Amador ledger., 1907-06-14
HOME.

In none of the ancient languages,
nor in those of modern times aside
from the English, is there a word ex-
pressing the ideas and associations
which are aroused at the sound of the
simples yet heart reaching word
home. Even the Greeks, whose lam
guage was the most forceful. express
sive and flexible of all spoken speech,
had no word which conveyed the
meaning understood by US when home
is mentioned. Their word, and also
the Latin word, simply means house
or domlclle, a place to stay or sleep,
but the indefinable something or COM
bination of things which instantly oc-
cur to an Englishman or American
when "home" is mentioned were
wholly unknown to these ancient peo-
pie. The German "heim" is too gen.
eral to have any particular value, and
their 'haus" refers to bnilding of
some kind or other. The same is true
OF the Italian and Spanish "casa, ~
and the Russian ''dona," as we'll as
the corresponding words in other Ian
guages of modern Europe. A French
man once translated Cardinal New
mans hymn, "Lead, kindly light, ,"
and in his hands the beautiful line,
'"The night is dark and l am far from
home," became LA mutt est sombre.
ct Je su1s loin de mon foyer,''' the
translator havingsbeen obliged to use
for 'home" the French word which
describes the green-ro of theater.
When an American farmer, after
absence, starts to return
he does not think of it as
simply domicile, place to stop
at. The word means to him far more.
His affections, his aspirations, his
whole being are touched and wrought
upon by the visions in a whole pan
Drama, the farm and its adjuncts, the
the lowing cattle, the barking dogs,
the cackllng chickens, all the sights
and sounds made familiar to him by
long association. In the center of it |
all is figure called mother" with
1ut which "home" in the real sense |
,annot exist. 1t is because of the |
peculiar regard bestowed upon woman
among the. Engllsh-speaking people,
The estimation in which she is held, |
'he deep respect and almost reverence
elt for her that ..;home" as we know
t becomes possible. 1t is impossible
lmong any people who look on woman
IS an inferior, drudge, mere con-
'enience, chattel. No polygamous
people, of course, can have any con-
'eption of 'home" in its best sense.
The languages in which tie Bible was
written. the Hebrew, the
Aramaic, the Greek, the Arabic, the
Assyrlan and Egyptian, had no word
meaning "home. "because the writers
md the people written about had n o
of its meaning. Women
we're degraded, little better than
Iaves or mere breeders; they were
Fought and sold like cattle, never
in business affairs, were in
10 sense true wives.
In this great fact of "home" lies
he superiority OF the people who
njoy it and know full we'll what 1T
means. 1t is the center. the unit, the
lub around which everything re-
'olves, from which everything of
national good flows. There can be no
,reat people, no great nation without
is inspiration. Home, Sweet |
i 1ome," the song which so touches
he universal heart of this country,
,ouId not have been written IN any
an guage except English, would have
,een Impossible to Greek. Latin,
french or Spanish poet. '"The Old
Folks at Home" is meaningless except
10 the people of happy America.
search the poetry of the ancient
world, the songs and psalms Of the
Hebrews, the icily regular lyrics of
The Greeks, the graceful pentameters
Of the Romans, the ricocheting
iambics of the French, the ponderous
periods of the Germans, and you will
tiud nothing equal to the simple
melodies which convey to an Ameri-
can audience the full significance of
the endearing memories that cluster
around the word "home."