St. Landry democrat., 1888-01-14
LIES LITTLE THINGS.
Their Influence Upon the General Develop
ment of Human Character.

ment of Human Character.
The average man fails in life becaus
he neglects what seem TO him to be tn
little things, but which are really i'm
portant, not only in themselves, but il
their influence upon the general devel
opment of his character. This is ofte1
especially noticeable in home life.
many a man who is regarded by til
public at large as Il gentleman, shoul'
act half as ngentlemanly outside of hi
home as he does inside of it, he woul,
be utterly despised. 1t is unaccountabl'
that people should so frequently forge
the most common civilties in home
life Words are spoken to wife, children
and husband, which the one who speak
them would no sooner utter to a bust
ness friend or social acquaintance thar
he or she would cut off the right hand
The effort made to please each other il
the home circle is often even less than g
man makes to please his horse or his
dog, and when such conduct is analyzed
it is not only found to be ungentleman
ly but absolutely cowardly. The reason
that an ungentlemanly man at home is
not ungentlemanly in his intercourse
with the world, is because he does not
dare to be SO with strangers. He is re-
strained by the fear of making enemies
and thus injuring his business, or from
the fear of getting himself knocked
down. If some men acted in their in
tercourse with men as they act in their
own family, they would get thrashed
forty times day. But they are safe
in the family. There is nobody there
to thrash them. The child must bear
their harsh words and perhaps their
blows, because it is perfectly safe to
indulge in them. Now it does not
necessarily follow that man who is
unkind to his family is really a bad
man, or that he has the least concep-
ton of the fact that lie is cowardly.
He is thoughtless; but close analysis
OF his conduct will reveal state of
things that will be horrible to him.
In the family relation every one
should always be at his best. The home
ought to be haven. 1t ought to be as
nearly a heaven as is possible on earth.
There should be no purposely withered
flowers about the hearthstone, and no
purposely clouded sunbeams Selfish
ness alone ought to be sufficient to
make home conduct exemplary Ger
tainly all want smiles instead of frowns.
Home should be just one continual
blaze of sunshine. But it can not be
while some member of the family circle
is swapping and fault-fnding and self
ish. Do people ever go more deliber-
ately and insanely to work to make
themselves miserable than they do
when they deliberately cloud the lights
of the only place on earth where they
have any reason to expect any thing
like perfect happiness? But man
who is man at home is bet
ter man outside of his home. We
can not let ourselves loose twelve
hours day, and run wild. and not
be more or less loose and wild the
other twelve hours. We are too much |
the creatures of habit for that; and |
though we may pass for gentlemen in |
the world, we should be much more
gentlemanly and considerate if we
were gentlemanly and considerable at
the fireside. Then the influence upon
children is matter of great import
ance. 1t is blind father who does not
zee his counterpart developing in his
,hild. His speech, walk, sentiment,
oddities, every thing are copied, and it
$ just perfect wonder that mankind
S as noble as it is when we consider
he widespread thoughtlessness, to call
t by no worse name, in our homes.
The father and mother may be grabbed
oWard each other and overbearing to-
yard the children. The oldest child
will be a faithful reproduction of that
Tretched picture. 1t will be domi-
eering toward the younger children,
nd the exhibition will go down
trough the line until it reaches the
oungest child, and in absence of any
hing else that it dare boss and abuse,
will spank the doll and kick the cat; !.
nd altogether it is nice lot of human
allure to launch upon the world, but it
the legitimate product of such home
aiming. Farmers Friend.