Talks to Young Men. XI: Telling a Secret

TALKS TO YOUNG MEN. 869

to the district school, I remember that it was with grave misgivings that we hitched up and drove with Charles to Delaware, when he entered college. We were not certain what would be the influences there, and were afraid that, like so many country boys, he would not be able to withstand the temptations of town or city life. We were very uneasy, though members of a neighboring family would drive up to see him every Saturday, and this uneasiness continued until we received a letter from Charles one day, something like this: Dear Mother: —To-night had to disobey your instructions to stay I off the streets at night. When I came to my room to-night I found that there was no oil in the can, so I had to go down to the grocery to get some.

That set our minds at rest, and we knew that the town influences were not corrupting our boy.

He was keeping his promise. His covenant with his parents was not being broken in the slightest, and his conscience would not let the least seeming breach rest upon him unreported. He would not stand for the penalty of any secret between him and them. He had fully grasped the meaning of the commandment, "Honor thy father and thy mother." Young men who do likewise are on the right road to success.

TO AN OBSTRUCTIONIST.

This would I say to you, dull brow of wo, Mourning our country's loss of noble aim, Framing a lengthy bill of surly blame Against the stouter men who face the foe: Not such as you, in that loved long ago. Rose in the might of their majestic scorn, . And full af faith in us, as yet unborn. Won us the country that you cherish so: But such as you sat at the chimney-side. Cursing the folly of their fellow men. Praising the "good old times," while others died That Liberty entombed might rise again; And now their sons, with that same flag unfurl'd, March down the widening highways of the world! From "The Reader."