Year: 1873

while = great spreading oak at a littl


distance beyond the shrubberry, gav,


it all such restful. comforting lool


that we were prepared for anything I,


come, even in the line OF miracles. A,


we passed to the door, We discove RET


that the windows of one whole sid,


were furnished with delicate lace cur


tains, aud We deliberately paused ri
the threshold of he parlor to survey
| its fresh loveliness. The farmer was
there, as II was past six. aud he never


works later, except in great emergen.
| cies. He wore clean linen suit and
gay clippers. l. was decidedly the
children's hour. They were five in
number. and were distributed over
him, In his arms, on his feet, leaning
against him, aud over the back of his
chair. The mother was reading aloud
new book, in which they all seemed
to take q lively interest. Her dress
and hair denoted that she paid atten-
ton 10 late styles anl the appoint.
ments Of the whole house, and Of the
farm as took pains to ascertain, were
in good taste. aud wholly for the use
and happiness of the family. Every
room was carpeted, and although
there were no expensive adornments,
there were pretty chromos and litho-
graphs and steel engravings, there
were delicate shells and vases aud
boquets IN abundance. There was a
liberal supply of books but their real
library consisted 10 an excellent array
of papers, among which noticed the
county paper, a leading metropolitan
daily, farm journal, Harper's three
publications aud the Independent. A
splendid collection, and one that near
ly every farmer could easily obtain.
A poor man, indeed! He lived for
the happiness Of his family, and he
was rich and blessed In their love and
intelligence. He could well afford to
smile at the abundance that dwarfed
and enslavad his rich neighbor.


| would not however. decry abund-
ance even by an intimation. Neither
would ! condemn without mercy q
man or woman who has grown sor-
did and unloving in spirit, through
long continued struggling with ad-
versity. If l have seemed to do so, it
is only because | cannot help but rec
ognize what miserable failure life
is when the soul is allowed to grow
callous to the finer feelings Of our ma
ture. A man who thus degenerates
commits sin against himself, and n
far more dreadful wrong against the
tender souls who look to him for light
aud counsel. A mournful crime that
may darken and disfigure Their whole
life. What love, respect, or honor
can come 10 man if his family is un-
happy, aud look upon his home rs
prison walls. The applause Of the
world he may happen to win. but as
age comes on he will realize that it is
all wretched mockery compared
with tile tenderness that could have
been his from the dear hearts of his
own household. Dust and mildew
viii! cover his spirit when it should
have bee n aglow with ineffabIe peace.
Do you believe it Is the occupation
that takes the charm out Of life? 1t is
more likely contemplate inclination
to sacrifice all the glory of the present
for al imaginary good in the future.
Persisted in, this inevitable becomes
absolute selfishnes, the blight of every
thing that lifts humanity above the
brute.


FARMERS HOMES.


Farmers, from their isolated lives,
should struggle all the more to make
all the appointments Of home beauti-
fnl and attractive, that the tender
chords Of affection between themselves
and their families may become holy,
enduring bond, and The home remain
the one Mecca to which the spirit ever
turns through all the vicisitudes of
life.


MARRIAGE.


Have care, girls, whom you mar
ry. So much depends upon the man.
am convinced that neither health,
beauty nor wisdom can be easily gain
Ell by any human being who is ham
pered and thwarted and tortured by a
selfish companion of either sex. Sure
~ no woman can be healthy or beau
tiful II she is compelled to bear burdens
heavy aud grevious, and be exposed
to the heat Of the sun or the violence
Of the storm at the caprice Of a brutal
husband Or father; and need not say
that happiness is out Of the question.
A u the qualities that constitute a true
and noble womanhood languish and
die where sympathy and love are
lacking, except in those rare souls that
cling to the divine love of our Father
in Heaven until they really live and
move In another world, completely
outside their thornv round of daily
life.


Sadly enough, all cannot do this
The majority Of people are dependent
upon the sympathy of their fellow
mortals for the strength and hope
necessary to q well ordered life. If
love is not all, love and common sense
are the good angels that can bring or
der out of chaos, and convert the YER
lest den Of unloveliness into paradise
OF beauty. An unloving heart creates
q desert wherever 1t exists, as we'll in
. palace surrounded by the finest park
as in farmhouse but the desolatioD
is more hopeless and bitter in the lat
ter because there is SO little society
and SO few things to WOO the mind
from its misery. II there is hopeless
wretchedness, it is that of an unloved,
unappreciated woman in farm house.
She is already dead and buried. Her
home is he. tomb. And that woman
Is but little happier whose husband
Games and goes with never q token
that he thought of her in his absence;
who, however much he cares for her,
never gives expression to his love;
who looks upon her burdens, her
griefs, her sickness, with an unmoved