I ask not a life for the dear ones,

All radiant as others have done,

But that life may have just enough shadow
To temper the glare of the sun;

I would pray God to guard them from evil,
But my prayer would burn lack to myself;
Ah! a seraph may pray for a sinner,

But a sinner must pray for himself.

The twig is so easily bended,

I have banished the rule and the rod;

I have taught them the goodness of knowledge
They have taught me the goodness of God;

My heart is a dungeon of darkness,

Where I shut them from breaking a rule;

My frown is sufficient correction;

My love is the law of the school.

I shall leave the old house in the autumn,
To traverse its threshold no more;
Ah! how shall I sigh for the dear ones

That met me each morn at the door;

I shall miss the "good nights" and the kisses,
And the gush of their innocent glee,
The group on the green, and the flowers
That are brought every morning to me.

I shall miss them at morn and at eve,
Their song in the school and the street,

I shall miss the low hum of their voices
And the tramp of their delicate feet.
When the lessons and tasks are all ended,
And death says, "The school is dismissed,"
May the little ones gather around me,

To bid me good night and be kissed!

Forest, Ind., April 18, '76.

SADIE OLIPHANT.

I do gladly agree with all good school masters in these points: To have children brought to good perfectness in learning; to all honesty in manners; to have all faults rightly amended; to have every vice severally corrected; but for the order and way that leadeth rightly to these points, we somewhat differ.-Roger Ascham.

A MOTHER'S EXPERIMENT.

TO any careful observer of prevailing parental short

comings, it must appear that children are too generally exempt from all work except that connected with school life. And the efforts which are required of them during school hours are supposed to be so exhausting, notwithstanding the helpfulness of well-trained teachers, that short school hours and long vacations are demanded by anxious parents.

During the out-of-school periods it is the exceptional child for whom any regular employment is provided.

The idleness of modern American children is a problem which will have to be solved by parents before there will be any pronounced improvement in the capability, industry and faithfulness of the average young person.

The boy with whom this experiment was tried was unusually frail until he was three years old, and, although large for his age, by the time he was twelve years old he was not any stronger than the other boys of his age. The work which he did, apparently had no marked effect upon his physical condition or development.

During the spring of '96, when he was nine and one half years old, he began regularly to carry five quarts of milk a day, going perhaps half a mile for it mornings and evenings. For this he was paid twenty-five cents a week. At the end of six months he had an opportunity to buy a dozen thoroughbred Plymouth Rock chickens, six hens and six. roosters, for something over five dollars. His savings were not enough to buy the lot, so he was loaned one dollar. The relation which such a transaction bore to prevailing business methods was explained to him, with an emphasis on the dangers of the credit system as well as upon its merits when it could be safely used.

By the spring of '97 he had disposed of his roosters,

added to his stock of hens and saved his money so successfully that his debt was paid off and he had about twenty dollars with which to build a larger chicken house.

He had all the table scraps, which usually made a good warm breakfast for the chickens, but the rest of their feed he paid for himself. The care of poultry, of course, became a fascinating theme.

With the aid of a practical neighbor, a chicken house was planned in three sections; two closed ends with an open space between, the whole, six feet by sixteen, and five feet high in the square. Many days were spent in preparing a site on a south bank, estimating the amount of lumber and the best lengths to buy. With the help of a handy colored man for one day to put up the frame, he and a boy friend practically built the house.

A small garden yielding summer vegetables, including plenty of sweet corn for a family of eight, became his next care. For this he was paid by the job, and the relationship of employer and employe was explained and illustrated in his own experience.

The result of the next year's work and economy was twenty dollars more in the savings fund, which could be used for a new bicycle and about four dollars paid for the repairs on a wheel given to him.

During the summer of '98 he went to Niagara, at excursion rates of course, and spent a week with some friends on the way home. He paid for his own ticket and greatly enjoyed being able to do it.

That fall he took a share in the Building Association for which he pays one dollar a month. Another share was taken for him. The amount when returned to him, it is hoped, may be used for a trip abroad for its educational advantages.

The spring of '99, when he was twelve and one half years old, he dug most of the garden ground, planted the seeds and did a good deal of hoeing. During the winter he took care of the furnace and carried the ashes away. For the

regular work which he did that winter he was paid fifty cents a week.

The fall of '99, he went to boarding-school. This ended. his home duties. He sold his chickens and bought a fairly good new wheel. He has started shop work and has a small kitchen table nearing completion, for which he will be paid.

Probably about one hundred dollars passed through his hands between the ages of nine and one-half and twelve and one-half years. In earning, spending and saving, I am sure his judgment and general sense of responsibility were greatly increased.

He has gone to the bank frequently on business, carrying any amount which needed to be deposited, and has had checks made out payable to him so that he might be familiar with them.

His accounts of receipts and expenditures have been fairly well kept, and a habit of carefulness has been formed. Indulgences in ice cream, candy, etc., have been very few. Contributions to charitable appeals have been more frequent and rather generous.

He has shown judgment in buying and honesty in selling, two traits which we may hope will continue through life.

S. W. E.

Media, Pa.

The fundamental purpose of the gymnastic grounds must be manifest at all times; to wit, that these exercises are not practiced for the sake of vanity or of amusement, but that they are preparatory steps toward the labors of the mature man and in obedience to the noblest requirements. of life.-E. M. Arndt.

I believe with Plato, that children are to be placed in life not according to the condition of the father, but according to their own capacity.-Montaigne.

THE BEGINNINGS OF SENSUALITY.

WHEN shall we begin to curb and train the senses in

order that a child shall think more of the soul than

of the body? Not later than the first year of the child's life. I believe the great mistake of our present training of children in relation to social purity is that we begin too late. A child of one year can be taught denial of self and restraint of the appetite.

The first appetite which demands our attention is the appetite for food. If a child learns to eat food because it will make him grow, will make him strong and keep him well, and to avoid things, though they may be ever so agreeable in taste, if they do not have these effects; if he is never told to eat things because they taste good, but because they are for his good, he will have taken a most important step toward controlling the appetite.

If a

Let us trace the effect of the opposite course. child hears his elders say that candy, rich puddings, cake and pies "taste good," he naturally wants them, and if he gets them, although the mother protests that they are not good for him, or if he overhears her say, "He likes them so much that I can't keep them away from him," he unconsciously learns the lesson that even though a food does him harm, he must have it if it tastes good to him and he likes it. The impression naturally left upon him is that he eats things because they please the taste, and he therefore sees no reason why he should eat things which are not pleasing to the taste, nor keep from eating things which are agreeable. It is almost impossible to treat such a child when he becomes ill, for he will neither take proper diet, nor will he take medicine. There is nothing within him that responds to a higher appeal than to the sense of taste. Such a child has taken the first step in sensuality. If, when older, such children be given pennies they go straightway to buy some