PRIZE CONTEST AWARDS. 
The prizes have been awarded as fol¬ 
lows : 
First Prize.—Harriet C. Cox, Massachusetts. 
Second Prize.—No name. Will the author please 
forward name and address ? 
Third Prize.—Helen L. Taylor, Michigan. 
Fourth Prize.—Jennie B. Atwater, New York. 
p< Hut one side of the subject is presented. 
Is there, then, but one right course to 
follow? Our readers may judge for 
themselves ; but it is not without signifi¬ 
cance that the best arguments point the 
same way. As it is a matter of import¬ 
ance, we would like to have given an 
able argument, supporting the other 
course ; but such has not been received. 
Opinions have differed, certainly. Ilut 
the worth of an opinion can only be 
measured by weighing the reasons which 
are its foundation. And too many of us, 
alas ! have no reasonable foundation for 
our opinions. 
THE PRIZE CONTEST. 
THE QUESTION. 
When one parent of a family is in any way a 
bad example for the children, which is the better 
course for the other parent to pursue: To make 
no complaint or ciiticism of the wrong-doer, and 
trust that a good example and teaching will off¬ 
set the bad influence; or to be loyal to truth and 
warn the children against bad habits, even 
when it necessitates condemning their father or 
mother ? 
Give the reasons -why you consider the one 
course better, and your objections to the other. 
We Should Condemn Sin. 
Our highest ideal should be that of 
truth. To do that which is right, should 
be the aim and motive of our lives. That 
which endeavors to conceal truth, to 
make that which is wrong appear right, 
can never result in good. If a child be 
so unfortunate as to have for a parent, 
one who is addicted to vice in any form, 
in no wise should that sin be excused or 
condoned to the child. However great 
may be the temptation, to excuse in a 
loved one a deed that we would condemn 
in another, must have an injurious in¬ 
fluence on a young life. 
To instill into a child’s mind that 
which is right and that which is wrong, 
is difficult at best; but to excuse the 
wrongdoing of a parent, because he is a 
parent, will be the undoing of any such 
teaching, and a weakening of the com¬ 
mand “Thou shalt not.” Filial love and 
respect are to be desired. We are told 
to “ Honor tby father and thy mother.” 
Yet this command looked at rightly, in 
no wise conflicts with the condemning of 
sin in father or mother. We condemn 
the sin, but may also love the sinner. 
The wise mother can teach the child to 
love the erring father ; yet at the same 
time to recognize that the sins that have 
wrecked his life, are dreadful blots on 
God’s creation, blots that must be avoided 
if life is to be pure and true. On the 
other hand, if the sin be excused, sooner 
or later, as the child grows to maturity, 
he will realize that what he has called 
right, the world calls wrong, and the 
result will be one of two things: He 
may be so impregnated with his early 
influence and teaching, that he will have 
grown into the same faults and, not hav¬ 
ing learned to despise the wroDg, when 
the awakening comes, he will find him¬ 
self weak and unable to overcome the 
evils that beset him on every side.* Or, 
if he have an ingrained love for the 
right, despite the blinding influence, the 
reaction may be that he will have con¬ 
tempt for, not the sinner alone, but for 
the unwise love that sought to excuse 
and cover the sin. With lost confidence 
in his parents, his former conceptions of 
right and wrong, all set at naught, for 
awhile he must suffer and know not 
where to turn. 
Teach the child that which is right 
and true, even though it does reflect on 
the parent. Do our duty, plant the seeds 
early and leave the harvest to God. 
H. C. C. 
One Family’s Mistake. 
To my mind, it is imperative to warn 
children against following a bad ex¬ 
ample, no matter who sets that example. 
Loyalty to the children, as well as to 
the truth, absolutely demands this. 
I recall a family of 10 children, the 
father of which was a man of unusual 
mental ability ; he was a graduate of two 
colleges, and was well fitted to train chil¬ 
dren properly, had he given the subject 
due consideration. He loved them with 
all the deep, fervent love of his great 
heart, and he would often look into their 
faces as they all sat around the large 
dining table and say, “Mother, there 
never was a man who had such a perfect 
set of children.” In their sickness, he 
devoted himself to them, and a sleepless 
night passed in watching with them was 
nothing to him. 
Yet, with all this, he had one glaring 
fault; he was a very profane man. The 
mother was reared by Christian parents, 
and up to the time of her marriage, had 
heard very few oaths ; but, although 
“Vice is a monster of such frightful 
mien, that to be hated, needs but to be 
seen,” yet it is pitiably true that, “ Seen 
too oft, familiar with its face, we first 
endure, then pity, then embrace.” She 
did not “embrace” in the sense of be¬ 
coming, herself, profane; but she did 
not rebuke it in her husband, and when 
the children took it up, she did nothing 
to check it, hoping that, as they grew 
older, they would, in the brighter light 
of added culture and knowledge, stop a 
practice so unseemly. Hut, no ; it grew 
with their growth and strengthened with 
their strength, and that mother must 
now hear, with a bursting heart, her 
grown children swear—the daughters as 
well as the sons. “ Father swore,” and 
he was their hero—their worshipped 
ideal, lteproachingoneof the daughters 
for this hideous habit, she was told, 
“ Well, mother, I always did swear, and 
I suppose I always shall.” 
“O, that I could live over that part of 
my life,” said the mother in speaking of 
it. “ The implied reproach to their 
father would have no weight with me. 
I would compel them to stop—if by no 
other means, I would use the severest 
punishments within my reach.” 
Those children are above the average, 
both in personal appearance, and in 
mental endowments; yet they have no 
position in society. How can they have? 
This is the most impressive example I 
know ; yet all points in the direction that 
right wrongs no one. If one would not 
be condemned, let him mend his fault. 
NO NAME. 
Teach High Ideals. 
Where one parent sets a bad example 
to the children, it is doubly incumbent 
upon the other, to counteract it by every 
means possible. Hut the law of love, 
which is the foundation of all right 
doing, is the first and most important 
thing to be taught : if this be done by 
example, as well as precept, it will for¬ 
bid any dwelling upon the faults of others 
or even mention of them, unless abso¬ 
lutely necessary. From some errors, 
such, for instance, as ill temper, idleness, 
and selfishness, the good example and 
teaching of one parent might be quite 
sufficient to deter the children, without 
any allusion to the shortcomings of the 
other in these respects, more especially 
as these faults are so unlovely when seen 
in contrast with better ways, as to be a 
warning rather than a temptation. We 
must, however, bear in mind that it is 
the atmosphere of the home, the real 
mental attitude of the father or mother, 
what they actually think and care for, 
that the children imoibe, and which 
form their characters ; and that example 
has a hundred times the force of precept 
in its influence upon them. 
There are sins which one cannot wit¬ 
ness in the home without protest and in 
silence, and remain guiltless, since they 
defile its very atmosphere, and lower 
the standard of right in all who behold 
such sins habitually ; these are dis¬ 
honesty, falsehood, impurity, gross 
cruelty, and many others. I would, 
therefore, resist such sins to the utter¬ 
most, protest against them, and condemn 
them, whenever they occurred, or who¬ 
ever was guilty of them ; I would do 
this the more, because of that tendency 
in human nature to believe that sin in 
ourselves or our loved ones, is, somehow, 
different f^om what it is ordinarily, and, 
therefore, more excusable. 
Were I a parent so tried, I would feel 
that my first duty was to the little white 
souls committed to my charge, since they 
must look to me alone for guidance, and 
were by inherited tendencies, peculiarly 
exposed to temptation. I would, there¬ 
fore, teach them the right, so far as it 
was given me to see it, by watching, 
warning, and every means in my power; 
and I would be sure, that if they were 
loyal to truth and righteousness, they 
would be far more likely to honor their 
father and mother, in the truest and 
best sense of the command, than if their 
own ideas of right were on a lower plane. 
* H. T,. T. 
Because Father Does It. 
In a family that is unfortunate enough 
to have for one of its recognized 
heads, an immoral character, the other 
should, in my opinion, be ever loyal to 
truth and the young characters put into 
his hands for molding into usefulness or 
uselessness. Here is another question, 
Which shall it be ? Shall the children 
be brought up in the very midst of sin 
(great or small, the misdoings certainly 
are sins) and never be warned against 
them, never be told that they are wrong, 
simply because it happens to be their 
own father or mother who commits the 
sins ? Shall they be taught that what¬ 
ever their father does is right and good 
for them to follow ? “ If father does it, 
why can not I do it?” is a question 
which confronts every mother. 
If this particular father is in the habit 
of doing those things which are immoral 
and harmful, what will the mother say 
in reply to that boy, if she has brought 
him up never to hear a complaint or 
criticism of the wrongdoings of his 
father ? If, for instance, the father be 
a shiftless, worthless sort of a man, will 
the mother if she be ever so industrious, 
be likely to succeed in making of her 
children thrifty men and women, if they 
are taught to think that what their 
father does, or rather, does not, is all 
right? Hoys, particularly, are likely to 
do just as their father does, and often to 
think just as he does. 
If the mother be an indifferent house¬ 
keeper, will not her daughters follow in 
her footsteps, and make some home un¬ 
pleasant ? The very example should be 
a guard against this, but it is not often 
so. It is hard, of course, for one parent 
to criticise the other and, perhaps, it is 
wrong ; but the boys and girls of to¬ 
day will be the men and women of to¬ 
morrow, and if this is an age of improve 
ment, the men and women who will fill 
our high offices in coming years, must be 
an improvement upon their predecessors. 
All have their faults, all have sinned and 
come short of the glory of God, and, 
probably, this will continue as long as 
man lives. It seems to me that if a per¬ 
son mast sin at all, the future of his 
children and the nation would be as 
reasonable a provocation as any, so I 
would run the risk of its being wrong to 
complain of the erring parent. J. B. a. 
Condemn in a Loving Way. 
Though my knowledge has been ac¬ 
quired mostly from observation, I am 
firmly convinced that it is the better 
plan to warn children against bad habits, 
let it condemn whom it may. It is a 
parent's duty to teach a child what is 
right. Children are such imitators, and 
generally consider their parents so 
nearly right, that they are most certain 
to follow example rather than mere 
teaching. A child will acquire a habit 
if it is daily witnessing it. One can 
hardly speak against an evil or fault 
without condemning a person who com¬ 
mits it. How can a parent tell a child 
that such a thing is wrong, and pass over 
the fact that the other parent is commit¬ 
ting the deed constantly ? A child would 
notice the inconsistency, and soon come 
to think that if the fault be not too bad 
for the parent, it may not be for him. 
If mention be made of the person’s 
failing, in a loving spirit, making what 
excuses are possible, and showing what 
bad effects the habit has produced, it 
cannot fail to impress the child. This 
does not mean to nag at every conceiv¬ 
able opportunity. One earnest talk is 
sufficient, so far as mention of the per¬ 
son is concerned. 
I know of two cases in different fam¬ 
ilies, where the failing of one parent was 
never mentioned by the other, and in 
spite of the good example and teaching 
of that other parent, the children all 
have the bad habit. Yet too much rail¬ 
ing against a bad habit, is as bad as no 
mention ; for the child would feel a 
sympathy for the condemned parent, 
and fail to see the evil aright. If plenty 
of love be used in criticising, one can’t 
go far wrong. MRS. 8. T. D. 
Condemn the Bad; Commend the Good. 
Children are born imitators. It is best 
to warn children against the bad habits 
of the parent, even if it condemn and 
weaken the respect for that parent; be¬ 
cause the children, perhaps, have in¬ 
herited the same habits, and by not re¬ 
ceiving warning and proper training, 
may not be any improvement on the 
parent. We desire our children to be 
better than we have been, better able to 
resist the temptations to which we suc¬ 
cumbed. It would be easy, in condemn¬ 
ing the bad habits, to point to the good. 
If no criticisms are made, when the child 
becomes older and sees the pernicious 
effects of the bad habits, and remembers 
that he was never warned against them, 
he will blame both parents, especially if 
the same habits have become permanent 
with him. Therefore, I say, warn the 
children and get their help in curing the 
habits of either parent that have a bad 
influence on the home. e. b. h. 
TOMMIE’S HARMONICA. 
OMMIE could play three tunes, 
“Home, Sweet Home,” “ March¬ 
ing through Georgia,” and “ Yankee 
Doodle.” Now, if he could only find 
some one to listen to him, for he knew 
that he hit every note ! Haby was asleep; 
the little boy across the road was away. 
He sat and played the tunes all over 
again. If the yard were only full of 
boys, how charmed they would be ! Hut 
not a boy was in sight, for Tommie lived 
in the country. 
As he looked across the fields, a bright 
idea flashed into his head. Why not 
play to Deacon Dudley’s flock of imported 
sheep? “ I know they would enjoy fine 
music,” And away ran Tommie as fast 
as his little short legs could carry him. 
There they were with “ King George” at 
the head. Tommie sat on the stone wall 
and played. “ King George” seemed to 
think it fine, for he shook his head and 
kept time. 
“ You old fellow, I am glad you like 
it. Now I will give you ‘ Home, Sweet 
