The Newtown bee. (Newtown, Conn.) 1877-current, 1905-08-04

MAY WE ALL HAVE ENOUGH OF THE
GOOD THINGS OF LIFE.
1t ought to do very much for our
homes. take it that all of you who
read these editorials which the editor
has asked few Of US to write for this
special number of THE BEE are lovers
Of the home. There are some men
who despise the home. l say advised
ly men, for no true woman ever de-
spised the home. These men would be
the last ones to say that they despise
the home, but their actions say it'll
loudly. They do not think of the
home as a God-created institution.
They will not become heads of homes
because it involves too much RESPONSE
bility. BY not establishing home
they can excuse themselves from many
things They need not take pew in
church because they have no family to
occupy it. They will have no heart
aches Of sympathy because they never
ioin their heart in loving sympathy
with another heart. Marriage is a
compact: but if it is nothing more,
God pity the home that is established
upon that business foundation. All
honor to Charles Lamb who never
made home for himself because he
was devotedly attached to his sister
whom he supported. All honor tol
Washington Irving who, though a
charming guest at any tireside, never
made home of his own because all
through life there lived in his hearts
secret chamber the memory OF sweet
Matilda Hoffman. All honor to the
missionaries of the Cross and the sisters
of charity and the noble men and
women of all ages who with enthusl-
astic devotion have given themselves
to the work of the Lord, earnestly be-
lieving in their hearts that they could
better serve Him by severing them
selves from family ties. But all honor,
too, to the countless multitudes who
have blessed this land by making it a
great nation Of homes. For small
part Of this countless throng Old Home
Day will awaken dear memories. IL
will stir life at the roots. 1t will touch
the electric flame of that love which
raises all living above the rubbish heap
and gives to pointleSS existence an
ideal and crown. Old Home
Day will broaden our horizon.
1t is nothing against those
who live in rural communities that
their outlook is small. When some
thing is tightly compacted it can ex-
pand. Taunton Lake could be Lake
Superior if you pushed out its shores.
Does the ocean make the great
commercial town? Yes, but does not
the country feed the city. Does not
the big city come from the small city,
and the small city from the village,
and the village from the extended
country? Not so many years ago the
little village on Boston Harbor was
several days distant from Southern
Connecticut; now it is reached in few
hours. Those who have gone from
Newtown in the years gone by will give
us on August 5 a touch of the broader
vision that is theirs because they are
in the swirl Of the great world s
cosmopolitan life; and we will give
| them something too.
No one in looking into the history OF
our land, can despise the rural COM
munity. God be thanked for the coun-
trv which He has made. The rural
community is natural, and getting
near to nature is getting near TO the
heart of God. The only book GOD has
given to the world is book of nature.
The farmer reads in this book that the
gold and the silver are the Lords, and
the cattle on a thousand hills are the
Lords: and every farmer has just
enough of either to link him in part
nership with God. Let the toiler with
rough nature sit down on some stormy
day to read the 148th Psalm, and he
will realize that amid that great ora
tOriO of praise that comes from the
heavens and the angels and the fruit
full hills and cedars and stormy wind
fulfilling the Makers nod, the lowing
of his humble kline. strikes a note II
higher melodies than he ever dreamed
Of before.
So he that comes from the city viii
give wider outlook in exchange for tn
touch with nature and the feeling afte
natures God which are had on thes'
sunlit hills Exchange is right. Life
is only life that imparts, and love il
only deserving the name that shares
Shut up life, it degenerates; give il
free scope it enricheS many Muscles
become strong as you use them. Yo'
have heard Of the objection membe
of the Massachusetts, legislature onc'
made to charter for society tina
Z would carry the Gospel to the heather
"We haven't enough religion to g
round" May we all have enough o
the best things Of life, yes, even Of re
: ligion, to pass round to our friends OF
( Old Home Day.
Connecticut may be provincial IL
some respects, but one travels roun'
the world through Connecticut. Ono
China was opposite US: but the worl
is SO nearly upside down to-day tina
we send our Yankee notions to China
|. and the Mongolian looks at them ou
of his almond eye to call this wonder
land Melka. No, there are not man