There may be no costly pictures on the walls, but they may be spared where the living pictures of home joys and home affections are found, in the heart, in love's own natural and beautiful setting. Love, chastity, fidelity to marriage vows, virtuous endeavors, the Christian view of life, the Christian faith, hope, spirit, and purpose, - let the married pair have these, - and they have a foundation for home that will not crumble. These will gild with peace and joy the lowliest circumstances, beautify the humblest home, sweeten daily toil, and make common duties, cares, and labors subserve a high and sacred purpose. These will give to competency a new value, as furnishing the means of making BRIDAL WREATH. 21 home outwardly as well as inwardly attractive, adding to its conveniences and comforts, gratifying a pure taste, and providing the means of intellectual, moral, and spiritual improvement and pleasure. These will impart to wealth a new power for good, by making it the ministering angel of pure and chaste affections beautifying home, not for vanity and show; but for love and happy influence; multiplying its comforts, that its hospitalities may be multiplied; adding to its chaste elegances, that it may minister to refinement of thought and feeling; and going out on missions of love to bless with its benignant charities other homes less favored. These are what hallow and sanctify home in every condition; helping to make X it what God designed, -a home of sweet affection, faithful love, and domestic peace, tions, a school of social culture, true refinement, pure endeavor, and sacred aspirathe birthplace, the cradle, the nursery, the school, of all those affections, graces, and virtues that belong to the children of God. Such a home God calls upon the twain made one to build up, to his glory and their own joy. THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO, who crucify the divine idea of home, who thrust the cruel spear of neglect and unkindness into the heart of its purest joys, — who nail to the cross of ignominy its tenderest and sweetest affections, put to an open shame its holiest sanctities, and consign BRIDAL WREATH. 23 to the tomb the purest, holiest, most redeeming influences of this God-ordained form of social life. FATHER, FORGIVE THEM. How great and rich the privilege of making a new home in the world! How unutterably important the question, What shall its character be? They kneeled beside the bridal bed, The twain were one, and one the prayer "'T was earnest, simple, deep, and true, Then upward bore the offering. * |