St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1891-05-02
AN ARABS HOUSE.


An ARABS HOUSE.
N Ezsssas Ezsa.savs.ess ee the Bsdosls
H01sehold.
There are few social duties more In
;umbent ON MS than the. duty of hos
pitality. Many householders fail to
recognize this, and although their means
are ample, have an idea that they arc
doing more praiseworthy thing in de-
voting themselves TO their family, rs
they call II, live with closed doors and
never seek to find the way to Heaven
BY doing deeds Of hospitality" They
ere faithful in all their outside dutie&
punctual in their payments, frequent in
their charities, church-supportlng some
what public spirited. Subscribing money
ON occasion. visiting . hospital now and
then, lending eountenance to . coarse
of lectures, and once in awhile act
ing on committees for the establishment
Of . public bath-house, library.
or opera hall But their house is lit
orally their castle, and once over the
threshold Of the front door, the draw
bridge is up and the portcullis is down,
and one has to sing out: ''What, warder,
ho!'' and blow the horn loud and long,
before gaining admittance. -9i
They consider this barring of the
door, and this seclusion and retirement
within the walls of home, n something
greatly to their credit, they think; they
are devoted to home, dislike publicity,
have the good taste to court privacy:
and plume themselves upon it all past
belief. With these people the very fact
that . person II . stranger is the reason
why they do not take him in; they
would accord him but grudging en-
trance. rs when one stands with the
door ajar and loolEs aslxance 1t an in
truder, even II he had brought letters
from the Grand Khan or other more or :
less exalted personages.
Yet IL is to be questioned II home
with all its comforts and delights was
gwen to any one of these people, or If
he were allowed to attain il, for hisown
selfish seclusion or enjoyment il it is
not q sequestration Of something in the
great partnership Of the worlds econo-
my that is not altogether his own. and
IL one has q right to shut himself mp
there like Turk In his harem and be
more chary of his salt than Bedouin
in the desert.
II ones home is fair and fine, with
soft carpets, rugs. pictures, marbles,
china, with gentle service, luxurious
living, loving children, gracious wife,
should all the blessings that these
things give, even IL one il the apparent
source of them himself. has gathered
and secured them by close effort and
self-denial, be kept TO ones self alone,
like the bone the dog gnawA
and buries till he can come back
to IL? It il not privacy and seclu-
sion that give . home its sacred
ness. Far from it. It is it's happiness,
its, healthiness, its helpfulness, its
capacity 10 do good, 10 impart that hsp-
piness and healthiness. its power Of lift
ing all the rest Of the world into its own
atmosphere. Those homes that arc
open to. the homeless are the sacred
ones; the homes where there is always
pillow for the weary, always spare
place ut the table for the wanderer; the
homes whose beauty is shed abroad like
the gracious dew from Heaven that
Portia talked about There may be
many mansions in Heaven, but he who
thinks they are mansions from which
every other Heavenly habitant are ex-
cluded has made amisAalse in the place;
Il should not be Heaven then. How
ever we may dispute and declare that
man has . right to be undisturbed
in his own house, yet we know
In our inner consciousness that
we all regard the man who brings
smother home to dinner, sure Of q COR
dial greeting for him there; who will
not let the stranger find his welcome in
an inn ON Z. holiday when homcs are
dearest, who throws open his house to
the parish, whose lights are always
shining and inviting as. you go BY his
windows, across whose doorstep guests
are often coming and going. who loves
his home so much and finds il 50 COM
plete that he must have other people to
love II too, and If they have nothing
half 80 choice, then share some brief
portion of Il with, then-thst man we
all know to be good citizen, hus-
|. band honorin9 his wife, Christian IN
deed whatever he may be in faith. and
withal . gentlemsn--Harper's Bazaar.