SOCIETY is marked by greater and smaller divisions, as into nations,communities, and families. A man is a member of the commonwealth, asmaller community, as a hamlet or city, and his family at the sametime; and the more perfectly all his duties to his family aredischarged, the more fully does he discharge his duties to thecommunity and the nation; for a good member of a family cannot be abad member of the commonwealth, for he that is faithful in what isleast, will also be faithful in what is greater. Indeed, the moreperfectly a man fulfils all his domestic duties, the more perfectly,in that very act, has he discharged his duty to the whole; for thewhole is made up of parts, and its health depends entirely upon thehealth of the various parts. There are, of course, general as wellas specific duties; but the more conscientious a man is in thedischarge of specific duties, the more ready will he be to performthose that are general; and we believe that the converse of thiswill be found equally true, and that those who have least regard forhome--who have, indeed, no home, no domestic circle--are the worstcitizens. This they may not be apparently; they may not break thelaws, nor do any thing to call down upon them censure from thecommunity, and yet, in the secret and almost unconsciousdissemination of demoralizing principles, may be doing a work farmore destructive of the public good than if they had committed arobbery.
We always feel pain when we hear a young man speak lightly of home,and talk carelessly, or, it may be, with sportive ridicule, of the"old man" and the "old woman," as if they were of but littleconsequence. We mark it as a bad indication, and feel that the feetof that young man are treading upon dangerous ground. His homeeducation may not have been of the best kind, nor may homeinfluences have reached his higher and better feelings; but he is atleast old enough now to understand the causes, and to seek rather tobring into his home all that it needs to render it more attractive,than to estrange himself from it and expose its defects.
Instances of this kind are not of very frequent occurrence. Home hasits charms for nearly all, and the very name comes with a blessingto the spirit. This, however, is more the case with those who havebeen separated from it, than it is with those who yet remain in theold homestead with parents, brothers, and sisters, as their friendsand companions.
The earnest love of home, felt by nearly all who have been compelledto leave that pleasant place, is a feeling that should be tenderlycherished: and this love should be kept alive by associations thathave in them as perfect a resemblance of home as it is possible toobtain. It is for this reason that it is bad for a young man toboard in a large hotel, where there is nothing in which there iseven an image of the home-circle. Each has his separate chamber; butthat is not home. All meet together at the common table; but thereis no home feeling there, with its many sweet reciprocations. Themeal completed, all separate, each to his individual pursuit orpleasure. There is a parlour, it is true; but there are no familygatherings there. One and another sit there, as inclination prompts;but each sits alone, busy with his own thoughts. All this is a poorsubstitute for home. And yet it offers its attractions to some. Ayoung man in a hotel has more freedom than in a family or privateboarding-house. He comes in and goes out unobserved; there is no oneto say to him, "why?" or "wherefore?" But this is a dangerousfreedom, and one which no young man should desire.
But mere negative evils, so to speak, are not the worst that beset ayoung man who unwisely chooses a public hotel as a place forboarding. He is much more exposed to temptations there than in aprivate boarding-house, or at home. Men of licentious habits, inmost cases, select hotels as boarding-places; and such rarelyscruple to offer to the ardent minds of young men, with whom theyhappen to fall in company, those allurements that are most likely tolead them away from virtue. And, besides this, there being noevening home-circle in a hotel, a young man who is not engagedearnestly in some pursuit that occupies his hours of leisure frombusiness has nothing to keep him there, but is forced to seek forsomething to interest his mind elsewhere, and is, in consequence,more open to temptation.
Home is man's true place. Every man should have a home. Here hisfirst duties lie, and here he finds the strength by which he is ablesuccessfully to combat in life's temptations. Happy is that youngman who is still blessed with a home--who has his mother's counseland the pure love of sisters to strengthen and cheer him amid life'sopening combats.
THE END.
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