strengthened, sustained, and adorned by family work.




II.

A CHRISTIAN HOUSE.


In the Divine Word it is written, "The wise woman buildeth her house."
To be "wise," is "to choose the best means for accomplishing the best
end." It has been shown that the best end for a woman to seek is the
training of God's children for their eternal home, by guiding them to
intelligence, virtue, and true happiness. When, therefore, the wise
woman seeks a home in which to exercise this ministry, she will aim
to secure a house so planned that it will provide in the best manner
for health, industry, and economy, those cardinal requisites of domestic
enjoyment and success. To aid in this, is the object of the following
drawings and descriptions, which will illustrate a style of living
more conformed to the great design for which the family is instituted
than that which ordinarily prevails among those classes which take the
lead in forming the customs of society. The aim will be to exhibit
modes of economizing labor, time, and expenses, so as to secure health,
thrift, and domestic happiness to persons of limited means, in a measure
rarely attained even by those who possess wealth.

At the head of this chapter is a sketch of what may be properly called
a Christian house; that is, a house contrived for the express purpose
of enabling every member of a family to labor with the hands for the