, 1874-03-22
WHAT SHALL ! TELL RuB3JE?

| small boy free-ltnbcd. and wnte-robcd for bed,
springs into my lap, and settles down comfoita~
| blv with, t. Now tel! me story Mamma" Aud,
swaying to aad fro in tho wel!-worn rocker, with
the pleasant freight falling about US, gather
! up the shreds of thought, little fancies Of the
day, bits of incidents flon the papers, with the
! eleannss from ny books, and make Of them
stories IL ain,--storics to teach him soma Of
| lilo's lcssoas. As his eyes grow wider and dark
| er With his deepening interest, and his breath
comes mo1e quickly through his sweet parted
lips, think With swift JOY that my darling will
not hare to loarn these lessons in = 6ierner
school.
| OF late, our bits OF Talk have been Of the
drnnkard sad his bare home; Of his children
robbed Of half their childhood; Of his ha5es and
their slight hold on life, aad their many, many
little graves, whose ma1blea might so httinsly
read OF each:
The emp Of life Just to IT'S tips il rrrst,
Found tAe taste bl:t=r, sud DECLINED the rest.
Only the marble is so seldom there.
The result Of these bedtime stories 1s, that
Robbie hes quite as great horror Of fermented
drinks as you used to havo Of the Devii.
This morning some trifle threw him into ter
rible passion {Robbio, I mean J. "Idon't want
90 to be my mamma any more !" be exclaimed,
catching my hand, and mating savage little
scratches in it with bis fngcr-nails t'1m gcin to
Kill myself when get to be 4 mani" And, try
ing to say something more dreadful still. he add
ed, I'm goi,t' to drin: some Cine and rkirey,
too,' II ehould think yon had baen drirkins
some already; just see the red marks on my
hand" said. "Oh! haven't" sobbcd he in
terror, his white passion swiftly coolfug aud ae
kissed the scratched hand. quite rcmorEefully.
Presently heard hi confiding in tho kitty thus:
Iii ~,
1eastest drop Of whixey OF wine, OF ANYTHING
that can make the FOLKS drunk Why, Ia rath-
er put my tongue against the bot stoye!" Two
been feeling very comfortable over my sotal-ab-
ssinence teachiugs-too comfortable altogether!
''The Sunday-school folks say bod aiys them
their clothes; 90 make mine, he said, puzzled
and doubling. one dny. But there arc some diff
ticultles L1s u Sundayschool folks u make rather
harder to explain away; aud At times, a1n at 3
loes what to tell my baby 1ogiclan.
Last Sabbath was communion-day. Robbie,
wide-eyed and observant, sat next me. Mann
ma, wanted como bread, he whispered, hold
ing up g:ieved little face. The white-prled
plate had never stopped at him at ell. hestat-
ed moment, ,-Mrs Grundy sometimes comics
to church. you know,-bcfole broke the white
morsol and gave part to Robbie whispering,
:. It is to remember Jesus ty." ''De3, he said
softly, very reyerently Eowin5 his head With ths
others; he understood at least that We were all
thinking OF Jesus.
Then, passing from hand to hand, filing the
room with their sharp perfume camo ths ehn.
ing goblcta OF ,cine. "What is that. Manma:"
he asked porsistenty touching my arm, and re-
poating the question, as declined the goblet
and kept silent. I could not tell him it WAS the
dreadful wine Of which he had heard SO much,
the wine that made men crazy, and filled the
land with little graves. and kept tna ]all6 re-
plen1shed. If told him it was vino his Sun
day-School folks" we're taking, either great
horror Of them would come into Ills life, barring
out m influence for good all through lis swift
coming noyhood,-an influence which he c-n-
not afford to lose,-or, his mothers teachings );
fall into contempt.
Dars go back on nv teachings2 Have I
erred in Buproslng it we're not possible to make !
nv child feel too sreata horror Of any Of any
kind OF EerH1entcd drinks?
No, no! 1s the Sharp rHernnce OF the logic Of !
events It is almost time for the 63o train for !
its light far before it into the darkness Yes, I |
can See the box in the baggaso-car, where the !
lights burn so brightly. Ratfertya poor, broken I
body is in the box. His old father Is taking 1t
home. all bro;en from the hangman'" rope.
to his blind old wife. His boy was only 25. l
saw bis face in Chicago, throueh tho crates.
last summer; weak face, thought, but not
wicked one. Listening to my friends onsc.sa-
ton with him, could but notice the almost
daiuty toilet, the whitenesa Of his lnen. and the
tidlness of his can1le-ljghted cell.
~ I suppose you would never have been here
had it not been for liquor 2" 4ueried my friend.
~ suppose not, sir" was the quiet ansver,-
the voice implying settled assurance on that
subject.
Crazed With debauca prolonged long after
his brain on fire with the liquor ho
had taken, he killed policeman. But was he
any more responsible for that nc. than an
escaped lunatic would have been? Perhaps 80,
in making himself ;r,laken? But the luoatic
may also have brought about his own insanity,
snd ho less isuorautly.
How much SIN lies At RaGertvs door for max
ing himself crazy for spelling his brain with
y yhirky -drink,ng,-I don't know. Certainly that
lepcnds greatly upon how well he had been
!aught during his twenty-five years Ut 1ife."
rn GLAD God knows how to maize lovauces
better than VIC do. I'm glad He will takc INTO
account his schooling IN the streets Of Bridge
port, in judging him. An ho:1r'a walk III thoze
streets Tia give one heart-acne, that Will coCso
oack with each REMEMBRANCE Of it. You Try to
.ount the dtinking saloons that stretch out in
endless repetena, each hlae Of you; and you
remhe over neglected, hslf-dressed children,
literally swarmins here. Aad you shudder rs
ho thought comes. that they 1hcays breathe
his .lr, 30 fouled viii, mingled beer and woisSv
'mells, SO torn with vile words, and oaths, and
british quarzels. OF c'urse, you say to Yourself
f1eH8 children will praH fntc i.unknrrjH hrI