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The Reward of Doing Right.-Thoughtless young people sometimes ask: "What is the use of doing right? What is the use of checking bad impulses and exercising self-control?" If you will look around you, and reflect upon what you see, you will find an answer to this question. You will find that the people who exercise control over themselves are happier than those who are carried along by passion and appetite.

Sometimes, it is true, wicked and violent men seem to prosper and even to be happy. But they are not really happy. If you could learn the secret of their lives, you would find that bad, dishonest men lack one thing that is more precious than anything else in life. They may have wealth, and honor, and high social rank, but they have not their own self-respect, and no one can be truly happy without this. With self-respect one can never be thoroughly unhappy. You may be unfortunate or unsuccessful; people may scorn you or neglect you, yet if you always firmly do the right thing, you will always have a good conscience and your own self-respect.

The Government of Self the Foundation of All Government. There is another reward for those who exercise a strict control over themselves. Their government of self makes them good citizens and fits them to take part in the government of others. A community is composed of individuals, and the character of its government will be like the character of the individuals who compose it. If it contains a large number of rogues, swindlers, idlers, drunkards, then its government will certainly be bad, for

the government of a people is never much better than the people themselves. If a community consists of honest, industrious, moral citizens, then it will have a good government. Good government begins with the individual, it begins with you personally. If you intend to take a part in public affairs when you grow up, and if you intend to help in making your government better, you should begin by trying to order your own life aright.

QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES

1. Learn the following facts about the will: (a) The will grows strong by exercise.

(b) The will may be assisted by favorable surroundings. If you determine to leave off an old habit and form a new one, put your

self under favorable conditions, make new associations, avoid temptations, take advantage of every outward aid.-James.

(c) The will should never lose a battle.

(d) The will should act when it is called upon to act; it should never shun a battle.

(e) We may strengthen the will by doing things now and then simply because we don't want to do them.

2. Name the faults which stand opposed to each of the following virtues: courage, perseverance, industry, cheerfulness, simplicity, selfreliance, liberality.

3. Arrange the following virtues in the order of their importance, placing the most desirable virtue first: temperance, truthfulness, frugality, prudence, honesty, modesty, unselfishness, patience, charitableness, reverence. Give reasons for your arrangement.

4. Arrange the following faults in the order in which you dislike them, placing the fault you dislike most first: anger, stinginess, revenge, hypocrisy, tardiness, jealousy, self-conceit, envy, cruelty, stubbornness.

5. Define conscience. When you do wrong, is it the fault of your conscience or of your will? How may the conscience be improved?

III. THE FAMILY

"There is in the family an angel possessed of a mysterious influence of grace, sweetness, and love; an angel who renders our duties more cheerful and our sorrow less bitter. This angel is woman. Whether as mother, wife, or sister, woman is the joy of existence. She is a treasure of gentle consolation sufficient to soothe every sorrow. It is through woman that the family points to Eternity. Hold then the family sacred, my brothers. Reject every attempt to undermine it, for it is of God."—Mazzini.

Husband and Wife; Marriage. The government that comes closest to the lives of young people is that of the family. At the head of the family stand the father and mother, who are united as husband and wife by marriage. Marriage is regarded by the law as a contract, but it is a very strong contract, and it ought to be a very sacred one. It is a contract that cannot be, and ought not to be, easily broken. Marriage is the bond which holds the family together, and it is of the utmost importance to us, both as individuals and as a people, that the family be held together as firmly as possible.

The blessings of the family as an institution ought to be ever before our eyes. In the family we grow in character as we can grow nowhere else. In no other place can we learn the lessons of devotion and sacrifice and unselfishness that we learn in the home. Besides being a nursery of virtues and a source of happiness for its individual members, the family brings countless blessings to society

at large. Indeed, we may say that the family is the foundation upon which all society rests. If you should destroy the family, you would destroy cities and States and governments and even civilization itself. And just as the family holds society together, so the marriage tie holds the family together. This great truth should

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never be forgotten. Nations have sometimes forgotten it, and they have always suffered for doing so.

Parents and Children.-Parents regulate the conduct of children, protect them, educate them and provide them with shelter, food, and clothing. It is in the home, while members of the family, that children must look for their greatest happiness. The law that should govern, and that usually does govern, in the family is the law of love and duty. Parents, as a rule, devote their lives

to the happiness of their children. What should children do in return?

It has been found that parents are not always kind and loving and just towards their children, and that children are not always grateful and obedient to their parents. It sometimes happens that the parent or the child fails to do his duty. When this does happen, the government of the State steps in and commands what must be done. Let us learn something of the rights and duties which the law will not allow parents or children to disregard.

The Duties of Parents to Children:

(1) Support. The first duty the parent owes to the child is to support it, to provide it with food, clothing, and shelter. If a father should be so hard-hearted as to turn his child out of doors and refuse to give it food, a stranger could take the child into his house and feed it and charge the father with the expense, and the law would compel the father to pay the bill. This duty of parents to support their children continues until the children are twenty-one years of age. After that time children may not look to their parents for support. It is not often that the law interferes with the parents in these matters; love alone is nearly always strong enough to hold them to their duty.

(2) Education.-A second duty which parents owe to their children is to educate them. In many of the countries of Europe, and in most of the States of our own country, parents are compelled by law to send their children to school. In every State schools are provided for

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