The record-union., 1897-12-02

himself, and for his father, when the
Kilt is abandoned and the small legs
are lncased in trousers and the small
hands plunged into the depths of their
first pockets: but the mother, while
she smiles with the rest, in her heart
is true Rachel mourning for her chill
| dren because they are not" 1t is the
loss OF her baby that takes hold of her
heart The wee laddie who has been
all her own, whose home was her arms,
whose heaven was her eyes, is gone
and in his place there is only ''papa's
| little man"
! From his dainty babyhood, how rap
idly he has climbed to these first trou-
! sers! And from this stage how rapidly
he rushes on to the dirt and don't care
period, when the problem of what to
do with him deepens. How are we to
| bring him through it, preserving the
Wholesome sweetness of his heart and
life? This is the puzzle of many a
maternal heart.
l believe it is even more difficult for
| fathers to remember what they were
as boys than it is for mother, with her
tender. intuitfve knowledge, to come
into sympathy with boyhood in its
rougher stage. She can understand
what the little fellow meant who, when
asked what made him so noisily
naughty, said he would burst if he
didn't be bad he had got so much
more in him than there was room for.
/ / believe this having more in him
| than there is room for is the secret
/ of a great deal of so-called naughti-
ness. Il make it rule said a wise
mother, "to only see one-third of Tom
my's mischief, for I believe in the the
ory that it is only the wickedness that
we are conscious of that affects the
character If my boy knows he Is do
! ing wrong he is shining against his
conscience and that is hurt to the
moral nature. but about two-thirds of
his performances are not wrong to him
until after I have chided him and made
! him feel that he is in disgrace. There
| is so much that I am forced to correct
that I assure you I do not see anything
that I can possibly avoid"
This was a wonderfully wise mother.
We have known a child to be seriously
harmed by being constantly blamed
| for things that were an inconvenience
| and annoyance to his parents, while
the thing that was morally wrong, if it
| made no trouble, was allowed to pass
unheeded. If ii is wise not to see two
thirds of the deficiencies and mistakes,
in the other third it is wise to discrimi-
nate between the error in manners and
| in habits and the actual moral sins The
| little lad who rebels against being
washed and combed, whose voice is a
compromise between a shrek and
shout. who fills his mouth too full at
the table, who doesn't answer when he
ought to and talks whenever we wish
| he would be silent who seems to love
dirt for dirt's sake and whose behavior
keeps you on pins and needles in the
face and eyes of your friends whose
little boys are models of nicety-may
be all this and yet be so sweet and
sound in his heart, so lovable and true.
that he is charming to you, even with
all his racket and wayward quirks. And
ten to one his defects in these par
ticulars are due to the training or the
lack of training that you yourself have
given him.
Be that as it may, the chances are
that this is the same boy who later will
polish himself until he shines in every
particular and find no trial so severe
as a spot upon his immaculate attire
This rough stage, when nothing irri-
tates him ike being forced to take
time to be tidy, is usually the chrysalis
| Of the stage of the dude. Let him be
guided as gently through IT as possible.
The one thing of real Importance is
that the inward nature remain tender
and manly and true-that the mind be
kept in healthful activity and the heart
full Of genuine love.