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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 15. 



tant at just that moment, he went back to the 

 office where they were deposited, to investi2:ate. 

 The father and elder son declared that all the 

 mail left in the office had gone forward. The 

 man was vexed, and, in his impatience, prob- 

 ably charged them with criminal negligence — 

 perhaps dishonesty — I do not know much about 

 it. Just as they were probably getting their 

 tempers pretty well up on both sides, the young- 

 er son came in. When the matter was referred 

 to him he at once understood it all, and the 

 missing letters were brought to light. Perhaps 

 no one will ever be able to tell just whose fault 

 it was. The change they were making in the 

 office was perhaps the primary cause, and it may 

 also be true that the younger son had disobey- 

 ed his father's orders or it would not have hap- 

 pened. The father was very angry. The boy, 

 however, insisted that the father and elder son 

 were as much to blame, or more >o, than he 

 was. Even if this were not true, it looked so to 

 him. Dear parent, have you not yet discovered 

 that boys of 18 often have queer ways of reason- 

 ing? Sometimes older people havequeer ways of 

 reasoning; but a young person is more likely to 

 make mistakes of this sort. That is one n^ason 

 why I stoutly insist that only people of mature 

 judgment should hold important positions. I 

 do not believe that any man should be intrusted 

 with the running of a locomotive — at least a 

 passenger locomotive— until he is, say, 30 or 35 

 years old. There may be exceptions to this; 

 but yet men and boys, as a rule, have not learn- 

 ed by experience the terrible results that often 

 follow from just a little forgetfulness or a little 

 taking of risks. Just inquire into the railroad 

 accidents and other disasters, and see if I am not 

 about right. Well, the father, in his vexation, 

 used a terribly hard, bitter word. The boy 

 thought he did not deserve it. 



Of course, I was anxious to establish right 

 relations between the two, and I conversed with 

 both father and son. The incident I have men- 

 tioned was not the only one, and each seemed 

 to think it was rather improbable they could 

 get along together. May be I am making a 

 mistake in this; but, at least, so it seemed to 

 me. The boy confessed that he had a fearful 

 temper, and said it was of no use for him to try 

 to control it when circumstances were particu- 

 larly aggravating. When I questioned the 

 father in regard to the kind of language he 

 used toward his son, he admitted that it was 

 not the kind of talk for a Christian to indulge 

 in, and said he had never spoken so before since 

 the time he became a Christian. But the cir- 

 cumstances were such that he absolutely could 

 not help it. Here we had it on both sides. 

 While each admitted he had done wrong, he 

 seemed to settle down to the idea that he could 

 not help it. What a sad, sad state of affairs! 

 If we hadn't any Christianity or Bible, we 

 might well be discouraged; and I had for some 

 time been surmising where the trouble lay. 

 What do you think? It reminded me of my 

 story in the last issue, about the man and wife 

 who had not been going to church at all. I 

 may not have gotten the full particulars; but 

 as nearly as I can make out it was something 

 like this: 



There was some difficulty about holding 

 meetings in that new town, because there were 

 not churches enough; and the Congregational 

 people were, it seems, waiting a little until they 

 could build a church; therefore they did not 

 have any preaching. There is a Methodist and 

 a Baptist church in the town, and they are 

 doing excellent work too; but this father, like 

 a good many other people, did not go very 

 much, because he preferred his own denomina- 

 tion. Worst of all, the family worship had 

 been postponed or put off. The principal reason 



given was, that, since they had the postoffice, 

 somebody would come after his mail just as 

 sure as they attempted to read and have pray- 

 ers. I suggested that one of the three could 

 take care of the office while the rest of the fam- 

 ily held fast to the regular daily worship. But 

 some way or other it had not been done.* The 

 boy had some ideas of his own in regard to re- 

 ligion, and, no matter how earnestly I talked to 

 him, it did not seem to change him very much. 

 There are some features of Christianity he was 

 quite willing to Indorse and accept; and then, 

 again, there were others that he did not, to use 

 a slang phrase, "take very much stock In."^ 

 Have any of you ever heard boys talk that vvay 

 before? Now, friends, do not blame the boys, 

 even though they have some queer ways of 

 reasoning, and draw some erroneous conclu- 

 sions. I think there is a good deal of common 

 sense in this young boy sense, after all. The boy's 

 convictions, and his notions as to how a Chris- 

 tian should deport himself, are not so very far 

 out of the way. If that father had held fast to 

 the spirit that prompted him to send me that 

 letter years ago, I feel pretty sure there would 

 not have been any serious disagreement be- 

 tween himself and his eighteen-year-old boy. 

 Oh, what a beautiful thing it is to see father 

 and son, or father and sons, if you choose, 

 working harmoniously together 1 How I do 

 love to hear the boys speak of the father's busi- 

 ness as our business! how I do love to see them 

 act and talk as though they were p(trt?iers in 

 the concern— as though the father were simply 

 an older brother who rather took the lead in 

 directing affairs! and how I do love to see boys 

 tender, careful, and respectful of the father's 

 feelings, and the father, in turn, tender and 

 careful of the boys^ feelings! A boy who is 

 associated with his father in this way plans 

 and thinks about the business, and suggests 

 improvements. Sometimes his plans are not 

 just in harmony with his father's plans; but 

 they may be good ones after all. A smart boy 

 likes to invent and to devise new things and 

 new ways; and what father does not like to see 

 him do so? Sometimes, of course, the boy 

 makes a blunder, and perhaps his ideas are 

 crude and impracticable. But suppose they 

 are; and suppose, too, he takes a little too much 

 liberty, and makes a muss of things. Does not 

 your boy do that now and then ? But you do 

 not lay it up against him, do you, my friend? 

 Why, no, of course not. Perhaps you some- 

 times remonstrate because he went ahead with- 

 out asking advice a little more; but if your 

 relations with each other are right, these things 

 are easily adjusted. 



Now a word about disobeying a parent. 

 There are a good many kinds of disobedience 

 If a young man wanted to go off with a crowd 

 of intemperate companions, the father would 

 be justified in forbidding his going. Of course, 

 the matter should be talked over fully. If the 

 boy disobeyed after a plain command, the 

 parent would be at fault if he let the matter 

 drop without doing something. If, however, 

 the parent gave plain directions about doing a 

 certain piece of work, and the boy should think 

 he had a better plan, and therefore disobey, 

 even though disaster followed, as the boy's 

 Intentions were right he should not be punish- 

 ed — at least, the punishment should be light. 

 It makes a vast difference whether the boy 

 means well in his disobedience, or whether he 



*The postoffice had been a great boon to them. I 

 think it quite likely tliey asked God to help them 

 get it, and tliaiiked liim for it after it came; but the 

 very blessing- they craved liad in time come to be 

 the very thing that led them to forget tlieir daily 

 worship. 



