How often have we looked back to the sacred spot where we lingered to receive a mother's kiss and a father's blessing, ere we started out on the journey of life! The sweet influences of that trying period have often soothed us in our moments of sorrow, and cheered us in our efforts to overcome the difficulties which have crossed our path. Yes, we can say with Dean Alford

"When first I issued forth into the world,

Well I remember-that unwelcome morn

When we rose long before the accustomed hour,
By the faint taper-light; and by that gate
We just now swung behind us carelessly,
gave thee the last kiss; I travelled on,
Giving my mind up to the world without,
Which poured in strange ideas of strange things-
New towns, new churches, new inhabitants;
And ever and anon some happy child

Beneath a rose-trailed porch played as I passed;
And then the thought of thee swept through my soul,
And made the hot drops stand in either eye."

Yes, we believe that the very corner-stone of the safety and security of our country is in the hearthstone. Hence the vital importance of everything being done which can be done, to keep it bright and clean. Indeed, we know that if a woman does not study to keep her home comfortable and cheerful, all the love in the world will be practically thrown away. A tidy house and a well-prepared dinner, and a cosy tea every day, will go more to the heart of a husband than all the sentimental devotion a wife can give. It is very natural for a young man, when in love, to say he can live on roses and posies, and kisses and blisses, but after marriage, most men have a strong notion of being made happy and comfortable. It's all very well to sing about a

"Love that sweetens sugarless tea,
And makes contentment and joy agree
With the coarsest boarding and bedding,"

but it will be generally found, when it comes to the practical application of it in everyday life, that "love"

prefers nice things, and is very sensible of everything which helps to make life happy and its days bright and cheerful.

I. Resolve to have a bright fireside.-Never forget that the road to happiness lies over small stepping-stones, and that there is much wisdom in the old saying, "Little deeds are like little seeds-they grow to flowers or to weeds." The great mistake which some married people make is in seeking their happiness and enjoyments away from home. Mind, therefore, that your "seeds are not weeds." How many, for instance, make the mistake of supposing that the theatre, the concert-hall, or some public amusement is essential to an evening's pleasure! Now, while it is perfectly true that there are amusements and entertainments which may be helpful at times, yet it should never be thought that they are essential. If half the money and time, spent in seeking enjoyment in questionable places could be spent in providing for real pleasure which would bear the aftermorning's reflection, the result would be a large addition to the happiness of our homes and the brightness of our firesides. It was this spirit which led Montgomery to write"There is a land, of every land the pride,

Beloved by Heaven o'er all the world beside;
Where brighter suns dispense serener light,
And milder moons imparadise the night:
A land of beauty, virtue, valour, truth,
Time-tutored age, and love-exalted youth.

"The wandering mariner, whose eye explores
The wealthiest isles, the most enchanting shores,
Views not a realm so bountiful and fair,
Nor breathes the spirit of a purer air;

In every clime, the magnet of his soul,
Touched by remembrance, trembles to that pole!
"For in this land of Heaven's peculiar grace,
The heritage of Nature's noblest race,
There is a spot of earth supremely blest,
A DEARER, SWEETER SPOT THAN ALL THE REST,
Where man, creation's tyrant, casts aside
His sword and sceptre, pageantry and pride,
While, in his softened looks, benignly blend
The sire, the son, the husband, father, friend.

"HERE WOMAN REIGNS; the mother, daughter, wife,
Strews with fresh flowers the narrow way of life;
In the clear heaven of her delightful eye,

An angel-guard of loves and graces lie:
Around her knees domestic duties meet,
And fireside pleasures gambol at her feet.
Where shall that land, that spot of earth be found
ART THOU A MAN? A PATRIOT? look around!
Oh! thou shalt find, howe'er thy footsteps roam,
That land THY country, and that spot THY home."

It is an old and true saying that "Marriage with peace is this world's paradise." Then anything and everything which will aid in securing peace in the home, will result in making it a little paradise or heaven below. Surely, then, it should command every possible attention which each husband and wife can bestow upon it. Adam when in paradise was commanded to dress it and keep it, then how needful must it be for us, with the infirmities and shortcomings of our sinful natures, to pay attention to all the details, and conform to all the conditions, which are absolutely needful to dress and keep a bright fireside! Especially should this be remembered when we recognise the fact, that married people did not come together as two angels or two perfect beings, but as two children of waywardness, weakness, selfishness, and sin, and therefore need the greatest care to prevent these evil tendencies from being unduly taxed, for fear of their not being equal to the strain. However humble the home may be or limited the resources, it is even possible there to be happy. We are told in the best of books-the Bible-that 66 a man's life does not consist in the abundance of things which he possesseth," and how true this has proved to be may be seen in scores of homes. In fact, the secret of real happiness seems to be just this: a determination on the part of husband and wife to make the best of things, whatever they may be, few or many, great or small. Do you ask, "What can make home happy?" Listen to the following reply :

II. Let the sunshine in your home if you wish to be happy.-Every one knows what a genial influence a bright sunny morning has upon the spirits-how it makes the birds sing, and the children revel in its glory. It is so with our homes-a smile, a laugh, and cheerful tone in the voice, a kindly spirit, all combine to lift the clouds away. As one writer has said:-"As a rule, the whole tone of a home depends upon the woman at the head of it-whether sunshine shall enter the rooms, whether the parlour shall be used and enjoyed, whether the table shall be invitingly spread, whether bright lights and bright fires shall give warmth and cheer on winter nights-whether, in brief, the home shall be an agreeable or disagreeable place, is usually what the woman determines."

Among the things with which it is easy to add to the brightness of the home may be named FLOWERS. They cost but little, and are easily obtained, as a rule, during the summer months, even by those who have not the privilege of a garden to themselves, while even in the winter the price of a pint of beer will secure a few which have been raised by artificial means. It is astonishing what can be

done to beautify a home in this way, if you are willing to be on the outlook for such things. Hence we may say with Leigh Hunt:-" Set flowers on your table-a whole nosegay, if you can get it; or but two or three, or a single flower

a rose, a pink, a daisy. Bring a few daisies and buttercups from your last field-work; and keep them alive in a little water-ay, preserve but a bunch of clover, or a handful of flowering grass, one of the most elegant of Nature's productions, and you have something on your table that