Jan. 9, 1002. 



iM<kIERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



27 



The Home Circle, ^i^ | 



Conducted bij Prof. ft. J. Cook, Claremont, Calif. 



OPTIMISM OR PESSIMISM— WHICH? 



I say optimism, every time. Some say pessimism. Paul 

 said, '• Faith, hope, charity, these three, and the (,'reatest of 

 these is charity." Wasn't it a g-ood trio ? I feel like bless- 

 ing- Paul every day for that chapter 13th of 1st Corinthians 

 — which, next to Matthew .Sth aiidJohn 14th and l.Sth, seems 

 to me the most inspiring of all literature. How much 

 poorer I would be- how much poorer the world would be 

 had Paul failed to pen that wondrous essay on Love. 



I said yesterday, to my large, splendid bible class, that 

 the three greatest personages that had blessed this world 

 with their glorious— none too strong a word— presence, 

 were Christ— no one would say nay to that ; Paul— if any 

 one would to that, let him read Corinthians. 13th chapter : 

 and Moses. These three words— faith, hope, charity— aren't 

 they matchless ? Take away faith, which means trust, 

 confidence, and the world would go to pieces instanter. I 

 think Paul would have said that a man without faith in Cod 

 and his fellows lacks the very foundation of all worth and 

 usefulness. I know he said " Kaith is an anchor to the soul. 

 sure and steadfast." How fortunate are we parents who 

 can feel assured that our children rejoice in this faith. 



Years agone I committed to memory, that I might 

 always have with me at command, that beautifully sugges- 

 tive verse — or was it a loving command ? — also from Paul : 

 "Add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowl- 

 edge temperance, to temperance patience, to patience god- 

 liness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly 

 kindness charity." We see. as in the grand trio, faith here 

 is the foundation of the stepping-stones, the grand start-off. 

 So it is in any life. 



Yesterday I was asked in bible class, why some excel- 

 lent people liad unworthy children. I have thought of that 

 much. I believe the first and chief reason is, that thej' are 

 so busy that they neglect the most precious belongings of 

 any man or woman — the blessed children — and so lose their 

 trust, their confidence. A bad environment is very hard on 

 virtue, very menacing to a true, right life; but if a girl is 

 absolutely confidential with mother, and a boy with both 

 father and mother, they will be safe in a pretty bad environ- 

 ment. We parents must keep the faith of our children. 

 AVhen that goes, then God help, or the child goes to the bad. 



But Paul was giving a grand climax — faith, hope, 

 .charity — a climax evidently, for he says " the greatest of 

 these is charity." Then hope comes in even after faith. 

 Thank God, the great Paul was an optimist. He had faith 

 in God, and in his fellows, and so was full of hope. The 

 world has many " side-shows " full of horrible sights. The 

 group of boys hidden behind wall or fence, with their 

 cigarettes, their profane utterances, and foul, dirty speech ; 

 the horrid saloon, which we must all aid to our utmost to 

 bring to naught ; worst of all, the brothel, fed by the 

 lecherous speech of the boys lurking in the shadow of tlie 

 wall. Sometimes the main tent shows only filth and black- 

 ness. God be praised that such places are becoming more 

 and more rare. 



Despite this ugly show of evil, the world was never so 

 good as today. Faith, hope and charity occupy more seats 

 than ever before. There is more of Christ, and less of anti- 

 Christ, abroad upon the earth this morning than ever before 

 since the morning stars first sang together in that erst-daj' 

 of creation. 



We see the boy profane, disrespectful, and with the 

 cigarette, and we sometimes sigh for the old daj's when 

 there was more reverence in the world. We have only to 

 open our histories, or think of our own early experience, if 

 it was at all wide extended, and reaches back a score or two 

 of years, to find of a truth that Reverence takes a higher 

 seat now, this very morning, than she ever occupied before 

 in all the Earth's history. Yes, we may be filled with 

 hope. We have a right to be optimists. God is still in the 

 world, he is ever at work. As the grand result of that 

 work, faith is to-day more rich aud full in the human heart, 

 hope is more inspiring, and love is more perfect and con- 



trolling than ever before. Knowing- and fcelinjf this, we 

 may all be o|)timists, and urged on by the hope that (fivcH 

 us more abundant faith, and helps on to a more perfect 

 love, we may be (lod's own agents in gilding the world 

 with still greater brightncs.s. And it will be our greatest 

 glory that wo helji to build on to the faith, hope and love 

 which shall still more abide. 



Pessimism cheers no heart, brightens no path, and is 

 an ollenst- against the very (Jod that gives us all the 

 delights of home, all the glory of living. 



Optimism keeps our own hearts warm and true, floods 

 with sunshine myriad other hearts, and is our be.st praise- 

 service to the All-Father. 



THE DOQ. 



I fear I may have wounded some heart in my show-up 

 of the dog. I fear I was wrong. My father had a dislike 

 for dogs. Maybe I inherited a similar dislike. Perhaps 

 my father's oft-expressed aversion, and that when I was 

 first reaching out for ideas and sentiments, at that early, 

 susceptible time, when feeling so easily and quickly takes 

 root, gave me a prejudice which has never let go. My 

 father was severely utilitarian. He saw in the dog only a 

 meat-eater and a bill of expense. He would often call my 

 attention to a shiftless, no-account man, with his two or 

 three worthless curs. 



An excellent neighbor near by has a dog that often 

 makes the night wretched by hours of howling and bark- 

 ing. Surely, such a dog has no rights that any man is 

 bound to respect. Yet I know that the best uses of puts is 

 not the mice caught, not the cash which they hand over to 

 the family exchequer. The dog that gives comfort to par- 

 ents and children, that quickens sympathy, that builds up 

 in the heart affection, that calls out love and the spirit of 

 sympathy, is all right. My nearest neighbor has a dog 

 named "Sam." Sam is a most proper dog. He never 

 barks at night, though, like California roosters, he has fre- 

 quent reminders that it is possible to make night hideous ; 

 he never barks at passing team, and, indeed, he is a " gen- 

 tleman " dog. I see he brings real comfort to the home, so 

 I am glad that Sam is one of .our respectable " citizens," 

 and would have him banished on no account. 



My nearest neighbor on the other side is like the other, 

 one of the very best neighbors that ever blessed a com- 

 munity. He has a dog "Jocko." Jocko is old, and ought 

 to know better than ever to bark at the hours sacred to rest 

 and quiet. Once in a great vrhile Jocko speaks out. I 

 think it is at displeasure of another dog. that thinks his 

 bark aij adornment of any time or hour of night. When 

 Jocko barks his master goes at once and administers a 

 smart reproof, that I think smarts. At least it quiets 

 Jocko, and usually is sufficient for days. I am glad Jocko 

 is one of our number. He disturbs very little, and is a 

 pleasure to several good people. 



The other dog is a consummate nuisance, as is any dog, 

 boy, or man, that disturbs the quiet and peace of the night. 

 More than this, he dashes out at passing team or vehicle in 

 a way that few horses can stand, and thus is ever a menace 

 to life and limb. 



THE HORNED TOAD. 



He is a pretty fellow, neat, clean, agile, friendly. He 

 is as much a feature of the California roadside scenery as 

 is the real toad or frog of the East. His coat is of sober 

 n-ray, though prettily striped. Its color hides its owner, as 

 against the gray of earth ; his toadship, when quiet, is as 

 if not. And why the many sharp horns all over his body ? 

 They, too, give friendly protection. Mr. Gopher-Snake 

 finds him hard to swallow. He is too thorny a morsel. 

 Really, he is no toad at all, but a lizard. His shape is like 

 the toads, except he has a short tail, and so his common 

 name, which should be horned lizard. He is not as quick 

 as the other lizards, or swift, which are more snakelike in 

 form, and are possessed of a longer tail. They, too, are 

 very common here. Both have a dangerous country to live 

 in, as there are so few toads and frogs that owl and snake 

 are often forced to go to bed hungry. So they are quick- 

 eyed, day and night, for any morsel to break their fast. 



The common lizard is swift to take flight, and usually 

 hies away from danger. The horned lizard is too spinous ; 

 neither owl nor snake like the many horns. Our little 

 friend feeds mainly on ants, which he picks up with a 

 dexterity that is amazing. A queer thing about our little 

 pet, is the habit of throwing blood from its eyes when vexed 

 or annoyed. I have known it to throw several small drops. 



