Fair play., 1883-07-14
The Fountains Of Character,

bit of lace at your throat; you had besS
mend it at once and, seeing perhaps
note of Interrogation in the eye Of THO
listening guest, she added: "When l
was little girl. my mother brought out
an old worn book from her private bu-
rcau drawer and called me TO look at
it. Ii was tiny volume of letters from
a clergyman to his daughter, which had
been given to my mother in her girlhood,
and in one of the letters was this in
junction: Whenever you find a break
"r worn place in your clothing. mend
a imncttiateiyr can see the yellow
page now, stained and finger-markcd,
and Just how those words in italics
looked. Aftcrward. when | had so
many children, never saw rent or
hole in their clothing. but those itali-
cised words would come up, mend IL
immediatelyr
That little old yellow book, SD wisely
used, helped the lady of eighty-tive sum-
mer.. to keep her six boys whole upon
Methodist itinerant's very narrow in
come. Though often and almost al
ways patched, they were never ragged.
and the lessons of thrift and economy
inculcatc'! by their mother enabled them
when grown to lift themselves and her
above the need of patching and darning,
though not above doing it.
..Don't use whole sheet of paper
for that memorandum; Il slip will do, =
said wealthy banker to his office boy;
and after the boy had gone on his
errand, the banker remarked: The
paper is nothing, the principle is every
thing. When | was 4 boy, We always
or less lumber to work with. Never
cut into a big board, my father would
SAY, when small piece will answer
your purpose. Hunt round and find 4
small piece for small work. and save
the large pieces for large work. v
This pr.nciplc carried out, enabled this
banker. when reyerses overlook him,
to make five dollars do the work that
twenty-five dollars ~ usually expected
to do, and ..gct on his feet" again.
TIE child that always tells the
TRUTH obeys its parents and keeps holy
the Sabbath day, is sure of everything
good in this world and well-ni.h sure
of everything good in the world TO
come This was Il constant saying of
n principal to his pupils. The love OF
truth. the habit of obedience to lawful
authority, and reverence for God. these
built into Il child's character insure IL
for this life and for the life to come.
So we parents and teachers sit at the
fountains of character and direct It's
course for evil or for good. What need
have We to draw from the fountains of
eternal Wisdom in order that our pach-
in. may be Just and true; what need Ia
listen that we may with the inner sense
catch strains of that blessed harfi,ony
of the higher spheres. and 80 keep our
selves lin tune with Heaven. A
parent cannot always he enjoining on 4
child what he does not practise him.
self; the Injunction is . formula from
his own life, aad it is his life that in
fluences the child, thoug gh later he may
recall chiefly the formula. .but hc will
recall ii as embodying more or less the
life of the parent. -
Grandparents are generally much
more lenient to.the faults OF children
than parents are. and the rcas1l Is
doubtless this: They have seen tAcir
own children outgrow n many faults
and weaknesses and tendencies to vice
that they. judging the future by the
past. think their grandchildren will do
the same. Don't sayszpnything Ia
grandma about Jimmie faillts, said
a merry girl, "she'l only say Have
patience, and he'll outyow them. v
The old lady smiled md replied
"When | remember hoy l worried
over Your fathers faults,Sand Your Tn
Gle Harry's. when they We're, little fel-
lows. and see what strong, coed men
they have become. L hav6sfafth to be.
lieve that little Jimmie will make rs
good man as they are, He's weak,
and little thing upsetshim like 4
Young hickory sapling, he bends unde.
a slight weight, but give him time and
he'll come up all right Yes, said
the mother. give him time, and with
it line upon line. precept upon Precept,
here little and there-a great deal,
and | hope there will be developed
within him forces that Will lift him
AWAY from the sins that now beset
him.
Into well-prepared soil we put the
seed and leave it in darkness to the
vital force within and the forces sur
rounding it. We do not keep plow.
ing it up to see if it is sprouting. bul
having planted and watered it. we
must trust that God will give the in,
crease. Even when tares appear. re.
membering the Savior's injunction. we
let both grow together till the harvest.
lest in uprooting the tares We uproo'
the wheat also.
There are certain faults inherent in
certain characters. which require allow
ance and liberation. or the whole char.
acter is spoiled. We cannot make will
lows of oaks or apple-trees of vines. Il
is the nature of oaks to be, ONE gnarled
and of vines 10 cling We accept Car.
lyle for what he was. aud rejoice in him
all we can: We accept Emerson for what
he was and rejoice in him.
Vices in our children We must prunc
away, as we kill canker worms. ana
while blowing the corn kill the weeds
Harvest comes all the way along from
Nav to October. from youth to age. hui
only when the last crops have beer
gathered do we celebrate Thanksgiving
Day. The blossom storm scatter:
the spring gloryof thefruit trees. And
the tiny ..sets. muss eke weeE an.
months to sweN and color and rircn
The hot suns of July Asal,August mus
pour fervid rays upon and Cfter
not until frost touches are the,
ripe. So. while We do q at loving
hands can do for theses c6a len dearei
than life to ms. and all that king heart: