GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



;jan. 1. 



He looked on that lost one, " her sins are forgiven," 

 And the sinner went forth in the beauty of heaven. 



Just a few thoughts in closing. The Salva- 

 tion Army are noted the world over for just this 

 kind of work. Dear reader, if you have ever 

 spoken ill of them, don't do it again. Are you 

 a follower of Christ Jesus? are you a member 

 of any church? then stir yourself, as in the 

 language of the text. Look after the horses, 

 and make yourself felt in your community. 

 But don't,stop there. Look after the fatherless 

 and motherless girls. I am sure there is need 

 of it. Within the past year, two cases such as 

 I have mentioned have come to my notice, more 

 than a thousand miles apart. Do you say there 

 is a law ? Yes, there is; both cases were up in 

 court. In one the gray-headed sinner got clear, 

 so people said, because he had lots of money, 

 and the poor girl had none. In the other, he 

 paid the girl some of his money, and is support- 

 ing her child. In the latter, my advice was 

 asked about keeping the girl after the facts of 

 her former history came out. I simply asked: 



" Is she doing her work well ? is she faithful 

 and efficient? ' 



"Oh, yes! she is the best help I ever had. 

 This thing happened years ago, when she was 

 a child. There has never been a breath of 

 reproach against her since." 



"Then keep her, by all means. Give her all 

 the help atiu encouragement possib e. When 

 Christ Jesus ha* forgiven, it ill becomes any of 

 tis to judge or condemn." 



Now, then, h t us all help on the work of 

 "healing the broken-hearted," " deliverauce to 

 the captives,' and giving "liberty to them that 

 are bruised." 



CHILD-TRAINING. 



[The subjoined paper bearing the foregoing 

 title was read originally at the Cotigri^gatioual 

 Conference at Mallet Creek, of this county. As 

 there was a general desire to have it given 

 again, it was read before the Parents' Meeting 

 of this place, which meeting I had the pleasure 

 of attending. I decided in my own mind that it 

 ought to be heard by a much larger circle 

 of readers, and at the close of the meeting 

 requested that I might have it for publication. 

 I had scarcely made this request before there 

 was a general expression on every side to have 

 it put in pamphlet form, as nearly all of the 

 auditors had friends whom they wished to 

 read it. 



Miss Smith is superintendent of the primary 

 department of our Medina public schools, for 

 which position, by her beautiful Christian spir- 

 it, her special training, and long experience, she 

 is exceptionally well titled. 1 wish she might 

 be heard by every mother and father in this 

 land; and those who feel as I do about it I hope 

 will see that it is distributed among friends. 

 After this journal it will be put in the form of a 

 neat little booklet, at a price just above cost; 

 viz.. 3 CIS. per single copy; 17c for 10, or 61.50 

 per 100, all postpaid. At 2c we will send single 

 copies to any address given in this country. 

 Every family ought to have one, and I hope 

 our Christian readers will help scatter it. Re- 

 member that the time to train a man, and so 

 cover a multitude of sins, is when ho is a child. 



N. B.— We shall have room to publish only 

 half of the paper in this issue, and it will, there- 

 fore, be concluded in our next.— Ed. 



CHILD-TKAINING. 



What is a child? and how shall he be trained? 

 are two of the most important questions that 

 can be asked. " What is this lump of flesh, 

 breathing life, and singing the song of immor- 



tality ? " If we could answer this question per- 

 fectly we might say to the child as Tennyson 

 said to the little flower plucked out of the 



crannies: i: 



Little flower, if I could understand 



What you are, root and all, 



I should know what God and man are. 



Patterson Du Bois, in " Beckonings from Lit- 

 tle Hands," says of his four-yearold boy, "I 

 would not have hurt him for the world, but I 

 uid not know what a child was, and conse- 

 quently could not shield him from myself." 

 Think of it, parents and teachers, helpless 

 childhood wholly dependent for guidance and 

 protection upon those who, like this father, do 

 not know what a child is, either mentally, 

 physically, or spiritually, consequently can not 

 shield him from their Ignorance, biased judg- 

 ments, and moral deformities. 



I often marvel at God's confidence in human 

 nature as shown by the responsibilities he has 

 placed upon us. I can imagine the angels in 

 heaven demurring at his conferring free moral 

 agency upon frail, sinful man, saying, "It will 

 never do. Man with his seltishness and down- 

 ward tendencies will wreck the moral universe 

 if given the power of choice." But I marvel 

 more that he trusts sweet innocent childhood 

 to the care of weak blundering humanity. It 

 must be for our sakes, that this responsibility 

 may stimulate us to our highest and best; that 

 the father, feeling his need of divine help in 

 bringing up his family rightly, may himself be 

 led to the Strong for strength, and to the Wise 

 for wisdom; that the mother, desiring for her 

 children the privilege of prayer, may herself 

 tirst call upon the name of the Lord. 



What is it to train a child? 1 was glad to 

 find that Webster bears me out in saying that 

 it is not thwarting, breaking, scolding, or subdu- 

 ing, as many seem to imagine, but guiding, 

 leading, drawing, and directing. It is to form 

 by practice. There is a good deal of so-called 

 training which is only repression. Training 

 develops, strengthens, and builds up. Repres- 

 sion weakens, discourages, and stupefies or 

 hardens, and makes the child rebellious and de- 

 ceitful. If, instead of " Johnuy, sit still," and 

 "Johnny, don't tease the cat," and "Johnny, 

 you make me nervous,' you would only find 

 something that Johnny might do, how happy 

 he would be, and what a relief it would be to 

 your tired nerves! If you knew what a child 

 is you would know that every muscle in the 

 little body aches to be on the move, and every 

 nerve tingles with life and energy, and that it 

 is your work to direct these into right channels, 

 not repress them. It is the empty hands, heads, 

 and hearts that go astray. It was the empty 

 house swept and garnished, you rememner. into 

 which the seven wicked spirits entered. If we 

 will only occupy hands, heads, and hearts with 

 the good and the true, we need to concern our- 

 selves very little with the bad and false. For 

 example, if a child is inclined to be cruel to 

 birds or other animals, instead of talking to 

 him so much about his cruelty, endeavor,, as 

 you have opportunity, to interest him in the 

 many curious habits of animals, the building of 

 their nests and homes, and the devotion of the 

 mother to her young. Picture to him the life of 

 constant fear and danger that these timid crea- 

 tures live, never safe, always alert. Call his-at- 

 tention to the provision made by our heavenly 

 Father for their safety. Tell him of the prep- 

 aration made by the wild animals for winter, 

 reminding him that no such preparation is 

 needed for the domestic animals, as they have 

 been entrusted to our care. With suitable 

 stories lead him to sympathize with them in 

 their suffering when robbed of their young, or 



