The Family Circle

New Zealand Tablet, 21 July 1921, Page 45

The Family Circle

A RECITATION. , “ ’Dopted.” f- She’s just like all the dreams of all the mothers that I’ve had; Her hair is such a shiny brown, her eyes so soft an’ grey; / v An’ I knew her in a moment, an’ my heart sang loud and T; glad, When she came into the “Home” the other day. She seemed, at first, to notice just the tiniest of all; She petted him an’ smoothed his curls with such a lovin’ r. touch. ! An’ my tears kept rushin’, rushin’—but I didn’t let ’em . fall rf Just blinked my eyes an’ tried to hide my crutch. I - t. But pretty soon she turned round an’ looked at all the rest, | An> then her arms went out to me—my heart beat fast ( : An’ then her arms went out to me—my heart beat fast for joy! I In just about a second more my head was on her breast \ ■ As she whispered, with a kiss, “My little boy.” r. •• She’s just like all the dreams of all the mothers that I’ve i \ had ; I I’d know those dear eyes anywhere, just by their lovin’ | shine! h An , oh, my heart is happy, ’cause I’m makin’ someone p ' glad, f An ’ a rea lly, truly mother is all mine!

FHE LEGEND OF THE HEART’S-EASE. Ir 7 , , A heartbroken mother knelt by the still form of her only son and poured out her soul in sorrow. 1 one!” N ° ° ne haS 6Ver SUffered S ° before >” she cried, -“no Startled by a sound as of a whirring of wings she looked up into myriads of faces : faces of -tomothers who had lost their only son. In their anguished own a HerT° V ? train ! d hpS She read a S rief such « her I x * x? er beart was Mled with pity, and she prayed for -! strength to bear, and faith to look beyond. ?5 ' A •I he faces crowded together, closer and closer until I t^, mergedl .nto „u.-th face of Mary of ,tE.’ I v , v. Cruel Death has robbed thee, too, of thy only son” r irtiO God; “ b ”‘ the R -- I rom S hf^ S a te er r.:^ r a “rt“v otlie 7 | ”' hile *>» looked it became a hlrt We ***** f. * Arc Maria. .15

§ ; ■■ «■ P wi . MARY’S LITTLE lamb, I '‘Mar;H^Me'^' noßt P ° P '"' "™* , mos t of tbs b f? a mah 3-‘-claimants to the distinction, m Mrs. Sarah Bneu' wLffor 7* “? rea ' aUtt ° r Pelted the Lady’s Magazine tba 1 a • nUmber of year s for a « d ~ fe his mother in 1830 poem P«WW»d i It was written some time in i«ov j Hi to „■ Dr. Lowell Mason tbo a • 827 ’ and owed its origin Mason, the American composer. Mason settled in Boston on/ fftattehtibn to the trainina of vu ’ ai ) d gave Particular Li'-alng the in vocal music, this sfchools in America. P 6 Smgm ® into public Mrs In H o afLd SttktitT’ D " ~d. for children. This Mrs. Hal. L ‘ m Wl * h . poems suitable I 7: ; children’s .poems/ among whch ’^T’” 8 a series .of I “Mary’s Lamb.” “ g , W 7 h was the now famous I rf' Y‘-t' i iii ■■ .1 —■ ■ ,

STORIES OF DAD ! When mother is weary of scrubbing and cleaning, And life seems just full of small things that annoy, She begs Gran’ to gather the children around her And tell them all tales of when Dad was a boy! If Dad were at home he would “toss up the baby,” He’d smooth Mother’s wrinkles of care into smiles, He’d kiss Grannie’s curls and he’d romp with the children; But Dad is off “flying”—away, miles and miles! Yet Mother feels rested when*Gran’ takes her knitting And sits by the window at set of the sun, And “quiet as mice” do the little ones listen To all the fine things that dear Daddy has done. —Lillian Gard.

IF YOU WOULD BE POPULAR. You want to be popular? Very well, then! Gather round. 1. Don’t imagine that anyone wants to hear about your troubles or pain s . They don’t. (They’d rather tell you about their own, and they’ll love you if you listen sympathetically !) 2. Don’t try to impress people. -For the ones who might be impressed are rarely worth knowing, and the oik who are worth while will see your -game, and fight , shy of you. & 3. Don’t argue. Discuss.; and remember that everyone hag the same right to their opinions that you have to yours. 4. Don’t grumble. It depresses people, and they won-t seek your company if you depress them. ■ T ,, 5 ‘ Ty t 0 see things mm other people’s point of view. It s quite simple if you have any imagination at all. 6. Cultivate a cheery attitude of mind. Cheery people are our social sunbeams. Sit on your worries, and smile, leople will smile back at you, and you will feel all the better for it. 7. Don’t be drawn into quarrelling. It’s undignified. Keep away from the people to whom you can’t adapt yourself, or who cannot adapt themselves to you—it makes for peace. 8. Don’t say spiteful things about your friends to anyone. For your hearers will catalogue the fact, in their minds, and know that you are not to be trusted 9. Widen your interests. Get away from little personal chattel. It s nearly always critical and destructive 10. Love all you can. Learn all you can. Help all you can. • 1 • — Ladies’ Designer.

“THEY” AND WE. From time immemorial the indefinite “They” has been made the scapegoat of all sorts of slander, calumny, and detraction generally. The cowardly backbiter seeks to ■ disguise his malice by imputing his verbal poisioned arrows to persons unknown—“ They say so and so.” Another field m which this same indefinite locution is being overworked is thus aptly described by “T. A. T.,” writing in the Catholic . Universe. We all fall easily into the, habit of saying “they” ' ought to do this and “they” ought to do that; the “they” 1 being some vague personages who are permitting weeds to grow up in the streets and dirt to accumulate in alleys. This same they fail to do anything when newspapers and magazines of great circulation slander the Church or through insinuation and inuendo misrepresent her teachmgs and doctrines. You and I belong to that “they” Unless wo are doing all we can do to correct such evils, then we ought not to complain of “they.” Let us substatute w for ‘‘they- and when we see Represent " our religion in the public press let us do something about it, and not wait on gome “they” who are always neglecting their duty. • y wno are

AN OLD STORY. -... 'Jr.;* In’s bat rt is a g °° d one. A father told .s.. son that whenever he did wrong he should drive a nail into the door of the woodshed. The door began to fall up very fast, and r a great many nails were being used—- . heaps Of them, in fact. The boy did not like the appears

ance of the nail-studded door, and‘fold his father so. “ Well,” said the father, “ now every time you are obedient or speak a kind word I’ll draw one of the nails out.” So it went on for some time till at last the son, with a good, glad -heart, called his father to draw the last nail. Out it came. “Oh, I’m go glad father,” said - the boy, and then, the pitted-looking door catching his eye, he added a littlo sadly : “But the marks are there !” “Yes,” said his father, “and so it is with our evil deeds —they leave marks that' linger long upon our characters and lives. We ought to try to escape not only the wounds but the scars that are left. The only way to do this is to avoid the wounds.” .

WAITING FOR THE TARTY.

The manager of the village football club asked the captain to postpone play for half an hour.

“Just had a wire,” he explained, “to say that a party of between sixty and seventy won’t be able to get here until three-thirty. We can’t afford to lose ’em.”

“Right-o!” replied the captain. “We’ll wait.” At half-past three an elderly man appeared. “Got my wire?” asked the man.

“Yes,” answered the manager. “Of course, it is unusual to delay the start of a match, but as the party is between sixty and seventy, we decided to make an exception.”

“Thanks!” said the elderly man. “Very good of you.”

“Er —Avhere is the party?” asked the manager.

“Where? Here!” said the elderly man, pointing benignly to himself. “I’m sixty-five to-day.”

THEN HE DIDN’T LAUGH.

A young man was wandering up and down the platform of the railway station, intent on finding an empty carriage in the train, which was almost due to start. But in vain. Assuming an official air, he stalked up to the last carriage, and cried in a stentorian voice: “All change here; this carriage isn’t going.” .

There Avere exclamations low but deep from the occupants of the crowded compartment; but they hurried out of the carriage and packed themselves away in other parts of the train. The smile on the face of the young man was childlike as he settled himself comfortably.

“Ah,” he murmured, “it’s a grand thing for me that I was born clever! I wish they’d hurry up and start.”

. By and by the stationmaster appeared at the door and said: “I suppose you’re the smart young man who said this carriage wasn’t going?”

“Yes,” said clever one, and he smiled.

“Well,” said the stationmaster, with a grin, “it isn’t. The porter heard what you said, and so he uncoupled it. He thought you Avere a director!”

SMILE RAISERS.

His ReA’erence: “Well, MattheAv, how’s the Avife to-

day?”

Matthew: “Her’s no better nor no Averse, sir, an’ the doctor, e’ don’t give no encouragement neither way!”

A man asked a friend to dinner, and amongst the vegetables served were boiled onions. ""

The friend, Avishing to say something pleasing, exclaimed : —■

“If there’s one thing I like more than another, it is oiled bunions!

Jack; “You knoAV the apples in the cupboard that you told me not to eat?”

Father; “Yes”’

Jack: “You knoAV you said they’d make me ill if I ate them, didn’t you?”

Father: “Yes.”

Jack: “Well, they didn’t.”