1901 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



g-ive it up. Well, the average boy must 

 sooner or liiter meet these thing^s as he gets 

 further and further away from his home, 

 and away from his mother's teachings. I 

 know how sadly the Christian mothers and 

 the Christian sisters feel to see the son 

 and the brother drawn down and away by 

 these foolish and silly arguments. Oh how 

 great is the need of grace from the great 

 Father above in dealing with these young 

 boys ! 



By accident I have recently had a glimpse 

 of one home where the boy ridiculed his 

 mother and sisters when they sought to keep 

 him awaj' from evil. It is sometiines a se- 

 rious question as to what the mother shall 

 do. Manj' mothers, and perhaps most of 

 them, feel it a Christian duty to punish the 

 boy in some way for deliberate disobedi- 

 ence. But some of these bov's (of recent 

 date), after having their minds poisoned by 

 these things I haive mentioned, have thought 

 it a good joke to resist the gentle mother 

 ■when she attempted to enforce punishment. 

 Can one think of a sadder sight than a boj' 

 who exerts his streng-th to resist the feeble 

 and perhaps broken-down mother — broken 

 down by hard work — when she feels it a 

 Christian dutj^ to insist on obedience ? You 

 may suggest that at such a time the father 

 should take the youngster in hand. Well, 

 I presume that, as a rule, most fathers do 

 insist that the boy shall obey the mother. 

 Why, the boy's very life, or something more 

 than life, depends on his being made to 

 obey. Suppose he wants to go off with a 

 bad crowd on Sunday, and the parents give 

 way because he is too big and stout to be 

 easily brought under subjection. Of course, 

 the parents may overstep the limits. The 

 time comes when the boy will often leave 

 his home if he can not do as he pleases; but 

 my opinion is that such a state of affairs 

 seldom comes to pass where the boy is kind- 

 I3' and finnl}^ taught obedience in his ear- 

 lier j^ears. I well remember one youngster 

 who told his inother fairly and squarely 

 that he was not going to school any more — 

 he did not care for an education. The moth- 

 er was weak and frail. I presume her boy 

 could have picked her up and put her over 

 the fence; but she declared then and there 

 that he would obey her command, and goto 

 school, and keep oti ,if(7 /;/;', and she did not 

 call on the father to back her up either. 

 She calculated on the hold she had obtain- 

 ed on the boy's mind and soul by years of 

 faithful work. He made wry faces, and 

 grumbled, and declared he would give up 

 the books he hated, just as soon as he got a 

 little older. But in a very little time he 

 was able to stand alone and reason sensi- 

 bly by himself. If there is any one thing 

 in this world that makes him respect and 

 almost reverence that mother, even to-day, 

 it is because she insisted on his getting an 

 education. Had he stopped going to school 

 when he was determined on it, he would 

 have been worse than crippled for life. 

 Why, I am not sure but it would have been 

 better for that boy to have lost both arms 



and both feet than to have stopped his edu- 

 cation at the very time he was determined 

 to give it up. In both of the illustrations I 

 have used, I have supposed that both the 

 father and the mother were professing 

 Christians, or at least that they were at 

 agreement. Well, now, friends, let us sup- 

 pose the husband does not sjanpathize with 

 the wife in her efforts to keep the boy pure- 

 minded, and away from evil associates. 

 Suppose the husband just laughs, and 

 seems to think it is a big joke when it is a 

 question as to who will come out ahead — 

 the boy bent on evil, or the mother who is 

 trying to restrain him. I have seen a few 

 such cases. Some of you will perhaps say 

 the mother was partly to blame. Dear 

 brother or sister, we are all more or less 

 human, and it would be strange if, in the 

 conflict, the mother did not exhibit some 

 lack of wisdom or show some impei-fection. 

 Now the question confronts us, "What shall 

 a Christian mother do under such circum- 

 stances ? " She can not appeal to the neig h- 

 bors, or at least until thingfs g-et into a ter- 

 ribly bad shape; nor can she appeal to the 

 law. Even an appeal to the pastor of the 

 church might result in doing- more harm 

 than good. She must watch and pra\'. 

 She must especially pray very hard, if I 

 may use the expression, and strive very 

 hard to be sure that no wrong spirit enters 

 her own heart. Why, in a case like this it 

 is almost beyond human power to do just 

 exactly right. Let us always, under such 

 circumstances, remember, however, thjit a 

 soft answer turneth away wrath. I have 

 had trials of my own of this kind. I do 

 not mean, dear friends, trials where the 

 dear wife would not help or was not in sym- 

 pathy, but in matters outside of our own 

 home. I have had difficulties to meet where 

 I am sure I was right, and no one or al- 

 most no one would help me. Perhaps some 

 soul was bent on going to ruin. His friends 

 and relatives laughed about it. May the 

 Lord be priiised, there are shining exam- 

 ples round about me now to show that I, 

 with Jesus' help, triumphed. Yes, and that 

 after I had given up over and over again. 

 "Be not weary in well doing, for in due 

 time ye shall reap if ye faint not." 



Rig-ht before the whole family is a poor 

 place to settle difficulties of this kind. The 

 husband and wife must, first of all, some- 

 where or somehow, by tliejiiselves, come to 

 an iigreement. Let the good wife take the 

 opportunity when he is not contrary (if 

 that is the right way to tell it), and plead 

 with him, and get his promise to co-operate 

 with hei- — if not to the extent she wishes, 

 then get it as far as she can; also by pri- 

 vate talks with the older members of the 

 family, saj^ with the boy's sisters. Let 

 each one plead with him alone. Most boys 

 at a tender age think it a fine thing to 

 "show off," and they will often show a 

 stubborn and contrary spirit before others 

 that they would not think of when alone 

 with no one else near. I know there are 

 boys who seem to think the more the mother 



