ave done so much to lessen, at
least upon the surface of things, the sacredness of home, and weaken the
solemnity of marriage, it is comforting and pleasant to look back upon
such a home as that was, and to realise that it is possible, in the
midst of a busy life of work and of pleasure, to preserve an inner holy
of holies around the domestic hearth, into which no jarring discord, no
paltry worldly worry, can come, because love is there. Before love's
clear gaze all that is selfish and petty and false dies away, while all
that is true, good, and gentle makes for sweet peace and that perfect
union of hearts which can alone create a true marriage and a perfect
home life.

Into the Stevenson household, as into other households, came from time
to time real worry, real grief, and not infrequent anxiety. The very
frailty of tenure by which their son had always held his life was in
itself a daily burden to the parents. Mrs Stevenson, especially in her
earlier married life, was often far from strong; to Mr Stevenson came
now and then those darker moods to which the Scotch temperament,
particularly when tinged with the Celtic, is liable. Personal and
business disappointments were not wholly unknown, although life in these
latter respects was one saved at least from monetary anxieties, and
crowned with a large measure of success. But in "all the changes and
chances of this mortal life" this household had a sure sheet anchor on
which to depend. Love met the trials smiling, and because they loved
each other they were clothed in the armour of defence.

It was a home ennobled by a high ideal of what life ought to be, and
hallowed by a strong and personal faith in God. Mr Stevenson's somewhat
austere Calvinism gave a gravity to his character and his religion that
were admirably balanced by the happy nature and the sunny active faith
of his wife, whose religion was none the less real and earnest that it
was bright and always cheerfully practical. Both loved the grand old
Church of Scotland, with her far-reaching history and her noble
traditions; both, with money and with personal interest, helped not only
their own congregation of St Stephen's but the missions and schemes of
the Church at large, and many private kindnesses and public charities
besides evinced their liberality of heart. Mrs Stevenson, among other
things, took a keen pleasure in work for the Indian Zenanas, and among
his many engrossments Mr Stevenson was greatly occupi