Keeping Up the Home

Home ought to be the most pleasant and comfortable spot on earth. Better be provoking anywhere else than at home. One should never plant thorns where he has to spend so much of his time himself. A little self-denial, a habit of pleasant speaking, a consideration of the wants of others— these make home delightful. The Rev. F. E. Clark thus touches upon a habit that makes many a home insufferable: '' Oh, the eternal nagging and fault-finding and carping that go on in many a family! Every little personal, every little harmless pet indulgence, every ingrained trait on either side, comes in for a pestering fire of unpleasant remarks that prick and scarify and sting, until the house is no more fit to live in than a patch of nettles is for a tired man's bed."--Anon