1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



859 



OUJR 



HOMES, 



BY A.I. ROOT. 



There is one God, aud one mediator between God 

 and men, the man Christ Jesus. — I. Tim. 2:5. 



Our good pastor, Rev. Jesse Hill, recently 

 gave us a touching little story which I wish to 

 use with his permission, and I wish also to 

 give some of my thoughts in connection with 

 it. A father and his grownup son had diffi- 

 culty; and it seems to me one of the saddest 

 sights this world can furnish is a quarrel be- 

 tween father and son. Just at the time when 

 the son begins to arrive at the age of man- 

 hood, say when he is fifteen or sixteen years 

 old, or just about the age of the boy I talked 

 about in my last Home Paper, if both father 

 and son are not a little careful there is likely 

 to be trouble. It is very natural for the father 

 to fail to take into consideration that a boy of 

 this age is not exactly a boy, or rather, per- 

 haps, he is not the boy he has been all along 

 the past. The father will speak to a small 

 boy with a tone of authority that he needs to 

 modify a little when the boy gets to be a large 

 boy. And the boy on his part is apt to feel 

 a little annoyed if his father does not remem- 

 ber to pay a little respect to him because he is 

 getting to be so nearly the father's equal. And 

 it is quite possible that a boy of sixteen may 

 have been out in the world, and read the books 

 and papers, more than his father of three times 

 his age. Perhaps the boy sees his father is 

 not up to the times ; or if the boy imagines 

 the father is not up the times, the state of af- 

 fairs is still worse. When both father and son 

 are professing Christians — when they are both 

 reading their Bibles, and both day by day 

 kneeling to the great Father of all, then there 

 is little danger of trouble; because an)- father 

 or son who lets God direct, will seldom have 

 trouble, even in matters of this kind. It is 

 true, many fathers err by being too easy with 

 boys about sixteen years of age. You remem- 

 ber the old priest EH was called to account 

 because " his sons made themselves vile, and 

 he restrained them not." We do not know 

 how old these sons were, but we do know that 

 the father was held responsible and account- 

 able for their bad conduct. 



Now, boys and their fathers do not always 

 agree on what is right and what is wrong. 

 Sometimes the father is at fault. Sometimes 

 the son is at fault, and sometimes both are at 

 fault. From my standpoint of view it looks 

 to me that, although boys of sixteen many 

 times have excellent judgment, and may also 

 be better posted than their fathers, notwith- 

 standing this, there are times when a boy of 

 sixteen shows exceedingly poor judgment. 

 As I look back at the time in my life when I 

 was sixteen years old, I feel pained and sur- 

 prised to think I ever had so little sense as to 

 disagree with my father on matters where he 

 was entirely right and I was entirely wrong. 

 May God forgive me for not being more re- 

 spectful to my father, even had it been true 

 that I was right and he was wrong. Oh ! 



what would I give this minute, had I kept 

 back just two or three little words that I ut- 

 tered while angry ? After I grew up I asked 

 his forgiveness, and he freely granted it. But, 

 even though this be true, how I do wish I had 

 submitted pleasantly and good-naturedly to 

 what my father thought was right and best ! 



Well, in the story the father and son had 

 trouble. It grew from bad to worse until the 

 father ordered the boy off from the premises ; 

 and I do not know but he told him never to 

 show his face there again. Oh how it pains 

 me to think of such a scene as this ! The poor 

 mother was somewhere near, I think, and, of 

 course, she did all that a mother could do, and 

 stood, probably, just about half way between 

 the two angry men (or man and bo3% if you 

 choose). I can imagine that, for her sake, the 

 boy promised to come back some time; but he 

 said his father would have to send word or ar- 

 range for htm to come before he did so. Now, 

 why could not that poor father have had just 

 a little grace so that he could keep still and 

 not say any thing more to make this matter 

 still worse; but the father foolishly, prompted 

 by Satan, did add, "Well, sir, if jou never 

 come back till I send for you, you will never 

 come at all — you may be sure of that." 

 Things of this kind have happened before, 

 and they may happen again ; but if I could 

 have my way about it there should be no such 

 folly again while the earth stands. Let me 

 give you some of my reasons for it. One of 

 them was suggested by our good pastor in an- 

 other one of his sermons. The thought is 

 this: 



When two men enter into a business part- 

 nership, they consider the matter and talk it 

 over. They agree to it; and afterward, if they 

 do not get along well, they can talk it over and 

 dissolve. A business partnership is a man- 

 made arrangement. When a boy and girl at 

 the proper age decide to live together as man 

 and wife, the arrangement is at least partly of 

 their own making. Usually, at least, they both 

 have something to say about the matter. This, 

 too, is a man-made arrangement, or, if you 

 choose, a man-and-woman-made partnership. 

 Well, now, please consider, dear brother and 

 sister, that the children born in a home stand 

 on a different basis. God himself sent the 

 boy into the home ; and I am glad to know 

 that the parents, as a rule, unite in thanking 

 God for this great gift. God sends the boy to 

 that father and mother. It is not a partner- 

 ship, for the boy, at least, was never consulted 

 in the matter. God placed him there. He 

 has as much right in the home as the father 

 or mother. That is my statement, however. 

 Our pastor did not say so ; and as I look at it 

 neither the father nor mother has any more 

 business to turn the child out of that home 

 than the child has to turn them out. He is 

 part owner of the home, and has the best right 

 to it of any one, because God placed him 

 there. When he grows up and becomes a 

 man, and has a home of his own, of course 

 he freely and voluntarily steps out ; but he 

 never steps out of his mother's love and af- 

 fection. I wish I could say as much for the 

 father. Now remember, dear parent, your old 



