LECTURES AND ESSAYS READ AT INSTITUTES. 225 



HOUSE AND HOME. 



BY MRS. C. H. WINES. 

 [Read at Chelsea Institute.] 



There's many a house without a hotne within its walls. There's many a 

 home without a house in which to dwell. It is only when the two are com- 

 bined, that the most perfect end is reached, or greatest happiness realized. 

 Home, like all other institutions, has its external form and internal power. 

 We, ourselves, furnish a good illustration of this. The house the physical ; the 

 home the spiritual, or the soul. The house the structure ; the home the liv- 

 ing, acting force within. For some it is easier to build a house, for others to 

 make a home. In my girlhood days, I had a friend reared by kind, Christian 

 parents, in a home where neither poverty nor riches dwelt; but where love, 

 charity, and honor abode. The lesson of such a home developed a beautiful 

 character. She became an obedient, loving daughter ; an affectionate, patieiit 

 wife; a tender, faithful. Christian mother. Five children were hers, to care 

 for and rear for eternity, when, by a long train of adverse circumstances, and 

 the unfaithfulness of her companion, she was reduced to poverty. In fancy, 

 I see now the sweetness and smile upon her face, as she told me of the time 

 spent in prayer for reconciliation and wisdom, to enable her to make a home, 

 a pleasant home, in a shanty standing in a mill-yard, with no fence to tell the 

 passer-by where dooryard ended, or millyard began. Even lumbermen did not 

 know their limits, but if more convenient, at times adorned the front yard 

 with their merchandise. So small was the house that she went across the 

 street to a friend and asked for a small room that she neatly furiiished for her 

 two oldest daughters' sleeping-room ; for in poverty she must never lose sight 

 of the fact that they must be respected, they must be refined. When she had 

 done all in her power for the external part, and found it far, very far below 

 what she had been wont to possess and enjoy as her own, instead of repining, 

 she set herself to work with great zeal to counteract the loss the external part 

 suffered, by a richness and fullness of the spirit within. Nowhere could a 

 better example be found of patience or forbearance; pardoning and pitying 

 coarseness in others, yet never indulging in it herself ; covering, with Chris- 

 tian charity, the sins of many, yet always maintaining for her own family a 

 high standard. By some secret power of love, she attracted those who were 

 far above her in this w^orld's goods, and in her plain garments never seemed 

 out of place in their circle; for the glow on her cheek, and the benevolence 

 of her heart, seemed to ray forth, and to diffuse over them a pleasureable 

 sense, like that of a soft, bright day. The influence of this home developed 

 truthfulness and worth in her children. No memory is more dear to them 

 than the faith of their mother in that humble home. 



I know a home, no, it is only a house, built in a beautiful city, with all the 

 splendor that would seem at all necessary for comfort, pleasure, and happiness. 

 One year was spent in planning, devising, procuring, and anticipating. It did 

 not lack the beauty which architect could devise. Into its cosy rooms was 

 brought an abundance of all the necessary comforts. It did not miss the 

 adornment that costlv furnishing goods could afford. The richness and 

 beauty which art could give were supplied. Many a passer-by exclamied, 

 "What a pleasant home!" But it was only the physical part; it was only 



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