St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1879-10-31
That Dreadful Boy.

He was going from Boston to Old Or.
chaTd with his mother. | was sorry tt
be i'll the same car with them. His
mother seemed to exist only to be wor.
lied by this uneasy, distressing boy
ly insutferable.
If l say he was "an unlocked cub"
shall offend your ears. Lick is an ole
English word that means either to LAP
or to strike. Shakespeare uses anlickeC
as applied to the cub of bear; there
was a notion that the whelp was at frs
tormless thing that had to be clicked
into shape" by the mothers tongue. Sc
it came to pass that the vulgar expires,
sion, "an unlocked cub" was fitungly
applied TO a boy whose mother never
gave him the culture essential 70 make
him presentab!e, or even tolerable, il
the society Of well-behaved people
The two meanings of the word are moi
very diverse.
This boy had never been licked into
shape. He needed licking. L use the
word in it's two senses. And the use, il
not elegant, is ineligible and express
sive, perhaps graphic also. The moth
er besought him to be still for mo-
ment, but the moment of stiffness never
came. He wanted something to eat
got it: to drink, and he kept steady
trOt through the car: the anxious
mother prayed him not to go to the
platform not to put his head out OF
the window: not to climb over the
seats: all in vain. She might as well
have entreated the engine.
In travelling, one is often haunted
by people from whom he tries to fly
He meets them ut the galleries OF the
dinner table. The dreadful boy and
his mother were in the parlor by the
seaside hotel where | had engaged my
lodgings. In half day this dreadful
boy was the pest and nuisance of the
piazza, the parlors and the halls. His
intellectual mother, coddling and coax
ing him, sought to win him into the
ways of decency and peace, but he re-
joiced in showing lie was not tied to- his
mother. The more she reasoned the
more he rioted in his liberty.
81 would drown the little plague if l
could catch him. in the water" said q
crusty savage from New York city
"the ill-mannered cur minds nobody
and feaIs nobody"
One evening we were seated in the
parlor, in little groups, conversing. Into
the room rushed the dreadful boy pur-
sued by another whom he had hit, and
both were screaming in play at the top
of their voices. AS he was passing me
| seized him by the arm with Il grip
that meant business, and said: "Here,
my boy, we have stood this thing long
enough: it has come to an end" An
awful silence filed the room his moth
er, frightened, sat pale, and not far
away, while 1 held the culprit and pur-
sued the lecture-''if you do not know
how to behave in company, let me tell
yOn the parlOr is no place for such
romps as we have suffered from You
go out of doors and stay out for such
games, and when you come III here, sit
down and be quiet" He wriggled to
get away, but led him to the door and
left him on the outside.
AS | had not been introduced to his
mother, | was not supposed to know
whose boy it was, and therefore made
no apologies for this summary disci-
pline of somebody else's child.
The next day was sitting on the
party of ladies and the dreadful boy
hove in sight, and sought seats near
me. l offered my seat to the mother,
but she found one at hand, thanked me,
and said:
81 am under great obligation to you,
sir, for taking my boy in hand last
evening"
sit is rather in my place." l made
answer, "to apologize for laying hands
on the child of another: but l saw he
was regardless of authority, and thought
to give him lesson"
"Thanks: but l would like to tell
you of him /: he is Il dear child, an only
child, and his father often and long
away from home on business, has left
his education and care to me entirely
l have the impression that the strong
est of all influences is love, and that
none is so strong as a mothers love
l never speak to him but in tones and
words of affection: | never deny hin
any indulgence he asks: | let hin
have his own way and never puDisl
him, lest he should be offended witt
me. wish that he may not have any
other thoughts of his mother but those
| VI ScHIlcutSS stiu lONc. 1Ou
sudden and decided measure last nigh
startled me, but its effect on the chill,
was remarkable. He has not yet re
covered, and this morning he spoke t.
me of it, as if a new sensation had bee,
awakened. Will you tell me frankl,
what your opinion is of the probabl,
result of the system of instruction whicl
[ am pursuing?"
at is not becoming in a stranger"
said, ''to speak plainly in regard to tn,
domestic management of another, an,
| hope you will excuse me from ex
pressing an opinion which it would no
be pleasant for you to- hear"
"But want to hear it; the good o
my child is the dearest object in thi
world: l have nothing else to live fol-
but it seems to me that the more low
him, the less he cares for me or m,
wishes: the more unruly and trouble
some he becomes. Your decided deal
ing with him has frightened me in re
gard to my course of training"
"Rather you should say your ivan
of training him. You do not read cor
rectly the words of the wise man
Train up child &c. You are lettin
him grow up without training, and m
fear is that he will be hung"
! ''Hung hung what do you mean p