The suburban citizen., 1901-08-24
rAE oRAcIousNess oE MIRrH.
One OF tho Greatest Treasures a House.
hold Can Possess.

One OF tho Greatest Treasures House.
hold Can Possess.
The man who labors and unselhsh-
" struggles all the long days for the
wife and children and home, says the
| New York Evening Post, does not
realize that IL he could put into the
| family treasury the richness of occa-
sional hours of happy intercourse he
would endow them more graciously
than when he bestows his generous
wealth. The lost hilarity and gladness
Of his youth would be a measureless
boon at his own tireside and endear
him to his children. Parents and chill
dren who laugh together become COM
rades in very close way and when
serious speech becomes necessary it
has far more weight and force, be.
cause 1t is unusual
Anything more dismal than the Or
dlnary professional joker, anything
more depressing than the studIously
funny book, it is hard to find. The
| temperament which lightens the fam
lily atmosphere, and becomes a proyider
/ of oxygen to labored breathing, is
wholly unconscious of a mission and
gives forth It's healthful influences as
the sun and the sea breeze and the
ripplng water give, with the effort
less benefcence of a wholesome, vital
ly strong nature. Merrlment which
Is infectious belongs to him who
has clean heart and a wholly
true nature, whose mental environ
ment is proof against the microbes of
distrust and deceit, and who counts
love and good faith more precious than
a fortune.
Such a temperament will triumph
over disease and disappointment and
give out his tonic antidotes against
life's ills to the last. He who sleeps
at Valllima was marvellous example
Of what 1 mean. And other such have
1 seen, valiantly smiling while death
stood at the door, though helplessly
feeble on n long-required bed, or
standing erect, with n quenchless
cheerfulness Of eye and lip, encour-
aging his loved ones, even when the
summoning angel laid his hand upon
his gallant heart.
Endurance. courage, resignation.
Spartan defiance of pain, are concom-
liant characteristics of our nOblest
men; but when a man inhexibly de-
termines to keep that side the world
the suns upon" and with quick kin
ding thought and gracious cheerful
ness, reflect its light, he will add to
these the remedy for Ills which comes
from glad heart, and give to his COM
panlons the music OF honest laughter
set to merry words.
Let us bear in mind that around a |
family board and in the Intercourse |
of our daily lives we can, without |
knowing II, kill every germ of these |
bright qualities in our childrens |
minds by enyeloping them in clouds |
of danger-dreading anxiety. Gradu- !
ally. laughter will cease to be heard |
in the house, and the spectre-laying |
spear of quick wit lie idle in its place. !
To-day it is not rare to see children |
boys especially-of ten and twelve and |
onward, keen and sharp in practice, |
energetic to an annoying degree, and |
perhaps boisterOus in their clamor Of |
one sort or another, who never laugh |
joyously or sincerely or attempt any |
playful raillery. Home is responsible |
for their unnatural hardness and ma
turity, and parental example has de- |
DriVpd them Of tho iollV sOOntanaitv |
proper to their years.
Our human lives and mutual inter-
course might well take pattern from
the lovely aspect of midsummer ma
ture, whose smiling face expresses joy |
even when clouds pile darkly on the
horizon. The whole earth seems full |
of jOllity, and in the deep shadow OF
the woods we yet hear the laughing
Cow of running streams.