2 
Rustic Adormnents. 
cherish the chimney corner where we first were blest by parental kisses, and 
through the “ aisles of memory” its ruddy glow shines on our grey hairs, 
and warms our hearts as we hurry to the grave. At any period of life there 
is, with the majority of us, no dearer object of recollection than remembered 
scenes of the Home wherein we first lisped “Our Father,” and no more 
hopeful subject of speculation and conjecture than the Home we have, or, 
by the help of God and a noble purpose, are building up, in which to teach 
that same simple prayer to children of our own. 
It is because we are truly a domestic people, dearly attached to our land 
of green pastures, and shrubby hedgerows, and grey old woods, that we 
remain calm amid the strife that besets the states around us, proud of 
our ancient liberties, our progressing intelligence, and our ever-expanding 
material resources. Those resources daily multiply the means of exalting 
our social life, and invention keeps pace with the demands of an improving 
civilization ; so that while 
“ The thoughts of men are widened by 
The progress of the suns,” 
the facilities for calm and healthful enjoyment increase with the growth of 
more elevated desires. The “ Home of Taste ” is one of the latest fruits 
of the high tone to which social life has attained in this country of late 
years, and its complete development may not be so far off, but that the 
present generation may witness the union of Nature and Art in happy 
ministration to human sympathies within doors. 
We know already that the luxuries of refinement are no longer monopolized 
by the wealthy, that the merchant is not rendered sordid by commerce, but 
that he can delight in the strength of Angelo and the grace of Raphael; the 
ledger does not dwarf the trader’s soul below the appreciation of Titian’s 
lights or Rembrandt’s shadows ; and the persevering plodder, who from four 
to six does battle with armies of statistics, can retire to his suburban villa 
to rejoice as a happy soul in the midst of his family, or fondle his tame 
birds with the affection of a child. The aboriginal nature can never be 
drummed out of us, let visionaries say what they may; through all the 
varying circumstances of life, let the whirl of excitement be never so rapid, 
or the stupor of despondency never so profound, that which minister to our 
perceptions and enjoyments of beauty, grace, and truth, serves at once as 
rest, and solace, and refreshment. Therefore we build up Homes of Taste 
