The Home Mission | Page 9

had but little effect. The boy's feelings were hurt by the
unkindness of the parent. He experienced a sense of injustice; a
consciousness that wrong had been done him. By nature he was like his
father, proud and stubborn; and these qualities of his mind were
aroused, and he indulged in them, fearless of consequences.
"I never saw such a boy," said the father, speaking to a friend who had
observed the occurrence. "My words scarcely make an impression on
him."
"Kind words often prove most powerful," said the friend. The father
looked surprised.
"Kind words," continued the friend, "are like the gentle rain and the
refreshing dews; but harsh words bend and break like the angry tempest.
The first develop and strengthen good affections, while the others
sweep over the heart in devastation, and mar and deform all they touch.
Try him with kind words; they will prove a hundred fold more
powerful."
The latter seemed hurt by the reproof; but it left him thoughtful. An
hour passed away ere his boy returned. At times during his absence he
was angry at the delay, and meditated the infliction of punishment. But
the words of remonstrance were in his ears, and he resolved to obey
them. At last the lad came slowly in with a cloudy countenance, and
reported the result of his errand. Having stayed far beyond his time, he
looked for punishment, and was prepared to receive it with an angry

defiance. To his surprise, after delivering the message he had brought,
his father, instead of angry reproof and punishment, said kindly, "Very
well, my son; you can go out to play again."
The boy went out, but was not happy. He had disobeyed and disobliged
his father, and the thought of this troubled him. Harsh words had not
clouded his mind nor aroused a spirit of reckless anger. Instead of
joining his companions, he went and sat down by himself, grieving
over his act of disobedience. As he thus sat, he heard his name called.
He listened.
"Thomas, my son," said his father, kindly. The boy sprang to his feet,
and was almost instantly beside his parent.
"Did you call, father?"
"I did, my son. Will you take this package to Mr. Long for me?"
There was no hesitation in the boy's manner. He looked pleased at the
thought of doing his father a service, and reached out his hand for the
package. On receiving it, he bounded away with a light step.
"There is a power in kindness," said the father, as he sat musing, after
the lad's departure. And even while he sat musing over the incident, the
boy came back with a cheerful, happy face, and said--
"Can I do any thing else for you, father?"
Yes, there is the power of kindness. The tempest of passion can only
subdue, constrain, and break; but in love and gentleness there is the
power of the summer rain, the dew, and the sunshine.

BEAR AND FORBEAR.

"DON'T talk to me in such a serious strain, Aunt Hannah. One would
really think, from what you say, that James and I would quarrel before

we were married a month."
"Not so soon as that, Maggy dear. Heaven grant that it may not come so
soon as that! But, depend upon it, child, if you do not make 'bear and
forbear' your motto, many months will not have passed, after your
wedding-day, without the occurrence of some serious misunderstanding
between you and your husband."
"If anybody else were to say that to me, Aunt Hannah, I would be very
angry."
"For which you would be a very foolish girl. But it is generally the way
that good advice is taken, it being an article of which none think they
stand in need."
"But what in the world can there be for James and I to have differences
about? I am sure that I love him most truly; and I am sure he loves me
as fondly as I love him. In mutual love there can be no strife--no
emulation, except in the performance of good offices. Indeed, aunt, I
think you are far too serious."
"Over the bright sky bending above you, my dear niece, I would not,
for the world, bring a cloud even as light as the filmy, almost viewless
gossamer. But I know that clouds must hide its clear, calm, passionless
blue, either earlier or later in life. And what I say now, is with the hope
of giving you the prescience required to avoid some of the storms that
may threaten to break upon your head."
"Neither cloud nor storm will ever come from that quarter of the sky
from which you seem to apprehend danger."
"Not if both you and James learn to bear