic
Of his pen, infuses beauty into the
lowliest home, and we turn from his
pages contented with our lot, seeing
new charms in the every day charms
of our lives.
Among biographers we have our
own Washington Irving, whose pure
life and writings will shine with nn.
dimmed splendOr through all time.
And thus could be enumerated
many whose lives have proved such
blessings to mankind.
Cultivate, then, this taste in your
families. Bring to your firesdes
the rich treasures of genius, scatter
ed 80 profusely around us, and thus
prepare your children to enter upon
the great arena oflife, strengthened
to resist it's temptations.
Let them read of those men who,
by their indomitable energy and
perseverance, have overcome the
greatest obstacles; who through
privatiOn and poverty, have won
the gratitude of the world by their
scientific discoveries, or whose elO-
quence have stirred the heart of ma
tious.
God has Entrusted those children
to yOu-nOt simply to care for the
body, but also to cultivate the i'm.
mortal mind. Seek, then, to awak-
en- within them an ambition to live
for some NOZZLE purpose, that they
may, when years have passed away,
look back with nnmeasured bless.
ings on the lessons learned at the
home fireside.