ome is set up; Christ when the baby is
born; Christ when the baby dies; Christ in the pinching times; Christ
in the days of plenty; Christ in the nursery, in the kitchen, in the
parlor; Christ in the toil and in the rest; Christ all along the years;
Christ when the wedded pair walk toward the sunset gates; Christ in the
sad hour when the farewells are spoken, and one goes on before and the
other stays, bearing the unshared grief. Christ is the secret of happy
home life."

THE HOME-MAKER.

Just as a surly husband, a dissipated father, or a reckless son may
blight a home and destroy its happiness, so may a thoughtful, virtuous,
and kind man in the home change its very atmosphere and help to make
it a heaven. As a home-maker man has the ruggeder part. It is his to
provide. The man who falls short of this in the home does not do his
part. No woman can respect a man much less love him, who places her, her
work, her life, her home, her world under constant embarrassment by a
scant and niggardly provision. She loses her ambition, ceases to make
her self and her home attractive; disorder, filth, unwholesome food,
lack of spirit on her part is the result. She can not be to him, most of
all, what he expects her to be, a companion, a counselor, a comfort--a
home-maker. Also, it is the part of the man in the home to shield the
woman from the heavier burdens and responsibilities. Let him count the
cost of his enterprises, secure himself against hazardous speculations,
and give his wife and children to realize that his shoulders, and
not theirs, are to bear the load of financial obligation and
material support. This leaves the woman with her finer instincts and
sensibilities to make the home the dearest spot on earth to husband,
children, and to all who cross her threshold. The house is her dominion.
There she is queen. What a tender and beautiful one she may become!

SOME PRACTICAL HINTS.

The true home-maker does not spend all of her time with her ducks,
chickens, pigs, and cows, nor yet with her neighbors, her club, nor her
Church. She finds some time to cultivate her intellectual nature and
the finer feelings of her children. She does not degenerate into a
mere household drudge. She is not the slave of her husband, but his
companion. If she has musical ability, she keeps up the practice of
her music; if she is inclined to literature, she reads some every day.
Whether literary or not, every woman should spend some time eac