The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1890-04-10
FARM, GARDEN AND
HOUSEHOLD.
Home.
4 PAPER kKAD BEFORE THE SOMERSET
POMONA GRANGE, AT MADISON,
BY Mrs ELLA IL. CRowELL

Home, Home, sweet, sweet, Home
SO long "a the English language il
known, and so long rs homes are formed,
so long will these words be heard, either
u song or story,
We have something 10 d0, If it always
Is tue. that there's no place like home. "
My theme then Is the home, with as many
Of It's clustering endearments a may be
suggested to my mind. Homer when We
speak the word, what Is the hrst thought
which springs to the mindf What does
the word mean? What is home fort
Who cares for IL? Whom do we find
tneref What makes happy home? What
inakes an unhappy homes What are the
sponsibil.t ties thrown upon Us when we
attempt to organize Il home? Where
shall We look for pattern of homer
In the consideration of these questions,
would that were able to bring to bear
some words v hich would stimulate de-
sire for a ioftier love Of home II is said
and said truly, "that Vi on the sacredness
If our homes, depends the life Of this
Nation for the home Is so Intimately
connected, and so finely interviewer with
Government, that the care Of one, neces-
sarily involves that of the other.
The first thought of home, is to pro.
vide place In watch to live; eat, sleep,
rest and work in other words a dwell
ing, where a certain number OF human
beings live together. But is there no
higher and truer meaning to the word
than this?
II We will look carefully around us We
shall lind the beautiful dwelling, the
Mansion, with all its glitteriug and cost
ly furnishings draped With all that
wealth and art eau put together, can still
ne the abode OF rant and misery. While
the little log hut out III the field, 80 quiet,
so unpretending, 80 little to attract The
attention of the traveller. may contain,
nay often does, the elements which make
Heaven.
Surely then we must look for some
thing beside wealth, or poverty, 10 the
common acceptatiOn of those terms, to
make homes that will meet all our wants.
We lind in the home q family, so called,
the father, the mother, and the children
Tor none can be an entire home without
The latter, aud these people are living to-
5ether in the closest ties of friendship,
which the Author Of home has permitted
10 exist upon this earth; and this home is
happy one although 1t be only four
-quare walls; and when this friendship Is
broken, it is an unhappy home, although
IN palace.
Whatever then arises to strengthen
those ties of love, should be nurtured
md guarded with care; and whatever i'm
pulses and elements serve to weaken
them, should be discarded at once.
The tender care and the earnest solcl-
tude of the members of family al
ways devolves upon the woman. The
man should understand that 1t is pre-
eminently her domain that she Is the
Queen of the realm, and whatever he does
IN the care of the household Is In the
capacity of an assistant not that he Is
free from responsibility, or has no
thol ght In the rearing of his,children
and this opens wider field of thought
than | care to enter.
In looking for a pattern for q home let
US turn to our own hearts, and follow the
of their warm pulsations. Let
the Ideal of home be constructed from
our own brains, and then live for it as
nearly as possible. Should we do this In
stead Of looking to our neighbors for
patterns, how much unhappiness might
be avoided. II we would study TO make
our homes more pleasant and agreeable,
more attractive, more cheerful and hap
py, we would hear less of young peo-
pie being so DESTROYS of leaving them.
The study for the accumulation Of pro-
perty should be Of secondary Importance
after home Is organized. But the great
study should be, how can we make home
all that II should be to US, like no other
place upon the earth; where love shall be
the foundation pillar, ana sympathy for
others the corner stone.
In no place upon the habitable globe
can we find homes, the equal OF those
this Nation. But the homes
which especially call for our attention,
and In which we feel the deepest interest,
are those of our own beloved New Eng
gland. In them have been reared and
nut of them have gone, some of the keen
st intellects and brightest lights the
world has ever known.
IL was not altogether the hard and
sterll soil, and the rigid climate. which
made those minds OF such sterling fine
ness, and those hearts OF such tender
but the influence and instruc-
lion impaired by the puritan mother from
the cradle to mature age. And the moth
er has the same responsibility to-day,
resting upon her; she can make or mar.
Sh" can send out from her home, a heart
i-uder and kind, full of sympathy, and
Ai"ays ready to help those In distress. a
mind stored with such knowledge as will
make others feel Its worth, or she can
ruin this mind and this heart, before 1t
lea rs the cradle.
Then Sisters. what care Is ours. How
g-lve and commanding are the issues
which devolve upon US. No wonder that
we feel interested In all the moral ques.
lions Of the day. No wonder that we
wish to have our influence felt In q
stronger degree, either by the ballot. or
otherwise. in order to cast the "demon
drink, where 1t cannot 1nd Its way to
our homes. No wonder that our ears are
always alert, and our hearts filled with
misgviDg, when the home Is touched.
No wonder that the true mother instead
Of allowing her influence over the home
to wane, clings closer and still closer to
the domain where she Is pre-eminently
lifted to rule.
No wonder that we feel called upon to
utter our protest when any thing comes
up to hinder our free and untrameled
right to govern at our own Preside. II
we would continue then, this noble work,
and keep on sending out from our homes,
bright lights, which viii stand as bea.
cons to the world. let us see to 1t, that
we guard them with fidelity, and oil them
with love- Cheprfullness and all that