A Cityless and Countryless World by Henry Olerich

It is in the pleasant little village of Dozen where Mr. Uwins and family live. Mr. Uwins is a philosopher by nature, and an author, over an assumed name, by profession. The family at present consists of Mr. and Mrs. Uwins; Miss Viola, a daughter of eighteen; Roland, a son of fourteen; Celestine, a daughter of six; and Rev. Dudley, a brother of Mrs. Uwins, who is spending the summer with them.

Mr. Uwins is a handsome, well-proportioned man of middle age. He is about six feet tall, weighing about 180 pounds. His clothes are not expensive, but always scrupulously clean and tidy. His appearance is decidedly prepossessing and lasting toward man, woman and child. He nearly always wears a pleasing countenance, is modest, kind, just and highly sociable. He is an untimid, original thinker, searching for truth in all direction. His clear, sincere, lucid and forcible style of expression makes him a charming conversationalist, admired by all who know him.

Mrs. Uwins is a little above the medium size, erect and well-proportioned. She is a few years younger than her husband, and is almost as handsome and tasty now as she was at sixteen. She walks with a quick, elastic step; is orderly, skilled and ready in her domestic and other walks of life. Always kind, and never loses control of her temper. Revenge and jealousy have no place in her heart. She is cheerful, even under adversity. She teaches her children to be independent, kind, just and industrious, and never governs by force. The faculty of teaching her children to do their respective parts, their share of the work without a command, is highly developed in her. She is an acute thinker, a good writer, a pleasing conversationalist, an accomplished player, and a sweet singer. The social and industrial problem has been boldly and fearlessly investigated by her, particularly in the direction of her own sex. Take her in all, she is a model woman of our present age.

Rev. Dudley is an orthodox minister, spending the present summer, on account of his health, with his sister, Mrs. Uwins. Rev. Dudley is a man of ordinary intellectual ability, and he is not enjoying the most robust health. The brother and sister are very unlike in thought and belief. The brother was educated in a theological seminary; the sister, by an extensive course of miscellaneous reading and by an indefatigable study of Nature by which the Architect of the universe is yet building worlds, suns and solar systems.

Mr. and Mrs. Uwins' children all enjoy excellent health; are handsome, kind, industrious, affectionate, well educated, and highly cultivated. Viola is a charming young woman with unusual mental powers and personal charms. She possesses all her mother's good characteristics. The laws of health and freedom seem to be her guide. She teaches music with great success. Her pupils all love her. Sorrow and melancholy disappear before her presence. She is always ready and willing to do her share of the domestic labor. She is the belle of the village and has the choice of all its suitors.

Roland is an obliging youth, full of life and a keen observer of nature. Celestine is overflowing with activity. It seems as if nature is endeavoring to see how much she can do with a child, living in a somewhat favorable social atmosphere. They all seem to have inherited the noble traits of their parents physically and mentally. The parental natures seem to be deeply grafted in their very constitutions; we find no social discord, no commander and no obeyer. All seem to know their part and act from motives of their own conviction of right and wrong.

The beautiful little village of Dozen, in which Mr. Uwins resides, is located in the most healthful portion of the fertile Mississippi valley. The climate is mild and delightful during nearly the whole year. In this village Mr. Uwins has erected his neat, comfortable, two-story residence, in which he pursues his philosophizing and literary work. In this residence Mr. Uwins and family seem to enjoy more happiness and harmony than any other family I have ever before seen. All rule and none obey. All is cleanliness, order, affection and happiness. The courtesies, smiles and continuous sunshine of the whole family make this home more nearly a heaven than any other place I have ever experienced on earth. The cat and the dog, the fowl and the rabbit, the bird and the babe, the stranger and the beau are treated with equal kindness and courtesy. Such is the bliss of its inmates, of both man and beast.

While I was collecting material for a biographical publication, it was my good fortune to make the acquaintance of Mr. Uwins and his happy family, with whom I received the permission to make my home while I was collecting, in that vicinity, the biographical material for which I was in search.

The Uwins family were not in the habit of keeping strangers, but the cordial treatment, the modest, pleasing, scholarly answers which Mr. Uwins gave to my biographical questions, and the easy conduct and familiarity of Mrs. Uwins and all their children, made me persist in becoming a member of the family during my stay at Dozen. I can say without exaggeration that the lesson I have learned in Mr. Uwins' home can not be learned at the present day in any college or institution of learning in the world. The lesson how to make ourselves and others happy underlies all other knowledge and learning; and all the members of the Uwins family taught -- by their words and acts -- this great lesson more conspicuously and more uninterruptedly than I had ever heard or seen it taught before.