The Family Circle

New Zealand Tablet, 17 November 1921, Page 45

The Family Circle

GOOD-NIGHT. Good-night, the sun is setting, • "Good-night" the robins sing, And blue-eyed dolls and blue-eyed girls Should soon be following. Come! lay the Lady Geraldine Among the pillows white; 'Tis time the little mother kissed , Her sleepy doll good-night. And, Willie, put the cart away, And drive into the shed The pony and the mooly cow; 'Tis time to go to bed. For, listen! in the lilac tree The robin does not sing; "Good-night!" he sang, and tucked his head Beneath his weary wing. Soon all the world will go to rest, And all the sky grow dim; God "giveth His beloved sleep," So we may trust in Him. The Lord is in the shadow, And the Lord is in the light, To guard His little ones from harm; Good-night, dear hearts, good-night! COURTSHIP. A well-known Western pastor in a sermon on "Courtship," said recently: "Know the person you are going to marry. Know the family you are going to marry into. . . . You can't tie yourself for life to the drunkard, or courtesan, or the gambler, or the blasphemer of God, or the associate of thieves, or the hater of your religion, or the person to whom morality is a joke. You might just as well hitch up with the devil. Things will be made as hot, if not hotter, if you pick out a life partner from the above list of misfits. "Don't try to love the man who doesn't love his own. mother and sister; if he hasn't practised this virtue at home, you may be sure he will not have much of it to spare abroad. Don't waste your time in loving good looks, divine forms, heavenly tresses, nice mariners, generous purses. These are all external and superficial. They change and perish with time. Go deeper, and you will fare better. Don't fall into love. Go at it slowly. Those who fall into love find often a will-o'-the wisp and marshy ground, instead of the real thing and solid footing. Violent love is like a violent, tempestuous temperit will engulf you in all kinds of misery. , If you crawl down the precipice slowly you will be able to come up again; if you roll down headlong, you may break your neck and have to be buried "there. DECAY OF HOME LIFE. "M.D.," in the page devoted to "The Catholic Mother and Her Home" in the Southern Cross of Capetown, puts forth this powerful plea for a better understanding of the needs of youth: In the press and rush of outside engagements and easily accessible pleasures there is rapidly dying out the old idea of a home as a place for social intercourse and mutual entertainment. The present tendency of home life is towards entire selfishness and self-expression. Each young member of a family circle to-day has his or her own special interests —they are in no way bound to contribute in the slightest degree towards the well-being or the happiness of the home. It is no longer a centre round which is focussed all the social life, the mental, intellectual good which the mutual and sympathetic exchange of ideas and the discussion of common interests entails. Each iffember of a, family is in these days a complete —an independent entity. The home is a place of convenience and of

-;:> ■ - • ._;-- ■■■/•■ . ■ ;: : residence merely; as a social centre' it no longer stands as a recognisable factor. And so, insidiously, the young people of the day have learned to look upon the claims of the home as an entirely negligible —finding pleasures, intellectual satisfaction, congenial companionship, arid sympathy outside. Now, the contributory causes to this sad and undesirable state of things are many and of gradual growth. But it means that there has been little, if any, protest from the heads of families, who have watched the flitting of the young ones from the paternal nest and tried very ineffectively to keep them within the sheltering protection of the home. It's a time-old struggle, Age v. Youth, and often a pitiful one. The claims of youth are so little understood by the older generation that youth levels a general charge of intolerance and unreasonableness against age, shrugs its pretty young shoulders, and goes its own way. And that is when the trouble begins.

THE MARVELS OF LOURDES. Mgr. Schoeffer, Bishop of Lourdes, recently delivered a. very eloquent lecture to some French pilgrims who were visiting the Grotto. His Lordship related most interesting facts during the course of his address. The first was that on the outbreak of the war and the first mobilisation of the French troops, two regiments of cavalry assembled before the Grotto to ask the protection of Mary Immaculate in the fray into which they were compelled to enter. His Lordship said it was' an impressive sight to see the hussars, encouraged by their mounted commander, consecrate thenperilous future to Mary's maternal care. It would seem as if the faith and confidence of these five squadrons were rewarded, as in the hour of battle their losses were relatively few. Mgr. Schoeffer also said that during the war he offered the very perfectly equipped hospitals which have been erected at Lourdes for the accommodation of invalid pilgrims to the French Government for the gratuitous use of the wounded soldiers. The latter availed of this offer in large numbers, and the Bishop stated that most of these men were animated with Christian sentiments, even those who had been negligent previous to hostilities. However, there was one exception. This was a soldier whose wound had become absolutely dangerous from incurable gangrene. His case was a sad one. It was pronounced hopeless by the doctors in charge, and the man, an unbeliever, had arranged for his civil interment. The doctors informed the nun infinnarian in the hospital that they could do nothing further for the sufferer; that all human remedies had proved ineffectual. "Then I may have solo and entire charge?" the Sister asked. This request was speedily granted, and the nun started her treatment, which was entirely non-scientific. It consisted simply in bathing the severe wound with Lourdes water. The following day the man whom the medical faculty had pronounced incurable was perfectly well. Mgr. Schoeffer informed his interested audience that one of the most eminent and distinguished Parisian doctors, since dead, had told him that he had signed the attestation of this marvellous cure without any hesitation, so evident was it. To the joy of the pious infirmarian, her patient was also cured of his spiritual malady as the light of faith illuminated his mind and heart. In presence of such facts thanksgiving must be rendered to Mary and her Divine Son. NUTS TO CRACK. Why is a crow like a lawyer?—He likes to have his caws (cause) heard. Why does a duck go under water? —For divers reasons. Why is the fly one of the grocer's best customers? — Because it settles on the spot. Why does an aeronaut dislike speaking about his trips? is a soar point with him. What is unable to think or speak, yet tells the truth to all the world? —A pair of scales. When will there be only 25 letters in the alphabet?— When U and I are one. What river is that which runs between two seas? —The Thames.-*between Chel-sea and Batter-sea. What islands would form a cheerful luncheon party?— Friendly, Society, Sandwich, and Madeira.

What would happen if a colored waiter dropped a platter with a turkey upon it? The humiliation of Africa, the fall of Turkey, the destruction of China, and the over- : flowing of Greece. AMBITION. "You will never get anywhere unless you have higher . ideals than this," preached the woman at whose door the tramp had applied for assistance. "Are you really content to spend your life walking around the country begging?" J "No, lady," answered Weary Willie. "Many's the time I've wished I had a motor car." TOO LATE. Mr. Johnson was wending his way home, after a tiring day house-hunting with no result. Passing along by a river he heard a splash. Horrors! There was a man struggling in the water. Could it be? Yes—it was his friend Mr. Robson. Disregarding his appeals for help, Johnson made a rush for Robson's house agent. "Excuse me," he said, breathlessly, "but can I have Robson's house? He has fallen in the river and is drowning." "Sorry," said the plaster-faced house merchant, "but you're too late. I've already let it to the man who pushed him in." INDUSTRY REWARDED. The richness of the Yorkshire coalfield is such that, in some places, coal may bo unearthed by digging down a few feet. This prompted one Mr. Jones to try his luck as a coal-getter. To keep it quiet he decided to sink his shaft under his own house. After digging away in the gloom of the cellar for a couple of hours he came on a fine crop of coal.' "Maria! Maria!" he shouted excitedly to his wife. "Come down. I've come on a splendid coal seam." Maria rushed down the stairs. "Why John," she cried, after surveying the ruins, "that's not a coal seam; that's next doors coal cellar!" SMILE RAISERS. "Sages tell us that the best way to get the most out of life is to fall in love with a great problem or a beautiful woman." "Why not choose the latter and get both?" "I can't play billards in the winter-time at all." "Why not?" "Every time I get to knocking those three balls around it reminds me of my overcoat." "Terribly rough," said the stranger on board the ocean liner. "Well," said the farmer, "it wouldn't be near so rough if the captain would only keep in the furrows." W Irate Sergeant: "Want yer ticket, do yer? And ain't yer been in the Army long enough to know as it's a soldier's dooty to cultivate patience? Patience with a capital P. Now be off; I ain't got no patience with the likes o' you!" "Bertie," said his mother, sorrowfully, "every time you are naughty I get another grey hair." VMy word!" replied Bertie; "you must have been a terror. Look at grandpa!" * sp Professor (in the middle of a joke): "Have I ever told the class this one before?" Class (in a chorus): "Yes." Professor (proceeding): "Good! You will probably understand it this time."