To make home happy it must be a miniature republic with equal rights for all. En\y and jealousy sap the foundations of home life. Among the boys and girls there must be a chain of mutual love, an anxiety for each other's happiness and welfare, a generous pride in each other's success. The prize at school gained by one must be tlic cause of joy to all. The industry of one must excite the emulation, not the envy, of the rest. The special talent of one must be respected by all. The sensitive spot of one must be allowed for by the others. Every member of the home circle should judge charitably of an- other's faults, knowing how much need he has of a like charity of judgment himself We sometimes hear people say that they don't want charity from others, so long as they get justice. But in our thoughts and treat- ment of each other charity is often a part of justice. We must make allowances — that is charity. Wc must bear and forbear — that i.s charity. We must not be exact to mark what is done amiss — that is charity. We must do to others not as others do to us — that might be only justice. But we must do to them as we would that they should do to us — that is charity. A brother or a sister may be 228 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. quicker in apprehension and intelligence than we are. They may- think us very stupid and dull-witted, and they may tell us so. It is not kind of them, but we must judge charitably of their impatience, remembering how trying it is to those who see things clearly to find themselves unable to make them clear to others. If we are the smart and they the dull ones, let us remember that it is not their fault or our merit that made the difference between us. It is conceited and unjust to be offended with others for what they cannot help. Per- haps there is some quality in them that will awake to action some day which may be better than all our smartness. Among the members of the same family, each will have his or her peculiarities in mind and ways as in bodily appearance, and no two will be exactly alike. One will care most for this study, duty or amusement, and another for that. It is these diversities of gifts that make up the combined energy of the world, and it is these separate notes which blend into the harmony of home. If all the brothers and sisters were exactly alike in disposition, tastes, thoughts and aspirations, the home would have but one note, which would not be harmony but sameness. It contributes greatly to this harmony, however, that there should be some centre to which all the diversities which I have mentioned should converge. Hence the harmonizing effects of a game in which all can join, a pursuit in which all take an interest, a book which all can read aloud by turns and talk over together. In the morning parents and children divide and each goes forth or engages in his or her separate work. But in the evening and on Sundays the family should be together as much as possible, thus keeping warm the fires of sympathy and affection. When brothers and sisters are parted far from each other in after life, they look back fondly to these social gatherings when the whole family were together and there was no place vacant. It is this that makes the memory of old birthdays and Christmas days so pleasant as time goes on.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

To make home happy it must be a miniature republic with equal rights for all. Envy and jealousy sap the foundations of home life. Among the boys and girls there must be a chain of mutual love, an anxiety for each other's happiness and welfare, a generous pride in each other's success. The prize at school gained by one must be the cause of joy to all. The industry of one must excite the emulation, not the envy, of the rest. The special talent of one must be respected by all. The sensitive spot of one must be allowed for by the others. Every member of the home circle should judge charitably of another's faults, knowing how much need he has of a like charity of judgment himself We sometimes hear people say that they don't want charity from others, so long as they get justice. But in our thoughts and treatment of each other charity is often a part of justice. We must make allowances — that is charity. Wc must bear and forbear — that is charity. We must not be exact to mark what is done amiss — that is charity. We must do to others not as others do to us — that might be only justice. But we must do to them as we would that they should do to us — that is charity. A brother or a sister may be 228 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. quicker in apprehension and intelligence than we are. They maythink us very stupid and dull-witted, and they may tell us so. It is not kind of them, but we must judge charitably of their impatience, remembering how trying it is to those who see things clearly to find themselves unable to make them clear to others. If we are the smart and they the dull ones, let us remember that it is not their fault or our merit that made the difference between us. It is conceited and unjust to be offended with others for what they cannot help. Perhaps there is some quality in them that will awake to action some day which may be better than all our smartness. Among the members of the same family, each will have his or her peculiarities in mind and ways as in bodily appearance, and no two will be exactly alike. One will care most for this study, duty or amusement, and another for that. It is these diversities of gifts that make up the combined energy of the world, and it is these separate notes which blend into the harmony of home. If all the brothers and sisters were exactly alike in disposition, tastes, thoughts and aspirations, the home would have but one note, which would not be harmony but sameness. It contributes greatly to this harmony, however, that there should be some centre to which all the diversities which I have mentioned should converge. Hence the harmonizing effects of a game in which all can join, a pursuit in which all take an interest, a book which all can read aloud by turns and talk over together. In the morning parents and children divide and each goes forth or engages in his or her separate work. But in the evening and on Sundays the family should be together as much as possible, thus keeping warm the fires of sympathy and affection. When brothers and sisters are parted far from each other in after life, they look back fondly to these social gatherings when the whole family were together and there was no place vacant. It is this that makes the memory of old birthdays and Christmas days so pleasant as time goes on.

The hearthstone; or, Life at home