The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-09-12

,,ba most saws that domestic happl-
&c ss the only bliss of paridse that has
survived the fall" If that is SO, ana
reckon it is, what an awful SIN IL as Ior
a man or his wife or son or daughter
m hreak il up.. 1t worse than muraer,
for there is then only one victim, ana
ne is dead: but the destroyer OF uonies,io
hanninsss brings misery TO the JIMMY
and they must live on in their sorro"'
IF domestic peace and love could DE pui-
chased with money. what price 1t
would bring. and yet it can he had WIN
out money if every member OF tue iaih'
w ,vouId do right. | was rumlnatlnS
about this and wondering II even the
aav;, was mean enough to take pleasure
in destroying the peace or housenoiu.
The book of Job does not make nm that
mean. for Job suffered no sorrow from
anv had conduct of wife or children.
Satan wants worshippers, and even
dared to try to seduce the Savior TO ms
allegiance; but he did it in an open,
manly way, and lost. He Is an adversa-
ry-a bad one-a powerful one ever
since he was thrust out of heaven; but
according to scripture he has not YET ios'
his power or his conscience, for the
Lord talked to him in Job and the Sa-
yior had a conference with him III Mat
thew. and Michael the archangel, had
a dispute with him about the body OF
Moses. He is bold, self-poised, dehant
shirt. and uses many arts to seduce man
kind form their allegiance; but surely ne
wouldn't take away and destroy the
only bliss of paradise that IS left u.s.
He hasent done it from lngersoll, 1or
that notable man has most loving
household, and so have many inhdeis
and atheists and skeptics. My OPINION
is that our original sin has more to
do with bad conduct than the devil. we
are born to sin as the sparks fly upward,
and the devil urges us on and apologies
for every mean thing We do and tries to
comfort us, but believe that it is IN the
power Of every man and woman and son
and daughter to preserve the family
peace and to makehome the most at
tractiye place upon earth. Then, why
don't they do it? 1t sikens us with sor-
row to read the family troubles in the
daily papers. Sometimes it is the hus-
band, sometimes the wife, sometimes
the daughter, but oftener than all to-
gether it is the son that brings the blight
and darkens the doors and makes par
ents and sisters seek to hide from the
gaze of men. What makes the young
men do so? Every day there is new
case onlewhare-murder, suicide, EN-
bezzlement and all is mixed up with the
jails and courts and pictures in the
papers and the miser of kindred and
tho worlds cold criticism. How many
families that once lived proudly with the
social swelling throng have retired from
it TO grieye over the curshing fate of a
wayward SON or a daughters shame
How many families have been broken
down by reckless sons-in-law. l know
some aged parents whose hair has grown
prematurely gray, whose brows are fur
rowed with lines Of sorrow and whose
smiles are always sad, if they smile at
all.
Young men, please stop and think.
The happiness Of home is worth millions
Of dollars. 1t beats the Klondyke, and
is right close by, and no frozen hills to
cross. The pleasure Of happy home
excel anything upon earth, and can be
had SO cheaply if father and mother and
children will make it so. HE that
troubleth his own house shall inherit
the wind A cross husband, conten-
tious, complaining wife, selfish son or
an INDECENT, discontinued daughter can
destroy the peace Of the household.
There are some things that are worth
so much they cannot be valued. Health
Of body is one Of them, but peace of
mind is worth more than that. Some
years ago there was verdict rendered
in cur court at Rome giving $50, 200 to
a young man because of a fall from the
train at night and a permanent injury to
his sipne. He was a man of brilliant
mind and high ambition and splendid
prospects, but the doctors testified that
he would be a mental wreck, and his
eloquent lawyer drew such sad picture
Of the wreck that the jury gave this
large amount as compensation. No
bones wer broken nor did he suffer any
pain. lie walked about and visited his
friends, and sowed no sign of imbecility,
but his mental force was impaired, his
high ambition gone, and this verdict was
only an approximation Of the damage.
What, then, is the peace Of a family
worth? Not merely peace of mind, but
Of heart, for the heart outranks the
mind as the mind does the body. l
was Illuminating about these ill-assorted,
unhappy marriages that seem in these
later years to be more frequent, than in
the olden time, and are the prolific
source Of so much domestic trouble. The
poet says:
How sad and deary is the home
Where live, domestic love no longer
nestles,
But stricken by csome cruel doom
Its corpse lies on the trestles."
I wonder how many modern MARI
ages may be called happy-in how
many families do peace and love rule
the household Not MANY among the