188? 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



405 



gard to general matters of life as were these 

 two. A little picture on the sideboard 

 shows the face of one that was in this house- 

 hold, whom (iod has called away ; but tiie 

 whole atmosphere of tliis home is a trust in 

 God, and a reverence and respect for the 

 great Creator of this vast universe, that has 

 given me a lift upward as well as onward 

 that I trust 1 shall not soon forget. 



A great problem lies bei'ore us— How shall 

 we manage to have tlie children of our 

 homes pure in heart? IIuw shall we con- 

 trive to have them grow up pure in heart V 

 In the first place, my friend, do as Josh 

 Billings recommended — walk in the path 

 yourself in which you would have your 

 "children walk. When you are tempted to 

 be selfish, when you are tempted to relate 

 an impure joke, when you are tempted to do 

 sometliing in the dark that you would not 

 do in broad daylight, consider, first, " If the 

 little ones of my home were right before me, 

 woidd I do this V " You may be surprised 

 somewhat, my friends, but the above plan 

 has been of great help to me indeed. I 

 once labored about an hour with an intern 

 perate man. He had always been a drink- 

 ing man, and he declared his purpose of 

 continuing so. When I had got as far as 

 the door, thinking I should have to give up 

 the task, I turned to him once more. "My 

 friend, you say you have been drinking in- 

 toxicating li([Uor all your life, and yt)U pro- 

 pose to go ahead so long as God lets you 

 live— drinking when you please and all you 

 please."' 



He frankly declared I had stated jnst 

 about the truth of it. 



" Well,"' said I, •■ friend B , do you de- 

 sire to have your l)oys grow up in jiist that 

 way? ■■ 



lie did not answer. I repeated it with 

 more emphasis. When forced to reply, he 

 said, with an evident softening in his tone, 

 " No, Mr. Root, I do not want my boys to 

 grow up to be drinking men.'' 



Now, then, whatsoever you would that 

 your own boys should be and do. do just that 

 yourself. Set a good example before them, 

 not only when their eyes are upon you, but 

 in the darkness of the night, when no man 

 is near. Do that which you would do were 

 those inquisitive little eyes present; and in 

 the deep recesses of your own heart let no 

 thouglit get much of a lodgingplace that you 

 would be ashiuned to have the little ones 

 look upon. I know it is a hard task ; but I 

 know, my friends, it can be done, through 

 the grace of Christ Jesus. 



One more word about keeping our children 

 from contamination and evil. We can not 

 get good vegetable plants l)y greenlu)use 

 culture. They must be put outdoors, and 

 gradually get accustomed to the winds and 

 frosts. They must be hardened by exposure 

 before they can be of service. If our chil- 

 dren are goingto be of use to the world, they 

 must know the world. At one time the 

 schools in Medina were so exceedingly bad 

 that it became a (piestion as to whether it 

 were wise to send the small children. Even 

 our l^oy Ernest learned to swear before we 

 knew it. The boy he was most in the habit 

 of playing with took the name of (xod in 



vain almost constantly. What was to be 

 doufV This was even before I professed to 

 be a ('hristiau. Ernest's motlier had to 

 bear t\w load all alone. She went to her lii- 

 ble tor lielj) ; she took the boy into iier room 

 and there alone talked with him. She fol- 

 lowed him with her prayers when he was ab- 

 sent, and she (juestioned him about his as- 

 so(;iat('s and pastimes and amusements, when 

 he got home. She let him go for a stated 

 period to i»lay with the bad boy over at our 

 neighbor's ; but before going he promised 

 her to come back in exactly one hoiu' ; and, 

 furthermore, he promised to come home at 

 once unless Edson would stop swearing. He 

 came home repeatedly. Finally Edson call- 

 ed out to him from the street : 



•' Hello, Ernest ! If you will come out 

 and play, I won't swear a bit while you are 

 around. ■ 



For a time Edson would forget ; but by 

 and by he played whole hours, and did not 

 swear. Edson is a better boy for having 

 been p]rnest's particular playmate, and 1 

 don't know but that Ernest is a belter boy 

 { for having had Edson for a playmate. When 

 I he got older, worse things even than blas- 

 I phemy were brought to his childish ears ; 

 I but, may the Lord be praised, the close ac- 

 I quaintahceship between himself and his 

 i mother, brought about mainly from the fact 

 j that his mother had pulled him through 

 ! these other things, kept him safe from 

 j contamination. He told his mother about 

 I things he had heard, and his mother forti- 

 I fied and strengthened him against these new- 

 evils. He, talked with her frankly about 

 things that mothers often feel as if they 

 could not talk about to their grown-up boys. 

 Dear fathers and mothers, may I suggest 

 a thought to you here ? The growth of the 

 I vegetable world is a wouderfid thing. The 

 j germination of seeds is, to every ciiild, in- 

 j tensely attractive. Tiie little downy chick- 

 ! ens that come from their sliells, in obedience 

 ' to the instincts and care of the mother bird, 

 I are a never-ending wonder and attraction to 

 the little ones of your houseiiold. Now, if 

 : y(n» can talk with tiiem ah mt these things, 

 1 and explain to them the wonders of God's 

 ( creation, as seen in the sprouting of seeds 

 I and the bursting of eug-shells. can you not. 

 ; when these same juveniles are a little older, 

 tell them of the greater wonders that per- 

 tain to the matter of human life V (iod will 

 guide you and give you wisdom and discre- 

 I tion in these matters, if you go to him 

 ! pra\ erfully and go to him with your Bibles. 

 i Who but a father or mother is so well fitted 

 to explain these things pertaining particii- 

 larly to this matter of father and mother, 

 ; and their relationship t(» the human family V 

 Inasmiich as the Pdble does not hesitate to 

 i speak of these things plainly, it seems to me 

 I that every parent has not only a right, but 

 ; it is a sacred duty before him : and this 

 dut> should be taken up whenever the child 

 is able to read God's sacred word under- 

 standingly. .\nd, dear friends, is it not 

 possible that this plain, frank way with 

 your cliildren would do inucli toward pre- 

 venting them from getting hold of foul 

 language and impure words V Where did 

 those boys whom I overheard in the hotel 



