OUR HOMES. 379 



Ah I It was with deep intent " He set the solitary in fam- 

 ilies," and instituted the Christian home. Life centres there, 

 and flows from it to every one who comes within the circle 

 of its influence. Every task is ennobled, every duty glori- 

 fied, in the mutual love and happiness that are found there. 



Families are the unity of which society is composed, — they 

 are the deep roots from which all our social, moral and 

 Christian life is developed. Before true society can come, 

 true homes must come ; for these are the foundation on which 

 it must rest. As the family is, so is the State. 



Longfellow says : — 



*' Each man's cliimney is Ms golden mile-stone ; 

 Is the central point from which he measures every distance." 



And Wordsworth, in one of the most beautiful, as well as 

 suggestive, of all poems, draws his inspiration from his 

 childhood's home : — 



" There was a time when meadow, grove and stream, 

 The earth and every common sight did seem 

 Apparelled in celestial light, 

 The glory and the fi'eshness of a dream. 

 It is not now as it hath been of yore : 

 Turn wheresoever I may, 

 By night or day. 

 The things which I have seen I now can see no more." 



Then follows the power of its influence : — 



" The thought of our past years in me doth breed 

 Perpetual benediction. 



I love the brooks that down their channels fret, 

 Even more than when I tripped lightly as they ; 

 The innocent brightness of a new-born day 

 Is lovely yet. 



Thanks to the human heart by which we live, 

 Thanks to its tenderness, its joys and fears. 

 To me the meanest flower that blows can give 

 Thouglits that do often lie too deep for tears." 



A distinguished speaker at one of our fixirs last fall, sug- 

 gested a sad thought, I fear too true, that the typical Ameri- 

 can home is now found, not in the rural districts, or on the 

 old homestead of the country farm, but more nearly and 



