Homes: how they are made happy

Front matter

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Chapter I. Home Power

Home makes the Man. — Domestic and Social Life. — The Child. — Surroundings of Children. — Influence of the Mother. — Power of Example. — Civilization dependent on Good Women. — Boyhood of St. Augustine. — Influence of Early Impressions 17

Chapter VI. Power Of Good Example

High Standard of Living.— The Inspiration of Goodness. — Admiration of Good Men. — Influence of Gentle Natures. — Sir W. Napier. — Energy evokes Energy. — Radiating Force of Great Minds. — Admire Nobly. — Johnson and Boswell 64

Chapter VII. Young Men's Heroes

The Envy of Small Minds. — Admiration and Imitation. — The Great Musicians. — Masters and Disciples. — Enduringness of Good Example. — Con solations of a well-spent Life -* 74

Chapter VIII. Influence Of Character

Character a Great Power in the World. — Common Duty. — Character above Learning and Wealth. — Character a Property. — Honesty of Character. — Principles.— Reliableness.— Practical Wisdom.— Sheridan and Burke. .84

Chapter IX. Character And Circumstances

Formation of Character. — The late Prince Consort. — Force of Character. — The Conscientious Man. — The Quality of Reverence. — Intrepidity of Character. — Lord Palmerston. — Contagiousness of Energy. — The Napiers and Sir John Moore. — Washington. — Wellington. — Influence of Personal Character. ^ 94

Chapter X. Reverence For Great Men

Luther, Knox, Dante. — Character a Great Legacy. — Character of Nations. —Washington Irving and Sir Walter Scott. — Character and Freedom. — Nations Strengthened by Trials. — Noble and Ignoble Patriots. — Decline and Fall of Nations.— Stability of Character of Nations. 106

Chapter XI. Work

Work the Law of our Being.— The Ancient Romans.— Pliny on Rural Labor. —The Curse of Idleness.— Causes of Melancholy.— Excuses of Indolence. — Industry and Leisure. — Work a Universal Duty. — Lord Stanley on Work.— Life and Work 117

ContetUs. viu

Chapter XV. Courage

Moral Courage. — Martyrs of Science.— Persecution of Great Discoveries.' — Hostility to New Views. — Socrates, Bruno, Galileo, R. Bacon, Vesalius, and others. — Martyrs of Faith. — Annie Askew, Mary Dyer, Fortitude of Luther.— Strafford and Elliot .,157

Chapter XX. Forbearance — Honesty

Forbearance in Conduct. — Faraday's Practical Philosophy. — Burns's Want of Self-control. — Beranger. — Tyranny of Appetite. — Honesty of Living. — Dishonesty of Improvidence. — Public Honesty. — Sir Walter Scott's Heroic Effort to pay his Debts. — Lockhart and Scott 20?

Chapter XXI. Duty — Truthfulness

Upholding Sense of Duty. — Conscience and Will. — Sense of Honor. — Sacredness of Duty. — Freedom of the Individual. — Washington's Sense of Duty. — Wellington's Ideal. — Duty and Truthfulness. — Wellington and his Aurist. — Truth the Bond of Society. — Equivocation. — Pretentiousness 222

Chapter XXII. Duty — Conscience

The Sphere of Duty. — An American Legislator. — Foundation of Duty. — Conscience. — Power of Will. — Religion. — Self-control. — The best Government.— Plato. — The New Testament Ideal. — Dr. Macleod.— Character 235

Chapter XXIII. Duty In Action

Duty at Home. — Direction of the Will. — Characterless Men. — Locke on the Will.— School Teaching and Morality.— Human Liberty.— Noble Work. — Difficulties. — Laziness. — Resolution and Courage. — Intellectual Ability. — Lady Verney on Literature. — Discipline of Home. 249

Contents. ix.

Chapter XXIV. Honesty — Truth

lying. — Little Lying. — Regulus the Roman. — Honesty in Business. — Depreciation of Manufactures. — The Chinese. — Bad Work Lying. — Socrates on Perfection of Work. — America on Money-making. — America without Apprentices. — Badness of Trade. — Commercial Gambling. — Repudiation of Pennsylvania. — Illinois remains Honest. — Honesty of a German Peasant 263

Chapter XXV. Temper

Cheerfulness of Disposition. — Jeremy Taylor. — Cheerfulness a Tonic. — A Beam in the Eye. — Dr. Marshall Hall, Luther, Lord Palmerston.— Great Men Cheerful. — Fielding, Johnson, Scott. — Cheerfulness of Men of Genius — Abauzit, Malcolm, Burke. 277

Chapter XXVI. Temper — Cheerfulness

Basis of Cheerfulness. — Beneficence and Benevolence. — Power of Kindness. — Shallowness of Discontent. — Morbidity of Temper. — Querulousness. — St. Francis de Sales on the Little Virtues. — Gentleness. — Cheerfulness and Hope 287

Chapter XXVII. Self-help — National And Individual

Spirit of Self-help. — Institutions and Men. — Government a Reflex of the Individualism of a Nation. — Caesarism and Self-help. — Patient Laborers in all Ranks. — Self-help a feature in the English Character. — Power of Example and of Work in Practical Education. — Value of Biographies. —Great Men Belong to no Exclusive Class or Rank.— Illustrious Men Sprung from the Ranks. .. 297

Chapter XXVIII. Self-help — Examples

Distinguished Astronomers.— Eminent Sons of Clergymen.— Of Attorneys. —Illustrious Foreigners of Humble Origin.— Promotions from the Ranks in the French Army.— Instances of Persevering Application and Energy. — Diligence Indispensable to Usefulness and Distinction. — The Wealthier Ranks not all Idlers.— Examples.— Military Men.— Philosophers.— Men of Science.— Politicians. — Literary Men.— Men their Own best Helpers - 310 x. Contents.

Chapter XXIX. Application And Perseverance

Great Results Attained by Simple Means.— Fortune Favors the Industrious.

"Genius is Patience." — Industry of Eminent Men. — Power Acquired

by Repeated Effort. — Anecdote of Sir Robert Peel's Cultivation of Memory, — Facility Comes by Practice. — Importance of Patience.— Cheerfulness. — Hope an Important Element in Character. — Perseverance of Watt and Stephenson 331

Chapter XXX. Application And Perseverance

Comte de Buff on as Student.— Genius is Patience.— His Continuous and Unremitting Labors. — Sir Walter Scott's Perseverance. — His Working Qualities.— His Punctuality 343

Chapter XXXI. The Great Potter — Palissy

Ancient Pottery. — Bernard Palissy: Sketch of His Life and Labors. — Inflamed by the Sight of an Italian Cup. — His Experiments During Years of Unproductive Toil. — Indomitable Perseverance; Burns His Furniture to Heat the Furnace. — Success at Last.— Reduced to Destitution. — Condemned to Death, and Released. — His Writings. — Dies in the Bastille » - 355

Chapter XXXII. The Great Potters — Bottgher, Wedgwood

John Frederick Bottgher, the Berlin " Gold Cook." — His Trick in Alchemy, and Consequent Troubles. — Discovers How to Make Red and White Porcelain. — The Manufacture Taken up by the Saxon Government. — Bottgher Treated as a Prisoner and a Slave. — His Unhappy End. — Josiah Wedgwood, the English Potter. — Wedgwood's Indefatigable Industry.— His Success. — Wedgwood a National Benefactor. — Industrial Heroes... 372

Chapter XXXIII. Leaders Of Industry — Inventors And Producers

Industry of the English People. — Poverty and Toil not Insurmountable Obstacles. — Working men as Inventors. — Invention of the Steam-engine. — James Watt : His Industry and Habit of Attention. — The Cotton Manufacture. — The Early Inventors. — Arkwright: His Early Life. — Barber, Inventor and Manufacturer. — His Influence and Character. 390

Contents. xi.

CHAPTER XXXIY.

LEADERS OF INDUSTRY — INVENTORS AND PRODUCERS.

The Peels of South Lancashire.— The Founder of the Family.— The First Sir "Robert Peel, Cotton-printer. — Lady Peel. — Rev. William Lee, Inventor of the Stocking-frame. — Dies Abroad in Misery. — James Lee. — The Nottingham Lace Manufacture 404

Chapter XXXV. Leaders Op Industry — Inventors And Producers

John Heathcoat, Inventor of the Bobbin-net Machine. — His Early Life. — Invention of his Machine. — Progress of the Lace-trade. — Heathcoat's Machines Destroyed by the Luddites. — His Character. — Jacquard: His Inventions and Adventures. — Vaucanson, his Mechanical Genius, Improvements in Silk Manufacture. — The Jacquard Loom Adopted. — Joshua Heilman, Inventor of the Combing-machine. — History of the Invention. — Its Value ". 417

Chapter XXXVI. Helps And Opportunities — Scientific Pursuits

No Great Result Achieved by Accident. — Newton's Discoveries. — Dr. Young. — Habit of Observing with Intelligence. — Galileo.— Philosophy in Little Things. — Discovery of Steam-power. — Opportunities Seized or Made. — Simple and Rude Tools of Great Workers.— Lee and Stone's Opportunities for Learning.— Sir Humphrey Davy.— Faraday.— Davy, Coleridge ...443

Chapter XXXVII. Workers In Art

Sir Joshua Reynolds on the Power of Industry in Art.— Humble Origin of Eminent Artists. — Acquisition of Wealth not the Ruling Motive with Artists.— Michael Angelo on Riches.— Patient Labors of Michael Angelo and Titian.— West's Early Success a Disadvantage.— Hogarth a keen Observer.— Banks and Mulready.— Claude, Lorraine and Turner : Their Indefatigable Industry.— Perrier and Jacques Callot, and Their Visits to Rome.— Callot and the Gypsies.— Benvenuto Cellini.— Casting of His Statue of Perseus 45?

xii. Contents.

Chapter Xxxviii. Men Of Business

Hazlitt's Definition of the Man of Business.— The Chief Requisite Qualities — Men of Genius Men of Business. — Labor and Application Necessary to Success. — The School of Difficulty a Good School. — Conditions of Success in Law. — The Industrious Architect. — The Salutary Influence of Work. — Consequences of Contempt for Arithmetic— Practical Qualities Necessary in Business.— Importance of Accuracy. — Method. — Value of Time. — Promptitude. — Economy of Time. — Punctuality 479

Chapter XXXIX. Men Of Business — Examples

'Firmness. — Tact. — Napoleon and Wellington, as Men of Business. — Napoleon's Attention to Details. — The "Napoleon Correspondence." — Wellington's Business Faculty. — Wellington in the Peninsula. — "Honesty the best Policy." — Trade Tries Character. — Dishon3st Gains 496

Chapter XL. Money — Its Use And Abuse

The Right Use of Money a Test of Wisdom.— The Virtue of Self-denial.— Self-imposed Taxes. — Economy Necessary to Independence. — Helplessness of the Improvident. — Frugality an Important Public Question. — The Bondage of the Improvident. — Independence Attainable by Working Men. — Living within the Means. — Bacon's Maxim. — Running into Debt. — Haydon's Debts. — Dr. Johnson on Debt. — The Duke of Wellington on Debt.— Washington ._ 512

Chapter XLI. Money — Its Use And Abuse — Examples

Earl St. Vincent: his protested Bill. — Joseph Hume on living too high. — Ambition after Gentility. — Resistance to Temptation. — Hugh Miller's Case. — High Standard of Life necessary. — Proverbs on Money-making and Thrift 526

Chapter XLII. Energy And Courage

Energy Characteristic of the Teutonic Race.— The Foundations of Strength of Character. — Force of Purpose. — Concentration.— Courageous Working.— Words of Hugh Miller and Fowell Buxton.— Power and Freedom of Will.— Words of Lamennais.— Suwarrow.— Napoleon and "Glory."— Wellington and ' ' Duty!' 534

I

Oontents- xiiL

Chapter XLIII. Self-culture — Facilities And Difficulties

Sir Walter Scott on Self-culture. — Active Employment salutary. — Importance of physical Health. — Early Labor. — Training in Use of Tools. — Healthiness of Great Men. — Labor conquers all Things. — Well-directed Labor. — The Virtue of patient Labor. — The right Use of Knowledge. — Books may impart learning, but well-applied Knowledge and Experience only exhibit Wisdom. — The Magna Charta Men. — Self-respect. — The Uses of Difficulty and Adversity. — Struggles with Difficulties 544

CHAPTER XLIY.

THRIFT — INDUSTRY.

Private Economy. — Useful Labors. — Our Birthright. — Results of Labor. — Necessity for Labor. — Industry and Intellect. — Thrift and Civilization. —Thrifty Industry.— Thrifty Economy 564

Chapter XLV. Habits Of Thrift

Workmen and Capital. — Habits of Economy. — Self-indulgence. — Results of Thriftlessness. — Uses of Saved Money. — Extravagant Living. — Bargain-buying.— Thrift and Unthrift.— Mortality.— Will Nobody Help Us?— Prosperous Times the Least Prosperous. — National Prosperity. — Moral Independence 576

CHAPTER XL VI.

LITTLE THINGS.

Luck and Labor.— Neglect of Little Things.—" It will Do!"— Spending of Pennies.— The Thrifty Woman.— A Helpful Wife.— A Man's Daily Life.

The Two Workmen. — Rights and Habits. — Influence of the' Wife. — A

Penny a Day.— The Power of a Penny.— Roads and Railways.— Business Maxims, i. 599

CHAPTER XLVn. '

COMPANIONSHIP IN MARRIAGE.

Character Influenced by Marriage. — Mutual Relations of Man and Woman.

Views of Woman's Character. — Early Education of the Sexes. —

Woman's Aflectionateness. — The Sentiment of Love. — Love an Inspirer and Purifier. — Man in the Home. — The Golden Rule in Marriage 610 xiv. Contents.

CHAPTER XL VIII.

MANNER.

Manner the Grace of Character.— Influence of Manner.— Politeness.— " Etiquette." — True Courtesy. — Practical Unpoliteness. — Indications of Self-respect - 618

CHAPTER XLIX.

COMPANIONSHIP OF BOOKS. — THE TRUE GENTLEMAN.

Men are Known by the Books they Read. — Good Books the Best Society.— Interest of Biography. — The Great Lesson of Biography. — The Book of Books. — History and Biography. — Books the Inspirers of Youth. — Honor, Probity, Rectitude. — The Gentleman will not be bribed. — The poor in Purse may be rich in Spirit. — Use of Power, the Test of the Gentleman. — Fuller's Character of Sir Francis Drake 623

CHAPTER L.

HEALTHY HOMES.

Healthy Existence.— Necessity for Pure Air.— Healthy Homes.— Influence of the Home.— intelligent Women.— Wholesome Dwellings 631

CHAPTER LI.

THE LAST.

Youth and Old Age.— The Invisible Messenger.— Frederick the Great.— Sir Harry Vane.— Sir Walter Raleigh.— Sir John Moore.— Sir Walter Scott.— Jeremy Taylor on Life.— A Man's True Life.— Sir Francis of Assisi 635

BE IT EVER SO HUMBLE

Home, Sweet Home.

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Chapter I. Home Power

"So build we up the being that we are, Thus deeply drinking in the soul of things, We shall be wise perforce." — Wordsworth.

Home makes the Man. — Domestic and Social Life. — The Child. — Surroundings of Children. — Influence of the Mother. — Power of Example. — Civilization dependent on G-ood Women. — Boyhood of St. Augustine. — Influence of Early Impressions.

dTOME is the first and most important school of character. It is there that every human being receives his best moral training, or his worst; for it is there that he imbibes those principles of conduct which endure through manhood, and cease only with life.

It is a common saying that " Manners make the man;" and there is a second, that "Mind makes the man;" but truer than either is a third, that "Home makes the man," For the home-training includes not only manners and mind, but character. It is mainly in the home that the heart is opened, the habits are formed, the intellect is awakened, and character moulded for good or for evil.

From that source, b^ it pure or impure, issue the principles and maxims that govern society. Law itself 2 17

18 Home and Civilization.

is but the reflex of homes. The tiniest bits of opinion sown in the minds of children in private life afterwards issue forth to the world, and become its public opinion; for nations are gathered out of nurseries, and they who hold the leading-strings of children may even exercise a greater power than those who wield the reins of government.

It is in the order of nature that domestic life should be preparatory to social, and that the mind and character should first be formed in the home. There the individuals who afterwards form society are dealt with in detail, and fashioned one by one. From the family they enter life, and advance from boyhood to citizenship. Thus the home may be regarded as the most influential school of civilization. For, after all, civilization mainly resolves itself into a question of individual training; and according as the respective members of society are well or ill trained in youth, so will the community which they constitute be more or less humanized and civilized.

The training of any man, even the wisest, can not fail to be powerfully influenced by the moral surround ings of his early years. He comes into the world helpless, and absolutely dependent upon those about him for nurture and culture. From the very first breath that he draws, his education begins. When a mother once asked a clergyman when she should begin the education of her child, then four years old, he replied: " Madam, if you have not begun already, you have lost

Domestic Training. 19

those four years. From the first smile that gleams upon an infant's cheek, your opportunity begins.. 1 ''

But even in this case the education had already begun; for the child learns by simple imitation, without effort, almost through the pores of the skin. " A fig-tree looking on a fig-tree becometh fruitful," says the Arabian proverb. And so it is with children; their first great instructor is example.

However apparently trivial the influences which contribute to form the character of the child, they endure through life. The child's character is the nucleus of the man's; all after-education is but superposition; the form of the crystal remains the same. Thus the saying of the poet holds true in a large degree, " The child is father ot the man;" or, as Milton puts it, u The childhood shows the man, as morning shows the day." Those impulses to conduct which last the longest and are rooted the deepest, always have their origin near our birth. It is then that the germs of virtues or vices, of feelings or sentiments, are first implanted which determine the character for life.

The child is., as it were, laid at the gate of a new world, and opens his eyes upon things all of which are full of novelty and wonderment. At first it is enough for him to gaze; but by-and-by he begins to see, to observe, to compare, to learn, to store up impressions and ideas; and under wise guidance the progress which he makes is really wonderful. Lord Brougham has observed that between the ages of eighteen and thirty

20 Home Influences.

months, a child learns more of the material world, of his own powers, of the nature of other bodies, and even of his own mind and other minds, than he acquires in all the rest of his life. The knowledge which a child accumulates, and the ideas generated in his mind, during this period are so important, that if we could imagine them to be afterwards obliterated, all the learning of a senior wrangler at Cambridge, or a first-classman at Oxford, would be as nothing to it, and would literally not enable its object to prolong his existence for a week.

It is in childhood that the mind is most open to impressions ; and ready to be kindled by the first spark that falls into it. Ideas are then caught quickly and live lastingly. Thus Scott is said to have received his first bent towards ballad literature from his mother's and grandmother's recitations in his hearing long before he himself had learned to read. Childhood is like a mirror which reflects in after-life the images first presented to it. The first thing continues forever with the child. The first joy, the first sorrow, the first success, the first failure, the first achievement, the first misadventure, paint the foreground of his life.

All this while, too, the training of the character is in progress — of the temper, the will, and the habits — on which so much of the happiness of human beings in after-life depends. Although man is endowed with a certain self-acting, self-helping power of contributing to his own development, independent of surrounding circumstances, and of reacting upon the life around him,

Surroundings of Children. 21

the bias given to his moral character in early life is of immense importance. Place even the highest-minded philosopher in the midst of daily discomfort, immorality, and vileness, and he will insensibly gravitate towards brutality. How much more susceptible is the impressionable and helpless child amidst such surroundings! It is not possible to rear, a kindly nature, sensitive to evil, pure in mind and heart, amidst coarseness, discomfort, and impurity.

Thus homes, which are the nurseries of children who grow up into men and women, will be good or bad according to the power that governs them. Where the spirit of love and duty pervades the home — where head and heart bear rule wisely there— where the daily life is honest and virtuous — where the government is sensible, kind, and loving, then may we expect from such a home an issue of healthy, useful, and happy beings, capable, as they gain the requisite strength, of following the footsteps of their parents, of walking uprightly, governing themselves wisely, and contributing to the welfare of those about them.

On the other hand, if surrounded by ignorance, coarseness, and selfishness, they will unconsciously assume the same character, and grow up to adult years rude, uncultivated, and all the more dangerous to society if placed amidst the manifold temptations of what is called civilized life. " Give your child to be educated by a slave," said an ancient Greek, " and, instead of one slave, you will then have two."

22 Power of Example.

The child can not help imitating what he sees. Everything is to him a model — of manner, of gesture, of speech, of habit, of character. " For the child," says Richter, " the most important era of life is that of childhood, when he begins to color and mould himself by companionship with others. Every new educator effects less than his predecessor; until at last, if we regard all life as an educational institution, a circumnavigator of the world is less influenced by all the nations he has seen than by his nurse. Models are, therefore, of every importance in moulding the nature of the child; and if we would have fine characters, we must necessarily present before them fine models. Now, the model most constantly before every child's eye is the mother.

One good mother, said George Herbert, is worth a hundred school-masters. In the home she is " loadstone to all hearts, and loadstar to all eyes." Imitation of her is constant — imitation, which Bacon likens to a " globe of precepts.'" But example is far more than precept. It is instruction in action. It is teaching without words, often exemplifying more than tongue can teach. In the face of bad example, the best of precepts are of but little avail. The example is followed, not the precepts. Indeed, precept at variance with practice is worse than useless, inasmuch as it only serves to teach the most cowardly of vices— hypocrisy. Even children are judges of consistency, and the lessons of the parent who says one thing and does the opposite, are quickly seen through. The teaching of the friar was not worth

Influence of Early Example. 2d

much who preached the virtue of honesty with a stolen goose in his sleeve.

By imitation of acts, the character becomes slowly and imperceptibly, but at length decidedly formed. The several acts may seem in themselves trivial ; but so are the continuous acts of daily life. Like snow-flakes they fall unperceived; each flake added to the pile produces no sensible change, and yet the accumulation of snow-flakes makes the avalanche. So do repeated acts, one following another, at length become consolidated in habit, determine the action of the human being for good or for evil, and, in a word, form the character.

It is because the mother, far more than the father, influences the action and conduct of the child, that her good example is of so much greater importance in the home. It is easy to understand how this should be so. The home is the woman's domain — her kingdom, where she exercises entire control. Her power over the little subjects she rules there is absolute. They look up to her for everything. She is the example and model constantly before their eyes, whom they unconsciously observe and imitate.

Cowley, speaking of the influence of early example, and ideas early implanted in the mind, compares them to letters cut in the bark of a young tree, which grow and widen with age. The impressions then made, howsoever slight they may seem, are never effaced. The ideas then implanted in the mind are like seeds dropped into the ground, which lie there and germinate for a

24 Maternal Love-

time, afterwards springing up in acts and thoughts and habits. Thus the mother lives again in her children. They unconsciously mould themselves after her manner, her speech, her conduct, and her method of life. Her habits become theirs; and her character is visibly repeated in them.

This maternal love is the visible providence of our race. Its influence is constant and universal. It begins with the education of the human being at the outstart of life, and is prolonged by virtue of the powerful influence which every good mother exercises over her children through life. When launched into the world, each to take part in its labors, anxieties, and trials, they still turn to their mother for consolation, if not for counsel, in their time of trouble and difficulty. The pure and good thoughts she has implanted in their minds when children continue to grow up into good acts long after she is dead; and when there is nothing but a memory of her left, her children rise up and call her blessed.

It is not saying too much to aver that the happiness or misery, the enlightenment or ignorance, the civilization or barbarism of the world, depends in a very high degree upon the exercise of woman's power within her special kingdom of home. Indeed, Emerson says, broadly and truly, that u a sufficient measure of civilization is the influence of good women. 1 ' Posterity may be said to lie before us in the person of the child in the mother's lap. What that child will eventually become, mainly depends upon the training and example which he has

Boyhood of St Augustine, 25

received from his first and most influential educator.

Woman, above all other educators, educates humanly. Man is the brain, but woman is the heart of humanity : he its judgment, she its feeling; he its strength, she its grace, ornament, and solace. Even the understanding of the best woman seems to work mainly through her affections. And thus, though man may direct the intellect, woman cultivates the feelings, which mainly determine the character. While he fills the memory, she occupies the heart. She makes us love what he can only make us believe, and it is chiefly through her that we are enabled to arrive at virtue.

The respective influences of the father and the mother on the training and development of character are remarkably illustrated in the life of St. Augustine. While Augustine's father, a poor freeman of Thagaste, proud of his son's abilities, endeavored to furnish his mind with the highest learning of the schools, and was extolled by his neighbors for the sacrifices he made with that object " beyond the ability of his means " — his mother, Monica, on the other hand, sought to lead her son's mind in the direction of the highest good, and with pious care counseled him, entreated him, advised him to chastity, and, amidst much anguish and tribulation, because of his wicked life, never ceased to pray for him until her prayers were heard and answered. Thus her love at last triumphed, and the patience and goodness of the mother were rewarded, not only by the conversion of her gifted son, but also of her husband. Later in life

26 Early Impressions.

and after her husband's death, Monica, drawn by her affection, followed her son to Milan, to watch over him; and there she died, when he was in his thirty -third year. But it was in the earlier period of his life that her example and instruction made the deepest impression upon his mind, and determined his future character.

There are many similar instances of early impressions made upon a child's mind springing up into good acts late in life, after an intervening period of selfishness and vice. Parents may do all that they can to develop an upright and virtuous character in their children, and apparently in vain. It seems like bread cast upon the waters and lost. And yet sometimes it happens that long after the parents have gone to their rest — it may be twenty years or more — the good precept, the good example set before their sons and daughters in childhood, at length springs up and bears fruit.

One of the most remarkable of such instances was that of the Rev. John Newton, of Olney, the friend of Cowper, the poet. It was long subsequent to the death of both his parents, and after leading a vicious life as a youth and as a seaman, that he became suddenly awakened to a sense of his depravity; and then it was that the lessons which his mother had given him when a child sprang up vividly in his memory. Her voice came to him as it were from the dead, and led him gently back to virtue and goodness.

Another instance is that of John Randolph, the American statesman, who once said: " I should have

Good Mothers. 27

been an atheist if it had not been for one recollection — and that was the memory of the time when my departed mother used to take my little hand in hers, and cause me on my knees to say, ' Our Father who art in heaven!' "

But such instances must, on the whole, be regarded as exceptional. As the character is biased in early life so it generally remains, gradually assuming its permanent form as manhood is reached. " Live as long as you may," said Southey, " the first twenty years are the longest half of your life/' and they are by far the most pregnant in consequences. When the worn out slanderer and voluptuary, Dr. Wolcot, lay on his death-bed, one of his friends asked if he could do anything to gratify him. " Yes," said the dying man, eagerly, "give me back my youth." Give him but that and he would repent — he would reform. But it was all too late. His life had become bound and inthralled by the chains of habit.

Gretry, the musical composer, thought so highly of the importance of woman as an educator of character that he described a good woman as "Nature's chefcPceuvre." And he was right: for good mothers, far more than fathers, tend to the perpetual renovation of mankind, creating as they do the moral atmosphere of the home, which is the nutriment of man's moral being as the physical atmosphere is of his corporeal frame By good temper, suavity and kindness, directed by in telligence, woman surrounds the in-dwellers with a per

2$

The Poorest Dwelling.

vading atmosphere of cheerfulness, contentment, and peace, suitable for the growth of the purest as of the manliest natures.

The poorest dwelling presided over by a virtuous, thrifty, cheerful and cleanly woman, may thus be the abode of comfort, virtue and happiness; it may be the scene of every ennobling relation in family life; it may be endeared to a man by many delightful associations; furnishing a sanctuary for the heart, a refuge from the storms of life, a sweet resting place after labor, a consolation in misfortune, a pride in prosperity, and a joy at all times.