OUR HOMES. 



all went to. Where is the trouble? Trouble 

 there is, for both parents look troubled and 

 tinliappy, the children look troubled, and per- 

 liaps the only i^limpse of sunshine that is at 

 this minute to be found in the household, 

 <'oines from the baby. "Precious little dar- 

 lin.i; ! " she Jias confidence, perfect contldence in 

 lK)th papa and mamma, confidence in brothers 

 and sisters, confidence in every body and every 

 thini;. Is not this confidence, this love and 

 innocence, just what is wanted V To be sure 

 these two parents love each other, but is there 

 not danijer of this love beinii; covered up and 

 forjijotten in the mutual distrust that now 

 seems to reiijn V He has no confidence in her 

 ability to handle money judiciously, and she, 

 feels )ndi<?nant that he should seem to think it 

 all Jiin money. Have they not both worked for 

 itV Has she not even worked more hours than 

 he? Then why should it not be a partnership, 

 why should he not tell her about his business 

 as he would a friend of his own sex? Why 

 should he not see that her hard and laborious 

 life is all ^i^iven toward one common object 

 like his own, viz., a nice and pleasant home, 

 and rearing their little family in such a way as 

 to be <rood and useful citizens, if possible such 

 as Avill l>e the pride of their country when they 

 iiTOW up ? 



It is an easy matter to tell how things are, 

 to tell how they should be, and to tell what 

 ought to ]>e done ; but is it not possible to 

 make this wonum careful, to cure this man oi' 

 being stintiy — I don't mean you dear reader ; 

 no, no, it is some one of your neighbors that 

 yon can think of — to make them mutually con- 

 fide in and trust each other ? I feel sure it 

 can be done, with God's help I knoic it can be 

 done ; as greater things have been done in our 

 dear little home, I feel sure they may be done 

 in others. By bringing the proper forces to 

 bear I feel as sure this woman can be induced 

 to try to equal — nay, to excel her husband in 

 economy, as that we can teach the blue eyed 

 baby better, who is diis minute pouring the 

 blue whortleberry juice out of her sauce plate, 

 all over her clean Sunday clothing that the 

 ambitious mother has donned so as to have her 

 .all ready in time for church, and to win that 

 proud smile from her papa when he sees her 

 looking so like a very "pink of perfection." 

 Do you wonder that the poor mother feels like 

 giving np in despair, and just having a '-big 

 cry?" Can't babies be (aught ? Just you Try 

 them on some piece of misr-hief and see. "And 

 am I to be taught like a b.iby ?" says the in- 

 dignant mother throuirh her tears. "Except 

 ye become as littler <diildren, etc." Oh! that 

 we might consent to be as little children so far 

 as touching our pride, is concerned, and that 

 we might become humble enough to admit we 

 are in the wrong, and thus get into a position 

 eapable of becoming higher, stronger, and no- 

 bler. Will you help? very well; we will com- 

 mence witli the baby. Tell her just what she 

 has done, and how sorry raannna is that she has 

 spoiled all her clean clothes, that poor mamma 

 gets awful tired, etc., but make your sermons 

 short and brief, for babies, and sometimes old- 

 er people, cannot stand long sermons. Now 

 tell the children you will show them a trick; 

 place two clean tea-cups on a clean sheet of 

 paper, fill one to the brim with water, and ask 



if any one of the children can get the water all 

 into the other cu}) without even so much as 

 wetting the clean paper. AVhen they get to 

 Avork with their spoons, the baby will want to 

 tr}^ it too. (rive her two sauce plates antS 

 some water and tell her to be verj* careful not to 

 spoil mamma's table cloth ; when they can ma- 

 nipulate water carefully give them sauce or 

 honey, bye and bye spill some honey on the 

 bare table, and otter a premium to the one wlio 

 will clean it all up (piickest and neatest, al- 

 ways criving the baby a task equal to her abil- 

 ity. Now in yOur capacitj^ of teacher you 

 should be as careful about using an unkind 

 word, or using the least bit of censure for awk- 

 wardness, as you would be in carrying a shov- 

 el of coals through a room where gunpowde?- 

 was knee deep. You can wind up by telling^ 

 them that mamma has ever so much hard work 

 to do, and that all are going to help make it 

 easier. Baby can be taught to i>ick up, and 

 hang np things in their places — one of our lit- 

 tle ones learned this so vrell that he would 

 hang up every thing, even down to the shoes 

 and stockings if they were left in his sight, and 

 I verily believe he would have hung uji the 

 cups and saucers if he could have tied strings 

 to them — the older ones can put in fuel, clear 

 up every splinter and bit of litter, and the fath- 

 er can set an example for the rest of the house- 

 hold by cleaning his boots with the most 

 scrupulous exactness before coming into the 

 honse, etc., etc., and really making it a busi- 

 ness to help in every way, both by precept and 

 example. Dare you urge that this takes too 

 much time and is too much bother? Can you 

 fail to see that this plan followed out, would 

 give you a force of workers, cheerful and faith- 

 ful ones, on the farm, in the garden, the fields, 

 the barns, nay, in the store, the counting house, 

 in our schools and even churches, of a kind 

 that money cannot purchase ; a kind of help 

 that is more to be valued than ])ure gold? 

 More than all, you are at the same time giving 

 your children a part of their education that 

 none but a parent can well give, and one that, 

 lies at the very fo'indaVio'i of .-i great and noble 

 character. Are tjicre ever children that can- 

 )iot be interested in such duties? I think not 

 if they are taken at an early age, and the pa- 

 rent is suflicieutly interested in the work to 

 devote to it all the energy that he does at 

 times to other matters in life. Children can 

 be taught to be neat and skilful, almost as 

 easily as they can be taught mischief; and 

 they can be taught to take pride in keeping 

 their faces and clothing dean, being careful 

 that they do not waste their food, being skil- 

 ful in the use of their spoon, knife and fork, 

 seeing that everything they have disarrange(! 

 in their plays, ix> carefully put away, and so 

 on almost without end. This too can be done 

 in such a w.ay as not to seem irksome to the 

 dear little ones, by any clear, strong, faithful 

 parent; one who perfectly "ruleth himself." 

 To be continited. 



Now mj^ dear friend if you are one of those 

 people who like a bee-paper to be all bees and 

 nothing else, all you have to do is to give these 

 two leaves a twitch and they will come right 

 out leaving nothing but Gleanings. 



