, so it is innocent, which gives them a little
pleasure, breaks in on the monotony of their work or their trouble, and
makes them have for one half-hour a "good time." Those who have near and
dear ones to remember these things for them need no such words as I am
writing here. Heaven forgive them if, being thus blessed, they do not
thank God daily and take courage.

But lonely people, and people whose kin are not kind or wise in these
things, must learn to minister even in such ways to themselves. It is not
selfish. It is not foolish. It is wise. It is generous. Each contented
look on a human face is reflected in every other human face which sees it;
each growth in a human soul is a blessing to every other human soul which
comes in contact with it.

Here will come in, for many people, the bitter restrictions of poverty.
There are so many men and women to whom it would seem simply a taunt to
advise them to spend, now and then, a dollar for a pleasure. That the poor
must go cold and hungry has never seemed to me the hardest feature in
their lot; there are worse deprivations than that of food or raiment, and
this very thing is one of them. This is a point for charitable people to
remember, even more than they do.

We appreciate this when we give some plum-pudding and turkey at Christmas,
instead of all coal and flannel. But, any day in the year, a picture on
the wall might perhaps be as comforting as a blanket on the bed; and, at
any rate, would be good for twelve months, while the blanket would help
but six. I have seen an Irish mother, in a mud hovel, turn red with
delight at a rattle for her baby, when I am quite sure she would have been
indifferently grateful for a pair of socks.

Food and physicians and money are and always will be on the earth. But a
"merry heart" is a "continual feast," and "doeth good like-a medicine;"
and "loving favor" is "chosen," "rather than gold and silver."

Wanted.--A Home.

Nothing can be meaner than that "Misery should love company." But the
proverb is founded on an original principle in human nature, which it is
no use to deny and hard work to conquer. I have been uneasily conscious of
this sneaking sin in my own soul, as I have read article after article in
the English newspapers and magazines on the "decadence of the home spirit
in English family life, as seen in the large towns and the metropolis." It
seems that the English are as badly off as we. There, also, men are
w