OUR HOMES. 383 



grow up the habits that form character. In it, kindliness, 

 sjmipathy and love must be fostered, — from it, aspiration 

 and desire must mount upward. We tallv of the progress 

 of the age, and are proud of it; but let us not forget its 

 source, in those little springs dotted all over our country, in 

 which it takes its rise. This is my subject ; all I)efore, both 

 affirmative and negative, but impress more deeply its power 

 and our responsibility. 



And first we should make our home and its surroundings 

 happy and pleasant to the young. 



There was, at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, 

 a beautiful statue called " Sunshine," so wondrously true, 

 so wonderfully expressive, that you took in the artist's idea 

 at a glance. It could not be mistaken for the more jolly 

 "Mirth," nor for the coarser joys of "Bacchus." As 

 plainly as words could speak, stood out, in every line and 

 lineament of the solid marble, the idea — " Sunshine." 



Time and again I was drawn to that statue, taking in its 

 lesson of hope, of courage, of cheerfulness and of joy, to 

 enrich the heart with its vital force. We should carry sun- 

 shine to our home and into our work. There is a bright 

 side, a beautiful side, to our callina:. Let us dwell in that. 



Our surroundings are the most pleasant and beautiful. 

 It is the most healthy, ennobling and independent employ- 

 ment on earth. We are brought into intimate communion 

 with the God of Nature, and are daily in her temple. 



Abounding wealth is not ours, but that happier posses- 

 sion, contentment, should be. And this will be found only 

 in the pleasant home and attractive surroundings. There- 

 fore make it such that this truth shall grow into our lives 

 and hearts, "Be it ever so humble, there's no place like 

 home. " 



Make sunshine a part of your daily life, and your religious 

 life. There are, even now, too many Christian lives that are 

 like the old-fashioned spare room that has been so merci- 

 lessly and justly satirized, — the sunshine is never allowed 

 to enter there. Every cobweb of vanity is carefully swept 

 down, every article of furniture is set rigidly by the cate- 

 chism and the creed, but the sunshine is never allowed to 

 come in. Not such should be the ideas of those who " Go 



