CHAPTER IX. 



HOMES. 



The final word is Home. Everything should 

 have this in view not a mere residence from which 

 children can take flight, but a family home made up 

 of the best that nature gives us, and from which no 

 one cares to go. To create such a home, everything 

 should be made to contribute. If you purpose to 

 grow hedges, or to plant corn fields, or to raise Hoi- 

 steins or Cotswolds as an end, you will prove a flat 

 failure. If all of these things and many more are 

 made constituent parts of home-building, you will 

 succeed. 



When a man feels that the time has come for 

 him to establish himself on the earth ; in other words, 

 to create a home, the first thing he should decide to 

 do is to develop himself into his surroundings, much 

 as a mollusk grows a shell. Yet most people have 

 not given a thought of what they would look like, 

 if all their selfhood or character could be seen, as 

 you can see their faces. It has been the business of 

 this book to help you to understand yourself and 

 your work; or at least set you to discussing what 

 they are. When you have found yourself out, all 

 you have to do is to grow. Grow out first into a 

 house. Don't be fooled by trying to fit your soul 

 into John Jones's shell or into David Williams's. 

 Grow yourself into an easy-fitting, comfortable, 



