When the work of the day is over and the family are all assembled
together for a pleasant evening, the intrusion of a bore spoils every-
thing, but the pleasant face of an agreeable friend, full of information
and kindly sentiment, is an addition to the diffused happiness of the
home circle. Perhaps one member of the circle is more skilled in
some dual game, like chess, than the others, and it is a great pleasure
when the friend drops in who is fairly a match for the chess-player.
Or one member of the family is wrapped up in an amateur's enthu-
siasm for painting or music or some other art, and a friend from the
outside comes in to exchange feelings, criticisms and hopes with him
or her about the mutual study and pursuit. Musical evenings are
especially delightful, because music does not disturb but agreeably
relieves the sameness of conversation and revives it by a rest when
it begins to flag.
The old proverb is a very true one and should never be forgotten,
that a person is known by the company he or she keeps. So of a
home, it is the highest praise to say that one is sure of meeting
pleasant company in it, and it is a signboard bidding us beware
and not seek admission when a household becomes known as a
central depot of unpleasant rumors and a factory for social whisper-
ings.
HOME MEMORIES,
•• I remember, I remember,
The house where I was born,
The little window where the sun
Came peeping in at morn.
He never came a wink too soon,
Nor brought too long a day ;
But now I often wish the night
Had borne my l.>rL-alh away!"
SHE sunrise after the night of darkness makes everything
on land and sea appear wonderfully bright and vivid,
but as the hours steal on the feelings of delight and
surprise pass away, and we look upon the scenes around
K^^^C'T"— us as matters of course without being strongly affected
by them. So it is with life. The earliest scenes' form the latest
memories, and the mind's first impressions are the most deep and
lasting. There are some people who read the beginning and the end
of a book, but skip heedlessly over the chapters that lie between them.
So is it often with the book of life. The years that lie between our
childhood and old age seem commonplace and we forget a good
many of their occurrences and experiences, but no one ever forgets
the home where the eyes first opened on the novel scene of life, the
iiuman faces, the nursery, the earliest objects and associations.
Men and women have lived to a hundred years of age and more,
and when we come to talk to them we find their recollections of
v/hole decades and epochs of their lives often very hazy and inac-
curate. They confuse the persons and events that thronged the
busy stage of middle life, and attribute words or actions to one per-
son at one time that really were spoken or done by another person
at another time. But, as we push their memory back, the nearer they
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HOME MEMORIES.
327
Page 213
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
When the work of the day is over and the family are all assembled together for a pleasant evening, the intrusion of a bore spoils everything, but the pleasant face of an agreeable friend, full of information and kindly sentiment, is an addition to the diffused happiness of the home circle. Perhaps one member of the circle is more skilled in some duel game, like chess, than the others, and it is a great pleasure when the friend drops in who is fairly a match for the chess-player. Or one member of the family is wrapped up in an amateur's enthusiasm for painting or music or some other art, and a friend from the outside comes in to exchange feelings, criticisms and hopes with him or her about the mutual study and pursuit. Musical evenings are especially delightful, because music does not disturb but agreeably relieves the sameness of conversation and revives it by a rest when it begins to flag.
The old proverb is a very true one and should never be forgotten, that a person is known by the company he or she keeps. So of a home, it is the highest praise to say that one is sure of meeting pleasant company in it, and it is a signboard bidding us beware and not seek admission when a household becomes known as a central depot of unpleasant rumors and a factory for social whisperings.
•• I remember, I remember,
The house where I was born, The little window where the sun
Came peeping in at morn. He never came a wink too soon,
Nor brought too long a day ; But now I often wish the night
Had borne my breath away!"
SHE sunrise after the night of darkness makes everything on land and sea appear wonderfully bright and vivid, but as the hours steal on the feelings of delight and surprise pass away, and we look upon the scenes around — us as matters of course without being strongly affected by them. So it is with life. The earliest scenes' form the latest memories, and the mind's first impressions are the most deep and lasting. There are some people who read the beginning and the end of a book, but skip heedlessly over the chapters that lie between them. So is it often with the book of life. The years that lie between our childhood and old age seem commonplace and we forget a good many of their occurrences and experiences, but no one ever forgets the home where the eyes first opened on the novel scene of life, the human faces, the nursery, the earliest objects and associations.
Men and women have lived to a hundred years of age and more, and when we come to talk to them we find their recollections of v/hole decades and epochs of their lives often very hazy and inaccurate. They confuse the persons and events that thronged the busy stage of middle life, and attribute words or actions to one person at one time that really were spoken or done by another person at another time. But, as we push their memory back, the nearer they (326)