" I have had playmates, I have had companions,
In my days of childhood, in my joyful school-days ;
All, all are gone, the old familiar faces.
" Ghost-like, I paced round the haunts of my childhood.
Earth seemed a desert I w^as bound to traverse,
Seeking to find the old familiar faces.
" llow some they have died, and some they have left nie.
And some are taken from me; all are departed;
All, all are gone, the old familiar faces."
Afterward, when his thoughts grew calmer and he was able from
one source or another to glean some personal intelligence of his
companions and schoolfellows, he found that one was a great Senator,
another a bishop, and another a chief-justice, while he himself had
but given another example to the proverb that " a rolling stone
gathers no moss," and that " the lane called By-and-By leads to the
house of Never."
Sometimes, however, the spirit of adventure is not mere restlessness
30 THE hearthstone; or, life at home.
and impatience, but is the true outcome of a brave heart and stead-
fast will. But in such cases there is no eagerness to get away from
home. That is a hard wrench, and is only undergone as a painful
duty. Indeed, the test of its being one's duty to leave hom^e is often
the pain it costs us to do so. If we wish to go away we ought to
make quite sure that we are right in going ; but if it almost breaks
our heart to part from all that has made our past life dear to us, we
should listen attentively when duty bids, or seems to bid us go. In
such cases even the wide ocean does not part us wholly from our
home, either by night or day. The dying soldier on the distant
battle-field, the shipwrecked sailor, the merchant in a foreign land,
all think lovingly of the old home. There is nothing more worthy
of admiration in the scantily educated domestic servants who come
to this country from Germany or Ireland than the self-denying affec-
tion with which they save their little earnings that they may send
help to " the old folks at home." Statistics show that the money
sent by hard-working servants through the post-office amounts
to a very large sum every year. Surely these faithful hearts deserve
and will one day possess a " home of their own."
There is a class of persons, although not, it is to be hoped, a very
large one, who are without natural affection, to use a Pauline phrase,
and so are incapable of loving or caring for a home. As the Latin
proverb describes the man who is " never less alone than when
alone," so one may describe such misanthropic members of the
human family as never less at home than when at home. And not
only are such cross-grained creatures never at home themselves, but
they prevent others from feeling at home in their presence. One ill-
conditioned and sour-tempered inmate can blight the peace and
happiness of a home. As " one touch of nature makes the whole
world kin," so the touch of ill-nature can make everything unkind.
Do we sufficiently instill into our children the love of home and
all that home connotes and stands for ? The best way to make the
young ones love it is to make it as cheery and pleasant for them as
we can. It is a fact which the student of social life can scarcely
HOMES, ANCIENT AND MODERN, 3 1
Page 13
Presented as published in 1883. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
" I have had playmates, I have had companions, In my days of childhood, in my joyful school-days ; All, all are gone, the old familiar faces.
" Ghost-like, I paced round the haunts of my childhood. Earth seemed a desert I w^as bound to traverse, Seeking to find the old familiar faces.
" llow some they have died, and some they have left nie. And some are taken from me; all are departed; All, all are gone, the old familiar faces."
Afterward, when his thoughts grew calmer and he was able from one source or another to glean some personal intelligence of his companions and schoolfellows, he found that one was a great Senator, another a bishop, and another a chief-justice, while he himself had but given another example to the proverb that " a rolling stone gathers no moss," and that " the lane called By-and-By leads to the house of Never."
Sometimes, however, the spirit of adventure is not mere restlessness
30 THE hearthstone; or, life at home.
and impatience, but is the true outcome of a brave heart and steadfast will. But in such cases there is no eagerness to get away from home. That is a hard wrench, and is only undergone as a painful duty. Indeed, the test of its being one's duty to leave hom^e is often the pain it costs us to do so. If we wish to go away we ought to make quite sure that we are right in going ; but if it almost breaks our heart to part from all that has made our past life dear to us, we should listen attentively when duty bids, or seems to bid us go. In such cases even the wide ocean does not part us wholly from our home, either by night or day. The dying soldier on the distant battle-field, the shipwrecked sailor, the merchant in a foreign land, all think lovingly of the old home. There is nothing more worthy of admiration in the scantily educated domestic servants who come to this country from Germany or Ireland than the self-denying affection with which they save their little earnings that they may send help to " the old folks at home." Statistics show that the money sent by hard-working servants through the post-office amounts to a very large sum every year. Surely these faithful hearts deserve and will one day possess a " home of their own."
There is a class of persons, although not, it is to be hoped, a very large one, who are without natural affection, to use a Pauline phrase, and so are incapable of loving or caring for a home. As the Latin proverb describes the man who is " never less alone than when alone," so one may describe such misanthropic members of the human family as never less at home than when at home. And not only are such cross-grained creatures never at home themselves, but they prevent others from feeling at home in their presence. One illconditioned and sour-tempered inmate can blight the peace and happiness of a home. As " one touch of nature makes the whole world kin," so the touch of ill-nature can make everything unkind.
Do we sufficiently instill into our children the love of home and all that home connotes and stands for ? The best way to make the young ones love it is to make it as cheery and pleasant for them as we can. It is a fact which the student of social life can scarcely
HOMES, ANCIENT AND MODERN, 3 1