1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



611 



experiment with, he will probably receive informa- 

 tion enough to pav him for the money expended; but 

 he should not be disappointed if he receives no returns 

 from his investment, and he should charge up the 

 money spent as tuition for his education. 



isY, J4.;l. root: 



For this cause shall a man leave his father and 

 mother, and cleave to his wife; and they twain shall 

 be one flesh, so then they are no more twain, but one 

 flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let 

 not man put asunder. — Mark 10: 7, 8, )'. 



In a recent daily I saw a notice that, 

 during- a certain length of time in Cleve- 

 land, there had been 120 marriages, but 

 during- the same period there had been 116 

 divorces. All the religious denominations 

 of our land, and the entire clergy, are pro- 

 testing ag-ainst this g-i owing evil of divorce. 

 It is striking- rig-ht directly at the vitals of 

 society and good government. It is break- 

 ing- up the homes. In homes where there 

 are no children the matter may not be so 

 bad; but where one or more children are 

 obliged to be present, they become wit- 

 nesses of discord and disagreement between 

 father and mother. This example and ob- 

 ject-lesson will be apt to follow them all 

 through life. May God help me while I 

 undertake through these Home papers to 

 put forth a protest and to offer a remedy 

 for the disease that threatens this God- 

 given institution of marriage. Our text 

 gives a remedy, and they are the words of 

 the dear Savior. PVjr this cause— that is, 

 in order that a new home may be started — 

 shall a man leave h s father and mother. 

 Heretofore the father and mother have been 

 the most important personages in the world 

 to this young man; but when he comes to 

 the point of choosing some good girl for his 

 wife, as soon as the marriage ceremony is 

 performed he breaks away from his father 

 and mother, and cleaves to his wife. His 

 relation to her is a nearer one than to either 

 father or mother; and when it comes to the 

 point, if such a point ever does come, of 

 choosing between father and mother and 

 the new wife, may God give him grace and 

 wisdom to stand by the wife and hold her 

 up, and let the father and mother go. Yes, 

 if need be to preserve the relation of hus- 

 band and wife unhindered, let him bid 

 good by to the father and mother; and I 

 firmly believe there are times when it is 

 best to go away somewhere. By all means 

 vis t the old folks occasionally, and re- 

 member your parents; but if, in your opin- 

 ion, too many visits or immediate proximity 

 to the parental home in any way interferes 

 with the perfect union and love of yourself 

 and wife, then go away together where you 

 two can have peace, tranquillity, and 

 happiness. Let me say to the parents, do 

 not undertake to "boss" the young people 



too much If they are going to make 

 blunders, advise as well as you can; btit 

 when they seem inclined to prefer their own 

 way, do not interfere. Let them learn by 

 experience, as you fathers and mothers did 

 years ago. 



Now I am going a little further. If there 

 is a family of grown- up children, let me 

 suggest to those children not to be over- 

 anxious about taking care of father and 

 mother. If they seem disposed to take care 

 of themselves in their old fashioned ways, 

 let them do so. At one period in my life 

 I persuaded my parents to leave the farm, 

 come to town, and "take things easy." 

 Mother stood it very well. Bless the dear 

 old soul, she was a/ways happy, and would 

 be happy anywhere; but not so with father. 

 He was like a fish out of water. He be- 

 came blue and discontented and unhappy, 

 and we finally decided all around it was a 

 mistake to persuade him to leave the farm. 

 As the farm was not sold they went back 

 to it, and lived alone with the calves and 

 chickens, garden and orchard, and found 

 peace and happiness in their old age. In 

 a like manner, Mrs. Root and myself in 

 that cabin in the woods have enjoyed our- 

 selves and the untrameled liberty it gave 

 ' us — I was going to say as much as we did 

 when we were first married; but that v\ould 

 not be true, for we enjoyed being alone— I 

 feel almost tempted to say a hundred times 

 more than when we were first married, al- 

 though we were a very loving couple when 

 we first started out together. 



You ma}' have surmised that I am coming 

 over into the "mother-in-law" business; 

 and while I feel like defending the mothers- 

 in law, and have defended them heretofore, 

 I believe a good many of them have un- 

 wittingly made trouble between the young 

 husband and his wife. Not long ago a 

 mother-in-law, while in the young wife's 

 own home, said something like this. Of 

 course, they had been having a jangle: 



" Well, what did you bring to my son, 

 any way? You came here but little better 

 than a pauper. " 



Why, my dear friends, just think how 

 that faithful young wife must have been 

 stung and cut to the quick by such talk ! 

 I suppose some of the women readers will 

 say they would have "fired" the old lady 

 out of the front door or back door in double- 

 quick time. But this young wife was 

 wiser. She took it meekly and patiently. 

 The husband came in soon after; and when 

 he could not quiet his mother "by gentle 

 means he took her by the hand and led her 

 out of his own home and took her to her 

 own home. He came to the point where he 

 had to choose between the wife and mother. 

 He did a manly thing — in fact, the only 

 thing for a man to do, in standing by his 

 wife (according to our text) and putting 

 his own mother outdoors — of course, by 

 gentle means — when she would not be civil 

 to the wife of his choice. I knew this wife 

 quite intimately. She has not only always 



