its inmates, they were ready to tight and die, and thus they proved the truth of 

 our proposition, that home is the objective point of all men's labors. The 

 patriarch's home was indeed rude and humble, but rudeness and humility are 

 comparative qualities. Abraham's tent in comparison with that of his servant, 

 was doubtless spacious, elegant, and comfortable ; compared with a modern 

 mansion it was contracted, plain and comfortless. 



All along in the history of civilization we notice this attachment to home, 

 and this untiring labor to make it comfortable. What boundless expense did 

 the princes and rich merchants of Babylon lavish upon their palaces and gar- 

 dens. The inhabitants of ancient Petra, with almost infinite labor, dug their 

 houses out of the solid rock, and constructed, ornamented, and guarded their 

 homes with as much care as though they expected to live in them forever. The 

 exquisite taste and careful elaboration which a Grecian nabob bestowed upon 

 his home, is well described by Xenophon, while giving an account of his own 

 country seat on the hills of Western Greece, over-looking the Ionian sea. 



.Nor was the villa of a Roman patrician less magnificent, or much less ornate. 

 His mansion was a large, square building, constructed around an inner court, 

 with two complete suites of apartments, the one on the sunny side designed for 

 winter, and that on the north for summer. The drawing rooms, dining rooms, 

 bathing apartments, library, and sleeping rooms were all spacious and elegant, 

 and designed not merely for the comfort of the family, but for generous and 

 refined hospitality. 



As we travel westward with the march of civilization, we find the chateau of 

 the French nobleman exhibiting the same extensive and elaborate accommoda- 

 tions for domestic enjoyment. The French have no word in their language that 

 is synonymous with our English word home, and are said to know compara- 

 tively little of the exquisite pleasure which home, with its homely virtues, is 

 capable of furnishing, but this does not prevent them from bestowing much 

 thought and expense upon their maison de campagne and their maison dc 

 ville, their country seat and their city house. House, mansion, chateau, convey 

 no such meaning to English ear as the good old Saxon word, home, around 

 which cluster the most tender affections, the most delightful associations. 



The German civilization is of a more domestic character, and in the German 

 language we find the root of our English word home. Our Saxon ancestors 

 prized their home above all price, and called the place towards which their 

 labors were directed, and around which their affections centered, ham, which 

 signified a close, retired, secret spot, an innermost recess where heart beats in 

 unison with heart, and "-eves speak love to eyes which speak again," and all is 

 unity and joy. We must confess to a great liking for German home life. The 

 ham is kept with sacred neatness, and here the parents and the children, the 

 grand-parents and the grand-children labor together to make it pleasant, and 

 here they enjoy life in the exercise of all kindly affections, and in that sympathy 

 with each other's joys and sorrows which doubles the joy and more than halve g 

 the sorrow. We retain the Saxon word ham, in the English word hamlet, and 



