The Family Circle

New Zealand Tablet, 3 July 1919, Page 45

The Family Circle

_ . . ir MOTHER. "God ' is good," - she.; used to say £ ,- In her calm and gentle tone, Dear old mother, worn and grey, Sweetest face that I have known. Childish 1 grief that brought the tears Passed when mother came and stood dose beside to soothe my fears, Whispering ever, "God is good." Then, as time let down the bars, And the world before me spread, Shade and shine and gloom and stars Alternating o'erhead, Hope from out her smiling eyes Flashed across each heavy' road, Like an angel in disguise Softly whispering, "God is good." Like an angel, did I say Surely of the angels,'she, Ever faithful day by day, Guardian angel unto me; With the angels now she dwells, And I fancy in the sky This unto our Lord she tells: "Bless my boy, don't let him cry." —W. R. Dineen.

FACTS CONCERNING YOURSELF. Each ear has four bones. The body has about 500 muscles. The human skull contains 30 bones. The lower limbs contain 30 bones each. Every hair has two oil glands at its base. The globe of the eye is moved by six muscles. The wrist contains eight bones, the palms five, the fingers 14. . The roots of the hair penetrate the skin about one-twelfth of an inch. Hair is very strong. A single hair will bear a weight of about 1150 grains. The enamel of the teeth contains over 95 per cent, calcareous matter. Straight hairs are nearly cylindrical; curly hairs are eliptical or flat. The weight of the average man is 1401 b; of a woman, 1151 b. The brain is supposed to contain over 200,000,000 cells.

A FATHER'S ADVICE TO HIS SOLDIER SON. My Dear Son, —To say I was surprised at the contents of your letter would not be the .truth. I fully expected it. I quite understand the situation. I am also an advocate of early marriages, if there is nothing in the way to stop the young couple being united; but unfortunately there nearly always is, and the principal one is position and money, so that the parties should not be a further burden on their parents. There are many other considerations: Are the parties suited to one another? Are they both healthy? .Do „they "realise what; an important event it is ' in f their lives? Are they perfectly certain their love is the, real true : love that; will stand each: other's faults all •: through the years § ahead ? And many more things that'; the young couple never think of. The duty .of the parents is to point this' out 'to their children, because they (the parents) have had experience (good or. bad)"in their own married life. So therefore, \Gt—r^-\-T~ :: I as a Catholic, and : one who is trying very hard to act as ; such, not" only in name, but in spirit—tell you, for the : : last time, a parent's 7 duty. I have already, years ago, : pointed out to you many things, and I; am ii delighted-j '-to; sec you act upon what I have said, and uoon the ! things feLf endeavored «to. point 1 outp showing -the* great

dangers'ol'-" a young man's life—one silly moment, of carelessness, once; only, often ruins him for life. Ij'say this for the last time, because in a few months youjvill have reached your majority, and should be (and Jvill be, I am sure) able, to look after yourself. But do not think your trouble is Over in this respect; oil: the contrary, the temptations, if anything, will.be greater, and, if possible, more horrible if you should fall, because yoii will then, be married. Personally: (I may be wrong in some people's ideas) 1! I do not think it is possible in this world for a young man to keep what I call straight without being religious; now, thankjprod, you and B—— are both of the same faith—-that-is a great blessing. I - also | thank God I T was able to give you that faith, and also.that I could send you to'such a splendid school as Stonyhurst; all this should',. ; 'and I feel confident will, ; fortify you against ever sowing your "wild oats'- before or after marriage. ..What I want to impress on you both is (as far as I am concerned) you must never get loose in : your religious duties; directly that creeps in a family, all happiness will fly out of the window. Stick to your, religion, and, above all, practise it. I am afraid (I hope I am wrong) I have noticed since you have been in the army you have been careless in this respect.. My dear G—— , try and turn over a new leaf, and set a good example, not only to your bride to be, but also to everyone that knows you. An indifferent Catholic does more harm to God's Holy Church than all the no-Popery 'cries in the press. „; ~-,. :'; i; u Now I must come to the vital question: Are you quite sure your position in life will support a wife? Whether your prospects are. good enough for the future, to stand the trial and expense of the usual and necessary events of married life ? lam sorry to pull you up —it sounds nasty, but it is. the duty of a parent, and often causes delay in early marriage. To conclude, I just want to remind you'of what marriage means in the "Catholic Faith." It is one of the seven Sacraments ; it is holy, and should always be so. You and B- will not only be wedded on this earth with all its so-called pleasures and misery, but you will also be united for ever in God's register in Heaven. This both of you must never for a ; moment in your lives forget. My consent I give; your happiness, my son, is a part of my own. I pray to God you may never go through the temptations I have had to meet, and that your married life will be a garden of roses, without the thorns that I, your father, even now have to put up with. God bless you both."

A REQUEST. ; Grant these gifts, O powers that be: _. .-. - Lips that smile, and eyes that see; v Heart too brave '-'and soul 'too wise To choose wrong in pleasure's guise; Hands and feet that patient strive r '- ; ° To keep right and, joy alive Sense to share a brother's grief, "' V Wit to bring him swift relief;.. .'. Love that never faints nor fears, Courage to bring joy or. tears;. . ' ~.. Spirit of eternal youth, ■ r ; " !a Pure devotion to all truth ■Gentleness' that sweetens sorrow, , ,' Faith to face the dim to-morrow; .; ' 'Strength to let the small self die, V. / ? . . TJnregretted, joyously; '/.-j ■;,..;.4 And, for crowning grace to lend, Let me never fail a friend! '.'._'"; ",.."' . v ,-,-. lj . ~,;;•: Ethel Colson. ■

- '•■"■;- CAPITAL!. &vix" ;';'.. Louisa, the maid-of-all work, had received a letter from a friend whom she greatly admired for her intellectual attainments. With glowing pride she placed the epistle in the hands of her young mistress, and, as the latter indulgently, perused-'' the ungrammatical but copper-plate effusion, Louisa 'kept, up a running comment on the remarkable qualities of her correspondent.

-; "She's a marvel!" exclaimed the little maid, with conviction, fiercely blacking-the kitchen stove. "I dun* no that I know a better eddicated young lady—except you, miss. Now don't you think it's a good letter, miss ?" -■'-' •'-■ ■' ■■■ A "-".' : ~~"" -; '■ ; .^;^.,-. ~; "A remarkably /well written letter, Louisa. But, tell me, why does your friend always put a small 'i' for the personal pronoun I'?" ft For a moment the little maid hesitated. uvv'J - "I'll tell you, miss," she cried. "Winnie is very hard worked. She must have been in a 'urry. When she 'as plenty o' time she puts a capital letter to every word!"-. .•■;;/./-- .■i- ; V/-;i.^Ji,_i^^--

V CLEVER LITTLE CHAP. -;''■' With an uncomfortable feeling in their heads, the juvenile class awaited the advent of the school inspector. They had had it well drummed into- them that this was to be a new departure in examinations. Bland and expansive, the inspector sauntered* into the schoolroom and, walking past the school teacher, addressed tTlft OIcLSS .--■-'■ ' Observation of little things, "he ■ commented, "has made some of our greatest men of to-day-" With his coat thrown back and his thumbs in his trouserpockets, Mr. Inspector displayed, stretched across his ample dimensions, a heavy gold watch-chain and a goldtopped fountain-pen peeping from his watch-pocket. "Now," he went on, "I will test your powers, and will re-enter the room, and you shall tell me what I have forgotten." Leaving the room, he abstracted his fountain-pen from his pocket, and returned, standing before the class in the same attitude. "Now, what have I forgotten?" he beamed. All the kiddies sat dumb; they didn't quite understand this rigmarole. Suddenly a little chap in the front piped _ , , "Please, sir,, you forgot to say 'Excuse me when you walked in front of teacher!"

THE LAST STRAW. "Yes," said the man from New York, who stood on the deck of a Cunarder leaving Liverpool, 'England is the most awful corner for tips I ever struck. Ive been rooked at every turn for the last month, but, he added savagely, "the last try-on was a bit more than I could stand." - ■■ • "What was that?" inquired the man to whom the, remark was addressed. . n ~■ - : , "Well," said the tourist, "I had tipped every man from the Captain of the House of Lords down to the man that gummed the wrong labels on my luggage, and I went into the waiting-room on the landing-stage to wash my hands of everything English, and what do you thing stared me in the face when I was finished but ' Please Tip the Basin.' I'm hanged if I did !

SMILE RAISERS. '.',, Young Lady: "You say you were on a raft for six weeks after you were torpedoed, and had nothing to eat but mutton. Where did you get the mutton from?" , ; '-■-\ ""'■■■ Bored Sailor: "Well, you see, miss, the sea was very choppy." An amateur authoress who had. submitted a > story to a magazine, after waiting several weeks without hearing from the editor concerning it, finally ■ sent him a note requesting an early decision, as she stated she had other irons in the fire." _ Shortly after came "the editor's reply: ".year madam,—l have read your story, and I should advise you to put it with the other; irons." '