1887 



GLEANINGS IN BEB CULTURE. 



403 



dn^ pejiEg. 



Blessed iire the pure in heart; for they shall see 



(iod.-MATT. .■>: 8. 



tEFC^llE I tell you of my very pleasant 

 visit to Professor Cook and his family, 

 I wairt to say that it has been charac- 

 teristic of the professor to rebuke 

 gently but hrmly every thing in the 

 line of which I talked to you in Our Neigh- 

 bors, in the last issue. The tirst time I ever 

 met Prof. Cook, or, at least, tiie iirst time I 

 ever had a chance to have an> contidential 

 talk witii him, was \\ hen we visited an old 

 bee-keeper in tlie neighborhood of the 

 Michigan Agricultural College. In telling 

 something, I related a common phrase of 

 expression. lie stopped right in the road 

 to give emphasis to his remark, and asked 

 me if it Avould not be bettei- to forbear mak- 

 ing such speeches. 



"■ But," said I, " it is the truth, is it not V" 



His reply was something like this : 



•• Mr. Boot, it may be true ; but even if it 

 is, I don't believe it is best to speak it. If 

 we do every thing in our power to encour- 

 age the idea that the world is not depraved 

 and low-minded, will it not help the world 

 to be better V 



His talk was, in effect, something like 

 this : If you tell a boy he is a thief, and 

 that you don't expect any thing Ijetter of 

 iiim than a thievish disposition, you help 

 on in that very line. If you tell him you 

 have confidence in his word, and are not 

 afraid to trust him (within the boiands of 

 reason, of coiu'se), is it not true that the 

 chances are greatly in favor of helping the 

 boy to be a good deal better boy V Well, 

 a great many times when we sho(;k people 

 by telling something very bad, we reply, 

 •■ Why, is it not true V '" 



Now, I heartily agree with Prof. Cook, 

 thai the trutli in such cases had better not 

 be told. When I sat in the hotel and listen- 

 ed to the indecent talk of those two young 

 men. my mind reverted to Prof. Cook, and I 

 wished that he were there with his weight 

 and influence, and especially his kind, gen- 

 ial way toward sinful humanity, to rebuke 

 these boys in a way that woiilil do them 

 good. May be he would have had to give 

 up the task and take another room as I did ; 

 but I do know, however, that lie has all his 

 life been in the habit of rebuking faithfully 

 and fearlessly friends and foes alike, when- 

 ever they need rei>roving and rebuking. 



1 liope the professor will excuse me for 

 relating one little circumstance ; and if I 

 don't get it just as it actuallyoccurred.it 

 will be near enough to carrv the moral with 

 it. 



In his younger days he was once called 

 upon to ride in a stage-coach with quite a 

 lot of distinguished men — members of Con- 

 gress, and others who stood high in olhce 

 and in places of trust and intelligence. 

 They began indulging in impure jokes and 

 talk, of which they should have been 

 ashamed. He bore it for a time, but tinaliy 

 ventured a remonstrance. Tliere were so 

 many of them, however (and he was then 

 only a boyi. that they tried to turn the joke 



back cm him. He linally told them firmly 

 that he would stop the driver and get out 

 unless they would stop the kind of talk they 

 had been indulging in. One of them re- 

 marked, "If the boy can't stand it, let him 

 get out.'' It I am correct, the driver was 

 told to stop. When he asked what the mat- 

 ter was, our young college student told him 

 he wished to "get (mt and go on afoot, unless 

 he could have a guarantee from the gentle- 

 men present that the kind of talk tiiey had 

 been indulging in should be stopped. liy 

 this time some of the better ones began to 

 come to theii- senses ; and one who had 

 weight ami influence declared that the boy 

 was right, and desired the «hiver to go on. 

 saying that he himself would guarantee 

 that there should be nothing more improper 

 or out of place. 



Friend Cook, in speaking of it, said that, 

 when he was a boy at home on the farm, 

 one of the rules that he had laid down him- 

 self was to say nothing oi- do nothing under 

 any circunihtances that he would jiot say or 

 do in the presence of his mother ; and when 

 he became a married man, and had a queen 

 of his own to rule his household he decided 

 that nothing should pass his lips in her ab- 

 sence that he would not say in her presence. 

 And in all my acquaintance with him I can 

 not remember that I ever heard a speech 

 or w'jrd that he would hesitate to speak, 

 were she oi' their two children present. 



I have spoken to you many times lately, 

 dear friends, about being acquainted with 

 people, and it has lately occurred to me there 

 is many times great need that fathers and 

 mothers should be acquainted with theii' 

 own children. Well, the acquaintanceship 

 with different members of the family in 

 Piof. Cook's household is closer and warm- 

 er than in any other family relationship I 

 ever saw before. Not only are the husband 

 and wife one in every sense of the word, but 

 the children, Bertie and Katie, are one with 

 father and mother. Papa and mamma 

 share all their plans and pleasures and tasks, 

 and the children, too, know all about papa's 

 and mamma's work. Young as tliey are 

 (about ten and twelve, if I remember right- 

 ly! they are prepared to underptand and 

 commend almost any able effort their fa- 

 ther may make in his literary work. They 

 share with him most fully in his labors for 

 the uplifting of the ])eople. The sentiment 

 of this entire household seems to be a hun- 

 gering and thirsting after righteousness ; 

 and their lives seem to be a prayer that 

 God's kingdom may come, and his' will be 

 done on earth as it is in heaven. 



In the Home Papers of a month ago I spoke 

 about letting the children get, acquainted 

 with the neighbors" children, even if the lat- 

 ter were not all they ought to be, and one 

 of the friends has taken me to task for so 

 doing. I did not talk with Prof. Cook di- 

 rectly in regard to this matter, but I am 

 pretty sure he agrees with me in the eflfort 

 to have our cliildren brought up so as to be 

 pure in heart, according to the text at 

 tlie head of this talk. I think we should be 

 careful al)out going to such extremes that 

 they know nothing of the evil thHt is in the 

 world ; yet I would by no means go so far as 



