be refined and more delicately attuned; then would they be able to select a natural and healthful supply to the soul which points man to woman as a wife, or woman to man as a husband, with as much certainty as the instinct for material food directs us to that which is wholesome. A true development in this direction can alone prevent disappointment, disaster and desolation of home.

Character is an educated will. Oh for some moral Hercules to cleanse the fountains of human life and destinyto purify and redress grievances to make husbands and wives what they should be, the holy of holies in the great temple of humanity! A deep responsibility rests upon both, to their children and each other. The true husband is called upon to renounce many false and preconceived opinions which may injuriously affect the happiness of his cherished family; he should govern his thoughts, feelings and emotions, and learn how to live correctly. A wife needs strong and practical common sense and a thorough knowledge of what she has undertaken to perform in her domestic relation, without being subject to drudgery, or all engrossing care. When we consider that the true object of labor for external life is to clothe, feed, warm and protect the body, not merely for its own sake, but thereby to perfect and develop the immortal soul, and then observe how completely society substitutes the means for the end, or even overlooks the end entirely, how fatal seems the mistake, how monstrous the perversion! It is time for women who cultivate a conscience to take a strong stand in this matter, to resist the inordinate longing after display and gratification of personal ambition, which make the influence of home a secondary or neglected consideration. Whatever be the whirl of fashion and folly in which a wise and loving wife and mother finds herself, she will be firm and independent

in consulting the welfare of her family at every cost. Her husband will not be goaded on to harassing perplexities in business in order to gratify her personal display, and only such society will be sought as makes no demands hostile to the true welfare of the loved ones at home. The wife may

do all this to diffuse a pure, high-toned, refined influence in her home. She may be mistress of all domestic accomplishments, with ready tact, a quick and practiced hand to smooth the rough places, and yet the husband may, by scowl or sulky.silence, mingle so much of selfishness as to take the joy all out of their home. Abiding happiness results only from the constant presence and omnipotent sway of a love that seeketh not its own selfish desires, but a love deeply rooted and sacredly cherished in the heart of each other.

It is through the family that love goes forth to the world. There the child is molded and protected through love. There the mother receives affectionate care which is her right. This is the father's duty, to maintain and protect, because of his superior strength and ability.

The affections build the homes which gem the earth. The true home is composed of and is dependent upon the existence and continuation of a most blessed harmonial marriage, and where there is happy concord, harmony is delightful and enduring. True love is of God. It fills, comforts, calms, elevates.

CHILDREN NEED SYMPATHY.

Parents should be able to comprehend the wants of their children and take an interest in their thoughts and feelings. Many parents have hitherto been too dignified, cold, austere, reserved and unsympathizing toward their dear ones. Fond greetings and embraces are unpracticed in many families. But affection should rule in every home. The family life

should be full of sweetness, tenderness and beauty, and especially should this beautiful feeling be manifested toward children. The associations of childhood should be of a pleasant nature; companions, studies, amusements, should all produce a pleasant impression. Some children are too emotional in their natures-they are all feeling, all tenderness, all excitement. Emotion is necessary, and constitutes a great part of our nature; it gives vent to an excess of nervous energy. But if so much flows off that there is insufficient for the practical needs of life, then there is a waste; and the reservoir of force becomes exhausted. Emotional children need special care. The more the intellect is developed and exercised on practical knowledge, the less danger will there be of the emotions becoming excessive. Multitudes of children are badly born; this fact must produce a sympathetic tenderness and pitiful compassion for the dear, martyred innocents. It is far better to give a child good morals, a good constitution and good blood, a deep chest, a clear eye, a pure skin, dexterity with the hand, deep love for truth, a desire for purity, courage, hope, trust, desire and ability to take care of himself, than, without these things, to leave him a vast amount of material and transient possessions.

Gather them close to your loving heart,

Cradle them on your breast;

They will soon enough leave your brooding care

Soon enough mount youth's topmost stair

And nevermore to rest.

Fear not that the children's hearts are gay,
That the restless feet will run;

There may come a time in the by-and-by,
When you'll sit in your lonely room and sigh
For a sound of childish fun.

PART FOURTH.

BEAUTY AND ITS USES.

BEAUTY IS AN ESTABLISHED PRINCIPLE IN NATURE.

There is a Divine principle in man which seeks to express itself in books, in ideas, in music, in shadows and in symbols. Nature is the manifestation of spirit. Poetry is the interpreter of that Divine language. Art refines and spiritualizes the feelings, and opens the mind to the perception and appreciation of nature. The true aim of perfection, and the pursuit of it, is constant progress toward sweetness and light. And so culture is of the like spirit with poetry, and touches beauty and gathers up the inspiration of art.

Some things are unthinkable except in the rhythm of verse. Poetry demands the gift of a rich imagination and the feelings of the laws of the harmony of language. It combines the advantages of the arts of design and music, and, like music, embraces sound as a means of expression.

Language alone is able to express all the conceptions of the spirit. The art which has speech as its mode of expression is superior to all other arts; it absorbs them, it surpasses them and crowns them. This is the poetic art, and it breathes the spirit of beauty.

Poetry is the real language of man in a state of heightened emotion and vivid sensation. Pure spiritualism, as a system of philosophy, imposes on external nature the laws of the understanding or reason; poetry imposes on nature the laws of imagination. Both make the inner world of mind paramount to the external world of matter. The purest poetry

is that in which the imagination either evolves from material objects the latent spiritual meaning they secrete or superadds to those objects, thoughts and feelings which the senses cannot perceive as residing in them. It thus transcends the sphere of the senses, and is in a measure transcendental.

Musical composition betrays man's unconquerable admiration of balance, measure, accuracy, beauty and spiritual adaptations. The trees are harps, the winds are artists, and the spirit of music is awakened in the human soul. Thus music in the sea responds to its sister-music in the air, and man's spirit responds to the full diapason.

As the soul and the human race approach the era of social harmony, the principle of poetry will be more easily comprehended. Pictures are thoughts upon canvas; Poetry emphasizes those thoughts. Action strikes fiery light from the rocks it has to hew through; poetry reposes in the skyey splendor which that rough passage has led to.

The monarchs of a country are those whose sway is over thought and emotion. Poetry, in the form in which it appears in literature, may be practically defined as a record. left by the greatest natures of any age, of their inspiration after truth and reality, above their age. A generation of poets never leave the world as they find it. It becomes a more blessed habitation to the humblest; for every bard who connects any of its forms, colors and sounds, with spiritual truths, idealizes the beautiful in nature and in man. All high imaginative poetry thus transcends the sphere of existence. Nothing is too humble for its love, nothing too lofty for its admiration. It mingles with all the interests of mankind, and gives a voice and form to its rights, its wrongs and its aspirations. It is as it were, the champion of humanity, declaring the infinite worth of the human individual soul. The refined and elevated spirit declares itself truthfully, and