I2th February, A. D. i8gi. 



ESSAY 



IJY 



GEORGE AUSTIN BOWEN, M.D., of Woodstock, Conn. 

 Theme: — Rural Homes; their Comforts and Embellishments. 



The homes of a people are the index of a nation's civilization. 

 They are the creators of sentiments and ideas, the growth of 

 which show in civil governments, and broader, more advanced 

 conditions, which we term civilization, a word grown from the 

 old Latin cives a citizen, and means simply greater freedom and 

 comforts for him. 



In these days of astounding scientific discoveries and mechan- 

 ical developments, which we term progressive developments of 

 the times, we find many accessory questions coming forward 

 which are mainly engendered by these wonderful advances ; ques- 

 tions affecting the social life of the people, questions which the 

 law cannot solve, custom cannot suppress or powerful armies 

 remove. They are, however, amenable to the silent, unseen, 

 but all-powerful influences of home and the home life, the truest 

 educator, the best school, the most powerful elevator of the 

 world, if its own conditions are right. If wrong, the most 

 depressing and damnable. These questions Avill follow the 

 home teaching. What i)etter subject than this for us to discuss, 

 and what better place for us to consider them, than in this very 

 spot, in the heart of .New England, for here are the best homes 

 of any section of our country, and are in themselves an illus- 

 tration of the truth of my statements. 



It is the practical, the comfortable and the economic features 

 of our home construction, that must claim our attention at this 

 time, but I cannot pass the opportunity of emphasizing the fact 

 that the mental growth of a people is coincident with their home 



