The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1894-05-01
ONLY TRAMP.
NO. ID.

Written for the PROGRESSIVE FApMwp INV
G. Ed Kestler, Concord, N @.
Every home ought to have a kiss
standing sentinel at the door post. en-.
nobling the lives of all around the old
hreside. Every heart ought to cherish
thls precious gift as the noblest one of
loves sweet smiles. Away with the
false doctrine that a kiss is the relic of
a foolish age; it is the child of wisdom.
1t serves a great purpose, Away with
the ckle theory that they were reared
In the home OF immortality they have
truth as their shield, faith as their he'll
met and love as their watchword.
Mercy and joy are her sisters. It was
the want of a kiss that killed Alexander
the Great, Edgar Allen Poe and a thou
sand others. Kisses serve as a media
through which ladies express their
sweetness to a listening world. The
basic principles underlying the science
Oh kissing are built of rocks of reason,
n they are Co existing and co-exten-
slVe pre- emlnently with any other sys-
tenn of social ethics extant The ham
mer OF time can't destroy them, neither
can the genius of cranks affect their
onward march. o, the power of a kiss!
Fol the want of q kiss an editor was
lost, for the want of an editor a news
paper was lost, for the want of q news
paper q town was lost, for the want of
q town the country was lost, for the
want of the country the world was
Iost-Ru for the want of a kissI o,
how blest it is when the "curfew tolls
the knell of parting day" to sit around
the family hearth stone, and when 'the
clock in the steeple"tstrikes the hour
for rest to o. the good night kiss go
round and to feelthe grandeur of home,
sweet hOmel Here is an influence on
tender hearts which will last as long as
life. Then you censure me for advo-
eating such a themei Surely not.
Yes, ever old age, standing with one
foot on the ~border-land of eternity,
looks back in the sweetest memory
upon the time when with sisters and
brothers, and mother and father, the
kiss went round the family circle in
the old homestead of long ago. There
Is many q life blasted, many q home
wrecked, because there was no kiss at
the door step "a the husband or son or
daughter came home weary and worn
with battling with LIES duties. HUI
manity requires something more than
facts and figures and duties and tolls.
There must be an oasis somewhere in
each life, or else each life is a useless
desert. We must cherish the tender
emotions of the soul, that which makes
poetry and song, or else living is q
farce. We long for the smile and the
kiss. And the loveliest oasis in life's
desert where summers are ever near,
is beside the fountain called q kiss.
The grandest sermon ever preached by
mortal tongue paled before the elo-
quence of q kiss. There is q time to
weep and q time to smile, q time to
dream and q time to pray, a time to
love and q time to kiss. The lips that
guide the kiss guide the world. There
is no greater honor than to be worthy
of O kiss. 1t 10 better to sleep in the
deWs and rains with the clouds as our
covering and the sod our pillow, and
the stars our lamp light, and nature
our book, and be satisfied with a kiss,
than to live ina palace of beauty with
out o kiss of happiness. 1t is better to
love and be loved, to kiss and be kissed,
than anything else.
Well, I've told you my simple story
of o kiss, told you of the angelic glory
that fingers round this theme, told it,
too, in language plain and true, told it
to lips accustomed to its blessings, told
it to ears tuned to its melody, told it
to hearts longing for its sweetness, told
it "a o tale that ID told. And when
your locks are silvered by age, and
whom your voice 10 softened by the
songs of time and when your heart
beats soft and low and when your
hands have finished their toll, and
when in some celestial world you catch
the music of angel voices and hear the
lullaby of cherub harp strings, I want
you then to feel the pressure Of an
angels kiss upon your cheek, greeting
you home. 1 am wandering by the
river of time. I @ the rushing of
life'a pillows 90 they roll and surge and
moan and laugh and are lost in the
ocean of death and oblivion. Some
n