I have observed this even in Manchuria, and other parts of
China--a smile unfailingly won a return smile from children who were
watching you from the fields, whereas a frown would instantly becloud
the little face with a kindred expression of disfavor. I am spending a
good deal of time upon this item of good cheer in the new home,
because I think that as long as happiness surrounds the American
fireside all is well with the Republic.
There is no investment which yields such dividends as the society you
will find in your home. The company, the talk, the silent sympathy of
that sagacious and congenial person who is your wife yield a return in
spirit, wisdom, moral tone, and pure pleasure to be found in like
measure nowhere else on earth.
It is said that Charles James Fox, the most resourceful debater the
British Parliament has ever seen, was so fond of his home and his wife
that he would actually absent himself from Parliament for the sheer
pleasure of her presence and conversation. Lord Beaconsfield, who, we
are told, married for the mere purpose of ambition, afterward fell
deeply in love with his wife and spent every moment he could in her
society. She proved, too, to be his shrewdest counselor.
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