The Project Gutenberg EBook of Almost A Man, by Mary Wood-Allen
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Title: Almost A Man
Author: Mary Wood-Allen
Release Date: June 6, 2009 [EBook #29056]
Language: English
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ALMOST A MAN.
BY
MARY WOOD-ALLEN, M. D.
Author of TEACHING TRUTH, CHILD-CONFIDENCE REWARDED, THE
MAN WONDERFUL IN THE HOUSE BEAUTIFUL, etc.
"What is man that thou art mindful of him?"
DAVID.
"Every true man is a cause, a country and an age."
EMERSON.
"God on thee
Abundantly his gifts hath also poured;
Inward and outward both his image fair."
MILTON.
PUBLISHED BY
WOOD-ALLEN PUBLISHING CO.
ANN ARBOR, MICH.
COPYRIGHTED BY
MARY WOOD-ALLEN, M. D.
1895.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Prelude iii
Almost a Man 5
A Gateway and a Gift 22
The White Cross 40
PRELUDE.
Two lads had crossed the sunny meadow-land of childhood and stood by the
gate, at the entrance to the rougher paths of youth leading up to the
grander heights of maturity. They glanced backward, but not with regret,
for their eyes shone with eagerness to climb the upward way. As they
waited, an angel came bearing a gift for each, which he gave them,
saying: "I have brought you a wondrous gift, not for yourselves but for
others. Listen."
And they bent their heads and listened. And one said: "I hear most
entrancing music. It thrills my very being. It is for me, for me."
But the angel said: "Listen again. Shut your ears to those bewildering
tones and you will hear a deeper, holier strain."
But the youth said: "No, I hear only that melody which speaks to my own
heart. I can hear nothing else."
The other youth too took the gift and, bending his head at the command
of the angel, said: "I hear that sweet entrancing strain which speaks to
myself, and which promises me pleasure; but deeper than all that I hear
a tone soft, sweet and low, that sounds like the voices of happy
children, and of a mother singing to her babe."
The angel smiled. "It is for them," he said, "that you must keep your
gift. And in the years to come that music will be to you the sweetest in
the world."
So the youths started on their devious ways through the hilly land of
youth. There were bird-songs and flowers; there were bright paths, and
dark ones; there were sunny by-paths, which ended in dreamy forests;
there were pitfalls in unexpected places; there was often sorrow where
they looked for joy, and failure where they expected success. And the
one listened oft to the entrancing music of his angelic gift, and was
led to think only of himself, and his eye lost its fire, his feet often
stumbled, and the days and nights had no pleasure for him. As he reached
the heights of maturity he was met by a bright creature who laughed with
great joy when he offered her his love and said exultantly: "I have kept
myself pure for you," and he, knowing his own dark secrets, could make
no reply but hung his head and was silent. And, thus silent, he heard no
more the bewildering music of his youth, but instead there came to his
ears the sound of a broken-hearted woman's sobs, and the weeping of
children mourning the birthright that had been lost for them in their
father's wayward youth. And the man said sighingly:
"O that I had my innocence again
My untouched honor. But I wish in vain."
But the other lad turned a deaf ear to the brain-bewildering music and
listened with his soul for the happy melodies of the future. And his eye
grew brighter and his strength increased and his paths were straight and
clean, and as he neared the heights of maturity he was met by one whose
robe was shining in its brightness and who whispered: "I have kept
myself pure for you."
And gladly he answered: "And I for you;" and so their lives became one,
and the melody of happy children's voices drew nearer and nearer, and
listening to the sweet voice of the mother singing to her babe, and
looking into the bright and rosy faces that with every glance and motion
thanked him for their dower of health and honor, he blessed the great
Creator from whom he had received the wondrous gift of potential
fatherhood, and gave thanks that he had wisely listened to the angel's
voice bidding him keep his gift for those whose life, in the years to
come, was to be his holiest possession.
ALMOST A MAN.
By Mary Wood-Allen, M. D.
"Let me take your book of quotations, please."
"Certainly, if I can find it. O, I remember. I let Susie Glenn take it.
No doubt I can find it in her desk."
As she spoke Miss Bell walked to the desk and, finding the desired book,
took possession of it. An open note dropped from it and fell upon the
floor. Picking it up Miss Bell read: "My darling little sweetheart," and
glancing at the close saw the signature, "Carl." Sending of notes in
school was forbidden, therefore Miss Bell had no compunction of
conscience in taking possession of this one, and, on the impulse of the
moment, read it aloud to Miss Lane, her fellow-teacher. It was not only
sentimental in tone but there were mysterious phrases which seemed to
hold a deep and sinful significance. The women looked at each other with
sorrowful faces.
"What shall I do about it?" asked Miss Bell.
"What a depth of wickedness it reveals!" exclaimed Miss Lane. "Who would
have imagined that such a nice appearing boy as Carl Woodford could be
so base? And Susie Glenn too, such a shy, modest little creature as she
seems."
"Do you suppose it is really as bad as it seems to us? Those expressions
which appear to indicate such--such almost criminal intimacy perhaps
they do not understand fully."
"Don't you believe it," said Miss Lane. "I tell you these children are
wiser in sin than we older people can imagine. That boy needs to be
whipped within an inch of his life, the little reprobate! I'd give him
such a lecture as would make his eyes open wide for once. I'd make him
understand that he'd better not let me catch him in such mischief again.
And I'd tell Mrs. Glenn about it so that she could punish Susie."
"I really am afraid that the result would not be what we wish. Suppose
we go and talk it over with Dr. Barrett. Maybe she can tell us what to
do."
Dr. Barrett received the ladies with cordiality and professed herself
willing to aid them in the solution of their problem. She did not appear
as shocked as they did, and even smiled a little as Miss Lane, in
indignant tones, read aloud the offending note.
"Don't you think that little rascal should be nearly annihilated?" she
asked, turning to the Doctor.
"I think he should be instructed," replied the latter. "Will you send
him to me, Miss Bell?"
"Most gladly, but I don't believe he will come."
"Yes he will, if you don't frighten him beforehand. Don't say a word to
him about the affair, but send him with a note to me and tell him to
wait for an answer."
The next evening Carl appeared at the Doctor's residence with the note
from Miss Bell. "I am to wait for an answer," he said.
Dr. Barrett only nodded as she wrote on steadily for a moment, seeming
too much engrossed in her work to notice him. Then she read the note,
thought a moment, excused herself and left the room. Returning
immediately she said, "It will be half an hour before the answer is
ready. Can you wait?"
"O certainly."
"Then sit down here and look over the Youth's Companion while I finish
my letter."
For some moments there was silence and then the Doctor, laying down her
pen, turned to the boy and said, pleasantly; "You are Carl Woodford, are
you not?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"It has been so long since I saw you that you have almost grown out of
my knowledge. You are getting to be almost a man. You must be fifteen
years old."
"Not quite. I will be next June."
"Almost a man," said Dr. Barrett softly as she looked thoughtfully into
the fire. After a moment's silence she asked, "Carl, what is it to be a
man?"
The boy drew himself up with a self-conscious air as he replied.
"Why, to have your growth, and get into business for yourself."
"Well, that is not quite it," said the Doctor smiling, "for I have my
growth and am in business for myself, and yet I am not a man."
"Maybe it means having a mustache," said Carl, with a slight flush.
"That has something to do with it certainly, but Mrs. Flynn has a
mustache, and she is not a man."
"Well, I don't know how to explain it then," said Carl.
"You have studied grammar, will you parse the word man?"
"Man is a common noun, masculine gender, third----"
"What does masculine gender mean?"
"It means male."
"Then to be a man means to be a male. How does the grammar define
gender?"
"The distinction of nouns with regard to sex."
"Have you studied physiology?"
"Yes'm."
"Was it the physiology of man or woman?"
"Why, it didn't say anything but physiology."
"You studied, then, only those organs in which men and women are alike,
as in their muscular and nervous systems, and in the organs of
digestion; in fact you learned only of the organs which are for the
preservation of the individual. You learned nothing of them in regard to
sex, which is termed special physiology."
A wave of color was creeping over Carl's face, seeing which the Doctor
said:
"As you have never studied this special physiology supposing you try to
forget that any one has ever told you anything about it, and let us for
a few minutes talk of it as of God's laws. We believe God to be pure,
and we cannot believe that he would make a law that was founded on
impurity. It is true we are able to think of his laws in an impure way,
but that is our fault, not his. Let us now try to think his pure
thoughts after him. If there are two sexes created by the Almighty he
must have a pure purpose in creating them. We seldom think how much of
beauty and melody and loveliness is due to sex.
"It is because of sex that we are gathered in families and enjoy all the
delights of home. It is because of sex that we have ties of kindred,
brothers, sisters, father, mother, uncles, aunts and cousins. Think of
the pleasant home gatherings at Christmas or Thanksgiving, or upon
family birthdays, with all the relatives, old and young, meeting in love
and sympathy; think of the sweet prattle of children in the home; think
of the tender ministrations of mother or sister in times of sorrow or
illness or death, and remember that these are possible because of sex.
Men may build themselves fine club houses where they congregate to smoke
or drink or eat together, but these are not homes. Women may go away by
themselves into a convent and give up the world, but in so doing they
give up the home; for in a real true home there must be parents and
children, and this comes through sex. We may go even farther and say
with Mr. Grant Allen that everything high and ennobling in our nature
springs directly from the fact of sex. He claims that to it 'we owe our
love of color, of graceful forms, of melodious sound, of rhythmical
motion, the evolution of music, of poetry, of romance, of painting, of
sculpture, of decorative art, of dramatic entertainment. From it,' he
says, 'springs the love of beauty, around it all beautiful arts circle
as their centre. Its subtle aroma pervades all literature, and to it we
owe the heart and all that is best within it.'
"We read of knights of old fighting for 'fayre ladye,' of heroes who
died to save wives and children; we cannot take up a book of poetry
without realizing how love of men and women has been the inspiration of
the poet in all ages. And this is not all that we owe to sex. In all
organic life we find the same force at work. The song of the nightingale
is a call to his mate, the chirp of cricket, the song of the thrush, the
note of the grasshopper, every charming voice in wild nature are notes
of love, and were it not for these, field and forest would be silent.
Among the animals we can trace the beauty of form and of covering to the
same source. And even in the inanimate world of plants and trees we find
sex as the source of life and beauty. The bright tinted flowers are the
homes of the father and mother and babies of the plant and without the
male and female principle in plants there would be no bud or blossom and
no fruit. Remember when you see the beauty of the apple orchard in the
spring and the glowing fruit in the autumn that these are the expression
of sex-life in the tree."
"My!" exclaimed Carl, "I never thought of all that before."
"I presume not, and many who are older than you have no thoughts of sex
but those which are low and vile. But when you consider how the same
principle reaches through all nature, and upon it depends so much that
is beautiful and charming you cannot believe that is in itself vile and
unholy, can you? If we are to think God's thoughts after him we must
come to look upon sex as something to be thought of and spoken of only
with reverence, never to be jested about or debased in any way. You
begin to see that more is involved in the coming into manhood than you
had supposed. But we have not gone over the whole matter yet. You have
read the first chapter of Genesis how that God made man in his own
image, and out of the dust of the earth. We do not suppose that he made
him out of dirt and water, as a child makes mud-pies, but we may accept
this as a statement of the scientific fact that in man are found the
same elements as in the earth, such as iron, soda, lime, etc. What we
want to think of now is the statement that God created man by his direct
power. Then we are told he made woman also. These are the first living
human beings of whom we have record. Who is the third?"
"Cain."
"And who made Cain?"
"God," answered Carl glibly, as if that must be the only orthodox
answer.
"In the same way that he made Adam and Eve?"
Carl blushed and was silent.
"You were not embarrassed when I spoke of the creation of Adam and Eve,
you have no reason to be embarrassed when I speak of the creation of
Cain. All was in accordance with the divine will, and must therefore be
right. We cannot say positively that God thought this or that, but we
have a right to judge from his acts what his purposes were. We have a
right to suppose that he created the earth intending to people it with
human beings. Of course every possible plan for doing this was open to
him. He might have created each individual as he did Adam, but what
would have been the result? We should have stood, each one alone, in
selfish solitariness, like a lot of ten-pins, able to knock each other
down but not to help each other up. Each one would have been thinking
only of himself and his own selfish interests. This plan could not
commend itself to a compassionate Creator, and we can imagine that he
would say to himself: 'That would never do. I must put these, my
children, in such relation to each other that they will have love for
each other; that they will be bound by ties so strong that nothing can
break them; they must be created in such a way that they will also
understand their relation to me and love me as their life-giver. To do
this I will share with them my greatest power, that of creation. I will
let them help me people the world. By this creative power they shall
come to understand how I, their heavenly Father, love them, and yearn
over them, and by their dependence as children upon their parents they
shall learn to depend upon and trust me.' From the plan God adopted for
peopling the earth we may suppose this to have been his process of
thought. So you see that sex comes as a wondrous gift from God, a gift
endowed with a marvelous power, and therefore to be held most sacred.
When I spoke of you as being almost a man it was with the thought that
now is being conferred upon you this gift of sex."
Carl looked up with some surprise. "Why, I have always been a boy."
"True. And a boy is a being who will become a man. But he is not endowed
with the functions of sex until he is about fourteen years old. Then sex
begins to make itself felt in his whole being. He grows taller rapidly;
he gains in breadth; he begins to see the long-looked-for mustache; he
notices the growth of the special organs of sex; he begins to feel more
manly; to enjoy the society of girls as never before; and desires to
treat them with more attention. This is a time when, if he is wrongly
taught, he may fall into great wrong-doing and injure himself, and not
that alone, but those who are to come after him. I have not yet told you
of the great responsibilities that come with this gift of sex."
Dr. Barrett rose and, bringing a book from the shelves, opened it and
showed Carl an illustration, saying; "Did you ever see such a picture as
this?"
[Illustration]
"What are they?" asked he. "They look like pollywogs."
"As much like them as anything. But they are not pollywogs. They have a
bigger sounding name than that. They are called _spermatozoa_, or each
one is a _spermatozoon_. They are so tiny that they are not visible
except with the aid of a microscope, and yet they are alive and very
active. They live and move in a fluid called _semen_, and they are the
living principle contributed by the male to the formation of a new
creature. Each one contains in itself all the particular traits,
characteristics or talents which the father would confer on the child of
which this spermatozoon would form a part. You are like your father in
some things, I suppose."
"Yes, I am like papa in size and in my love for mathematics. He says I
have his quick temper, too."
"That leads me to speak of another fact. You see that you were a part of
your father during his whole life, and you were affected by all that
affected him. You were changed or modified by his habits. If he tried to
curb his quick temper, it has made it easier for you to control
yourself; but if he allowed it full sway, it has made it harder for you.
If he were truthful and honest, it has made it easy for you to be the
same; but if he were wild and dissipated, it would make it easier for
you to yield to the same temptations."
"Was that what he meant when he said he was not surprised that Will Grey
was so bad a boy, for his father was a very wild young man?"
"Yes, that was exactly what he meant."
"If that is so why don't fathers tell their boys about it so that they
can behave better when they are young?"
"That is just what I think they ought to do, but unfortunately people
have thought they must not talk of these things to young folks for fear
it will make them bad instead of good."
"Well, I guess that would depend upon the way they told it. Now they
don't tell it right, but leave the boys to be told in wrong ways, and
that really does lead them to be bad. No one ever talked to me as you
have to-night, and I am sure it makes me want to be better."
[Illustration]
"That ought to be the effect, and I believe it would be if boys were
only 'told right,' as you say. But I have told you only half the story.
Here is another picture. These are called _ova_. One is an _ovum_, and
these are the principle the mother gives to the future child. They are
greatly magnified. It would take 240 of them lying side by side to make
a row an inch long, so we say they are 1/240 of an inch in
diameter, but tiny as they are, each ovum contains all the traits or
talents that the mother gives to the child of which this particular ovum
may form a part. Your mother is English, your father American. Their
childhood and youth were spent thousands of miles apart, and yet both
were working by the habits of their lives to create you in your peculiar
traits and talents. Are you like your parents in any of their
capabilities?"
"Yes, I am like mother in her love for music; you know she is a fine
musician."
"Yes, and in the cultivation of her own musical ability she made it
easier for you to learn music; just as your father, in his study as an
engineer, has given you a love for mathematics."
"But my grandfather and great-grandfather were engineers, and I am going
to be one, too."
"It is true that you inherit from your grandparents, also, but it must
be through your parents, and they may have changed the direction of
the inheritance. This important fact you should know and remember.
You can change yourself by education so that the inheritance of your
children may be quite changed. For example, if you know that you
lack perseverance, you can, by constantly making a mighty effort to
overcome this defect, compel yourself to persevere, and this would
tend to give your children perseverance. So you see we need not
despair because we have inherited faults from our ancestors, but we
should determine all the more that we will not pass these defects on
to later generations."
"I guess that is what Dr. Brice meant when he said that mother's good
care of her health had overcome in us children to a great extent the
tendency to consumption which is in her family. Nearly all my cousins on
her side die with it, but when she was a little girl her father made her
live out of doors all the time and she grew strong, and we none of us
seem to have any tendency to consumption."
"You see then the value of caring for yourself in youth, not only for
your own sake but for that of your children. Your mother did not know
that she would ever have children to be benefitted by her out-door life.
But one day she met a young man who pleased her, and as they grew to
know each other better they came to love each other so that they wished
to leave home and friends and make their own home and live their united
lives separate and apart from all the rest of the world. So they were
married, as we say. Marriage is the union of one man and one woman under
the sanction of the law. This is the closest and most sacred human
relation. In this relation the _spermatozoon_ of the man unites with the
germ or _ovum_ of the woman and a new life is begun. When your parents
knew that such a little life had begun in their home they felt a great
and holy joy, and desired that every good might surround it in its
development. You were the first to come into your father's home. After
your life had begun you were still so small as not to be visible to the
naked eye, and would have been lost had you come into the world. But a
home had been prepared for you in your mother's body, where day by day
you grew and grew. The food which she ate nourished you as well as
herself. The air which she breathed was life to you as well as to her.
"You have seen the father-bird bringing food to the mother-bird as she
sits upon her eggs and waits for the birdlings to come forth, and you
have thought it a pretty sight to watch his tender care of her. Even so
your father watched over your mother and you. He provided everything as
pleasant as possible, he removed every care from her path so that she
might be happy and so make you happy. His love for her took on a new and
strange tenderness it had not known before. And she, holding you warm
and close in the embrace of her body, thought of you and loved you. She
wondered how you would look; she dreamed of you; she fancied she could
feel the touch of your fluttering fingers; she made your little wardrobe
and with each stitch wove in some tender thought of the baby whom she
had never seen. Then one day she cried out with great anguish of body
but joy of heart, 'O my baby is coming.' Then through long hours she
suffered, going down almost to the gates of death that you might have
life. But she never murmured; in spite of all her pain and anguish of
body her very soul was full of rejoicing that soon she would hold you in
her arms. When all those hours of peril and anxiety were past and you
were laid in your mother's arms, your father came and bent over you both
with a measureless love, and looking into your little face they knew
what the Scripture meant when it said, 'And they twain shall be one
flesh,' for were not you a living fulfillment of that saying? You were a
part of each united in a living being who belonged to them both. Then
for the first time could they realize, even dimly, the yearning, tender
love of their heavenly Father who had granted to them to know by
experience his feelings towards his children."
Great tears had gathered in the boy's eyes as she talked, and now with
choking voice he said, "I don't think I can ever be disobedient again,
Dr. Barrett. I did not understand it all as I do now. You know we only
hear these things talked of among the boys, and I had come to feel that
there was some reason why I ought to be ashamed of my father and mother;
but it all looks so different to me now. I wish you could talk to the
other boys as you have to me."
"It may not be possible for me to do so, although I should be glad to do
it, but you can help them to think more truly on these subjects. You can
especially help them to treat women and girls with more respect than
they often do, because you can see how an injury to any girl is an
injury to the whole world."
"I don't quite see that," said Carl.
"You can see that if any one had injured your mother in her girlhood it
would have been an injury to all her children, can you not?"
"O yes."
"And that injury might be passed on to future generations. There lived a
poor girl, about a hundred years ago, who was uncared for by good people
and wronged by evil ones, and to-day she is known as a 'mother of
criminals,' and no one can tell where the mischief will end. You would
feel very indignant if you knew that some one had done your mother an
injury in her girlhood, and you would feel the same way should any one
wrong your sisters."
"I knocked Bill Jones down last week because he said something to my
sister Kate."
"You felt a righteous anger and manifested it. Well, in all probability
you will some day marry. If so, there is in the world to-day the girl
who will be your wife. How do you want her to be treated by the boys who
are her school-companions? Do you like to think that they are rough with
her, or playing at lovering with her? Is it a pleasant thought that she
is allowing them to caress her or write her silly sentimental notes?"
Carl's face was scarlet, but he answered bravely; "No, it isn't."
The Doctor continued. "Some day, in all likelihood, a little girl-child
will climb upon your knee and call you papa. No creature can ever be to
you what that little daughter will be. If any one should injure
her----."
"I'd kill him," broke in Carl hotly.
"If you feel that way, dear boy, you should remember that every girl is
some one's daughter, perhaps some one's sister, will probably be some
one's wife and some one's mother, so that all girls should be sacred to
you, treated with chivalrous courtesy and protected even as you feel you
would protect those who may belong especially to you."
"But don't you believe in boys and girls being friends at all?"
"Most assuredly I do. Nothing is more charming than the frank
comradeship of girls and boys, and that is why I am so sorry to see them
spoil it with sentimentality. They ought to be good friends, helping
each other, having jolly good times together, but never in ways that
will bring a blush to the cheeks of either, now, or in the years to
come."
A rap sounded on the door and the maid entered with a note which she
gave to the doctor, who handed it to Carl, saying, "Here is the note for
Miss Bell. I have kept you waiting a long time, but I hope it has not
been unprofitable."
"Indeed it has not. I am ever so much obliged to you, I am sure."
"And if you ever wish to talk to me again you will feel free to come,
will you not?"
"Yes, ma'am, I surely will," answered the lad with a frank clasp of the
hand.
"Wait a moment," said the doctor, "I have just thought of a little book
that I am sure you will be interested in reading. It is called 'A
Gateway and a Gift,' and it deals with some of the questions we have
been talking about this evening. You can lend it to some of your boy
friends if you wish."
"Thank you," said Carl, taking the book which the doctor handed him, and
then with another "Good night," he walked away in the darkness.
The note which he gave to Miss Bell the next morning read merely:
"Don't say anything to Carl. Just wait."
If Miss Bell had seen a note slipped by Carl into Susie Glenn's hand an
hour later she might have thought it an evidence that the doctor's plan
had failed. But had she read the note her opinion would have been that
it had succeeded. It read:
"Dear Susie:--It was real mean of me to write that note
yesterday. Will you forgive me? Say, Susie, I think all this
nonsense about lovers and sweethearts is silly rot, don't you?
Let's be just friends. Respectfully yours,
CARL."
Susie's answer was short but to the point. It read:
"All right. Let's.
SUSIE."
Several months later Miss Bell and Miss Lane called again on Dr.
Barrett.
"Have you come with another problem?" asked the doctor.
"No, we have come to report progress and to learn, if possible, just how
it has come about. There has been a wonderful change in the school. The
girls and boys are no less friendly, but it is without that silly
sentimentality which was so annoying. They are now just real good
comrades, and seem to help each other in being orderly, polite, and
studious. How did you do it?"
"Perhaps all credit is not due to me, but I will say that I gave Carl
the instruction I thought he needed and he has passed the good word
along. Several of the boys have met with me once a month to study
concerning themselves, and I can see that they have grown to have a
reverence for themselves and a deep regard for all womanhood. Carl was
in last evening, and said, 'Dr. Barrett, I am so glad Miss Bell sent me
with that note to you, for your talk to me that night has changed my
whole life, I know. I feel so much cleaner all through, and have so much
more respect for myself. And I think so differently of girls and women,
and especially of my mother, and I realize as I never did before how
important a thing it is to be almost a man.'"
A GATEWAY AND A GIFT.
Three gateways span the path of earthly existence: one at the entrance
which we call the gate of birth; one at the close which we call the gate
of death, and one at the entrance to the wondrous Land of the Teens,
which we call the gate of manhood or of womanhood. At each of these
gates a wonderful gift is presented to each individual. At the gate of
birth it is the gift of earthly life, at death it is the gift of
continued life, and at the gate which opens into the Land of the Teens
it is the gift of creative life. You see that each gift is of life.
The path of earthly life, beginning at the gateway of birth, passes
through the sunny meadow-land of Childhood, and also through a strange,
mysterious land to which we have referred as the Land of the Teens,
before reaching the Heights of Maturity. This Land of the Teens is
peculiar in that the inhabitants are neither children nor adults, and
yet, with the inexperience of children, they have many of the desires
and emotions of grown-up people. This constitutes an element of great
danger, while another source of danger is the fact that adequate
guidance is not always given in this transition period, or, if
proffered, is proudly rejected by those who think that being in their
"teens" makes them wise above that which is written.
When we visit foreign lands we are grateful for guidance and direction,
especially if we are not acquainted with the language; so, if we do not
hire a guide we, at least, buy a guide-book. It seems to me, then, that
we ought not to rebel against guides through the Land of the Teens,
realizing that one who has traveled through a country can point out
beauties and warn against dangers which would not be recognized by the
inexperienced traveler.
We can visit England, Italy, or Germany many times, and at each journey
can profit by former experiences, but we pass through the Land of the
Teens but once, and the lessons we learn on that journey we can only
utilize for the benefit of others. This is why many people on the
Heights of Maturity are anxious to light a beacon for those who are
still in their "teens." They would gladly help others to shun the
by-paths where they have met disaster, for they have learned the very
solemn truth that in youth one is determining what maturity shall be.
The seeds sown in the sunny meadow of Childhood and in the broader
fields of the Land of the Teens are harvested in the uplands of
Maturity, and the harvest is always greater than the seed sown. The
petulance and pouting of the child hardens into the gruffness,
bad-temper, and moroseness of the man; the idleness and shirking of the
youth becomes the shiftlessness and unreliability of the adult; the
boy's neglect of duty and unwearied search for pleasure may be harvested
in dissipation and ruin in mature life. It is, then, a very serious
thing to be passing through one's "teens," and the wise youth will
welcome any guide who will show him a safe path. May I claim the
privilege of acting for a little time in that capacity?
The King of this land has made laws for its government and wisdom, has
builded paths wherein one may walk in safety. The laws made by the King
are not harsh and cruel, but are beneficent, and he denies no real good.
He says to the traveler, "You belong to me, and I am desirous of your
highest welfare; therefore, obey me and you shall be rewarded; disobey
me and you shall be punished." It needs some moral courage to bravely
stay in the path of Wisdom, for there are many allurements to leave it;
more particularly as the inexperience of the traveler does not warn him
of the dangers of following pleasures that lead away from wisdom's ways.
The guide worthy of trust must not fail to point out these dangers; and
the prudent youth will listen to the warning voice and walk in Wisdom's
ways, for "all her ways are pleasantness, and all her paths are peace."
We talk much about our personal liberty, and assert that we have a right
to live in Maine or California, but we have not that much liberty in
regard to dwelling in the Land of the Teens. If we are ever to reach the
Heights of Maturity we must spend ten years in the Teens. We cannot sell
our domain, nor give it away, and we cannot even hire some one to
cultivate it for us. This being the case, it becomes important for us
to study the soil and how best to develop its advantages.
We find that the land has three divisions: the Domain of the Body, the
Field of Intellect, and the Garden of the Heart,--the same divisions
that exist in the Sunny Land of Childhood, and that we have been
cultivating ever since we were born. These are the kingdoms which came
to us with the gift of life. We recognize that the gifts which come to
us at birth and death are of life for ourselves alone, and we have had
no thought during our childish years except to develop our powers for
our own advantage. It may be we have not felt perfectly satisfied with
our lot in life, but we have felt that we were not responsible for this.
We did not choose to be born in America instead of Asia, though we do
not rebel at this fact. We did not select to be white instead of black.
It is not our fault if we are born of a family in which consumption is
an inheritance; and, on the other hand, we can claim no credit to
ourselves if we have inherited strong bodies with healthful tendencies.
It is our misfortune, and not our fault, if we are not quite perfectly
poised by nature; it is our good fortune, not our foresight, if we have
genius instead of mediocrity. The gifts that come to us through
inheritance are ours without blame or credit to us but they bring with
them the responsibility of their use. We are responsible for maintaining
or increasing our dower of health by obedience to physical laws;
responsible for the cultivation of our intellects, for the development
of inherited virtues, and the annihilation of inherited vices.
If you study your characteristics and talents you find that they repeat
those of your ancestry. Your eyes, hair, mouth, chin, your stature,
figure, complexion, your talents, capabilities, tendencies, your likes
and dislikes, your faults as well as your virtues are repetitions of
those who preceded you in this living network of existence of which you
form a part. If you are not like father or mother you may be like
grandfather or great-grandmother. If you do not find yourself repeating
the characteristics or personality of any one ancestor, you may find
yourself a composite photograph of several. And even if you cannot trace
in yourself a likeness to any family representative, you may still be
assured that from some of them your traits have come to you. You have
only to recall the complexity of your sources of inheritance and then
remember how many words can be spelled from the twenty-six letters of
the alphabet to see that you can hardly measure the peculiar forces of
mind and body that may come to you though that power of transmission
which we call heredity.
It may occur to you to ask why, if we are not responsible for our
inheritances, is it needful to give them any particular thought? There
are two reasons why we should consider the good and bad characteristics
which may be ours through inheritance. In the first place, heredity is
not fatality, and we are not absolutely obliged to follow the paths
which our ancestors marked out for us, and in the second place, we can,
by understanding our own characters, mark out better paths for our
posterity. We are not only receivers of life, but we may be also givers
of life, and this is the gift that comes to you at the entrance to the
Land of the Teens. Can you imagine a more important period in the life
of an individual than that point where is intrusted to him the physical
powers which make him the arbiter of the destiny of those who come after
him?
The gift of possible life for others is even more marvelous than that of
actual life for one's self and brings with it greater responsibility. It
is accompanied with marked physical changes. You have observed them in
yourself, though you perhaps have not understood them. Up to this time
you have been but a child, and all your physical forces have been
occupied in keeping you alive and growing. But you are now to become a
man, with powers that will unite you to the race; powers that will give
you the ability to form a new link in the living chain that now ends
with you. You have noticed the rapid unfolding of your bodily powers;
you have become conscious of new and strange emotions; you have, it may
be, found yourself becoming irritable and have felt bewildered with the
new aspects of life and have wondered what it all means. It may be you
have felt as did one boy who said to his mother, to whom he confided all
his problems of life: "Mamma, I want to kick and cry, and I don't know
why." The mother knew. She understood the strange unfolding that was
going on in his physical organism, and she kindly explained it to him,
telling him that he must have patience with himself, and govern himself
by his judgment and not allow himself to be carried away by impulse,
assuring him that God would hold him as responsible for purity of
character as He would the dear sister of whom they all felt so careful.
He should reverence his manhood, even as he expected her to reverence
her womanhood. This is necessary, not only for the good of each
individual, but also for the eternal interest of future generations.
This entrance into the Land of the Teens is a serious, even a dangerous
period, for if you have not had right instruction you may be led, or
fall into habits of wrong doing or thinking. If you are rightly taught
you will begin to have an added reverence for yourselves in that God is
dignifying you with new powers that will bring you more nearly into
co-partnership with himself. These powers, the most sacred of all that
have come to you, need years for development, and should be guarded by
pure thoughts and kept for their holy office of promoting the earthly
usefulness and eternal blessedness of those who hereafter will owe both
earthly and immortal life to you.
I have said that we are not responsible for the dower of virtues or of
vices which are ours by inheritance, but we are responsible for the
inheritances of our children, and this is a most solemn thought. Do you
not begin to see that we cannot value ourselves too highly if we have
the right idea of what our real worth is? We can scarcely overestimate
the results of our own deeds. We may think it does not matter if we do
not always tell the exact truth; if at some times we equivocate and at
others exaggerate, but when we remember that truth is the foundation of
character, and realize that by our little equivocations or exaggerations
we may be weakening the foundations of many who are from us to receive
their talents and tendencies, we begin to see that the matter is a very
serious one. I am sometimes told that young people will not be
influenced by a consideration for the welfare of unborn generations
whose existence is very problematical in their thought; but my
observation is that young folks are much more sensible than we give them
credit for being. More than one young man has said to me: "I was never
taught that my conduct and thought would impress themselves upon my
children, but now that I see that such is the case, I am sure that I
will hereafter be more careful of my life than I ever have been."
This field of investigation is a broad one, and even if you never have
an opportunity to study the subject scientifically you can still be of
incalculable benefit to humanity by ever remembering that you are living
for an earthly, as well as for a heavenly immortality. The young people
who to-day are in the Land of the Teens are they who are determining the
characteristics of the men and women of the Twentieth Century, creating
the standards of thought and action, the methods of business, the level
of morals, in fact the whole status of society in the world of a hundred
years to come.
It is a very wonderful fact that God has so created us that the result
of our deeds is not limited to our own lives, but makes its impress upon
those who are to come after us. We are not separate units, but are links
in a living chain of endless transmission. This fact makes our lives of
far greater consequence than if, in their results, they were limited to
ourselves. If we are anxious concerning the future of our country, we
may take to heart the thought that it will be what we ourselves have
made it. The Bible expresses the same idea in many ways. "Whatsoever a
man soweth, that shall he also reap," does not mean merely that his own
future will be influenced by his conduct, but that his future in his
children will be a record which he himself has made.
Men often make their wills and bequeath to their children their gold or
houses and lands, but sometimes against their wills they bequeath to
their children a bodily dwelling of inferior material, and so poor in
construction that it very soon falls into decay through disease, or in
very early life becomes a tottering ruin. It would seem rather amusing
to us if one should sit down and write his will and say: "I bequeath to
my daughter Mary my yellow, blotched and pimpled complexion, resulting
from my own bad habits of life. I bequeath to my son John, the effects
of my habits of dissipation in my youth, with a like love for alcoholic
liquors and tobacco. I bequeath to my son Harry my petulant, irritable
disposition, and the rheumatic gout which I have brought upon myself by
disobedience to physical law; and to my daughter Elizabeth, my trembling
nerves and weak moral nature." But this is, in truth, what many parents
do, and the children find it a sad, instead of an amusing fact.
On the other hand, if one has led a life of uprightness and morality,
and has obeyed physical law, his children will inherit his physical
vigor, and his moral stamina. It becomes of exceeding great importance
that these facts should be known to the young, in order that they may
endeavor to overcome their own weaknesses, and strengthen their own good
qualities for the sake of future generations.
This heredity, the transmission of the qualities of the parent to the
child, is found among plants and animals as well as in the human race.
The seed of a plant produces another plant of the same kind, and the
farmer knows when he sows wheat, that his harvest will be wheat, and he
should know just as certainly that if he "sows wild oats" in his youth
he may expect "wild oats" in his children. The character of the food we
eat, the air we breathe, the occupations we follow, the habits we
create, are the forces which shape not only our own destiny, but create
the tendencies of our children.
With these thoughts in mind, the question of the use of narcotics
becomes one of great importance. There are few, if any, tobacco users
who are anxious that their boys should early begin the use of the weed.
But they do not realize the fact that in their own use of it they may
have diminished the vital force of these boys, transmitting a tendency
to disease, or perhaps an appetite for the tobacco itself, and not only
will the boys feel the effects, but the girls as well. As the thought of
men is turned in this direction, proofs are accumulating of the evil
results to the children of tobacco-using parents. A prominent physician
says: "I have never known an habitual tobacco user whose children did
not have deranged nerves, and sometimes weak minds. Shattered nervous
systems, for generations to come, may be the result of this indulgence.
The children of tobacco-using parents frequently die with infantile
paralysis. I have known two cases in which the crying of the baby could
not be stopped until the tobacco-pipe was placed between its lips." Dr.
Pidduck asserts that in no instance is the sin of the father more
strikingly visited upon his children than the sin of tobacco using. "The
enervation, the hypochondriasis, the hysteria, the insanity, the
dwarfish deformities, the consumption, the suffering lives, and early
deaths of the children of inveterate smokers bear ample testimony to the
feebleness and unsoundness of the constitution transmitted by this
pernicious habit."
The effect of alcohol upon the child is equally marked, and from all
sides comes the testimony that the degenerations do not stop with the
individual, but pass on to succeeding generations. Sometimes the
influence is seen in the stunting of the growth, both mentally and
physically. Dr. Langden Downe reports several cases of this sort where
the children had lived to be twenty-two years old and still remained
infants, symmetrical in form, just able to stand beside a chair, utter a
few monosyllabic sounds, and to be amused with toys. Dr. F. R. Lees,
referring to the injury inflicted upon the liver by alcohol, says: "And
recollect, whatever injury you inflict upon this organ, to your
posterity the curse descends, and as is the father, so are the
children." Dr. Kerr asserts that the effects of injury to the mind and
body may not always show themselves in the drinker himself, yet it is
doubtful if his children ever entirely escape the effects in one form or
another. These effects may be manifest in insanity, or in a tendency to
diseases of the stomach, liver, bowels, lungs, or other organs; or with
a like love for alcoholic stimulants. Not only may the child be weak in
body but also in intellect. It is the statement of a score of observant
physicians that the children of intemperate parents are apt to be
feeble in body and weak in mind.
Another very striking thought in this connection is that while the
physical effects may not show in the individual himself, nor in his
children, they may be manifest in the deterioration of his grandchildren
and great-grandchildren. A prominent temperance advocate who was laid up
with rheumatic gout, which is apt to be the result of alcoholic
indulgence, replied to a friend who wondered that he, a drinker of cold
water, should suffer with this disease, "Yes, my ancestors drank the
liquor and I foot the bills." In 1834 the Parliament of the British
House of Commons made a report of intemperance in which they stated that
the evils of alcoholism "are cumulative in the amount of injury they
inflict, as intemperate parents, according to high medical testimony,
give a taint to their offspring before birth, and the poisonous stream
of spirits is conveyed through the milk of the mother to the infant at
the breast; so that the fountain of life, through which nature supplies
that pure and healthy nutriment of infancy, is poisoned at its very
source, and a diseased and vitiated appetite is thus created, which
grows with its growth, and strengthens with its increasing weakness and
decay."
A tendency to commit suicide seems to be a marked bequest of an
inebriate parent to his children, and it is well to state that in the
opinion of medical men who are dealing with all forms of inebriety, the
evils resulting to the children may be transmitted by parents who have
never been noted for drunkenness. Continual moderate drinking keeps the
body so constantly under the influence of alcohol that a crowd of
nervous difficulties and disorders may be transmitted even more surely
than from the parent who has occasional sprees with long intervals of
sobriety between. It is not only through the drinking father that injury
is done to the children, but the mother may have a vitiated inheritance
from her father and transmit it to her children.
When we recall the fact that one hundred thousand men fall into
drunkard's graves every year, we are appalled at the thought of that
vast army marching on to death and destruction. As we listen, we can, in
fancy, almost hear the tramp, tramp of that "mighty host advancing,
Satan leading on." In the front rank comes the one hundred thousand men
who shall fall into drunkard's graves this year, and behind them the one
hundred thousand men who are to fall next year. They come with sound of
revelry and song, and close beside them press a crowd of weeping wives
and mothers and little children, starved, crippled, and murdered, who
are to be fellow victims with the drunkard. Not very far back from the
front row come one hundred thousand young men in the very prime of
young, vigorous life, just beginning to drink their first glass of wine
or beer, with no intention of ever standing in that front row, yet
having started on the way. Back of them, one hundred little school boys
who think it manly to ape the follies of their predecessors. Back of
them, one hundred thousand little toddlers whose feet stagger in their
innocent helplessness. Back of them, one hundred thousand mothers with
babies in their arms. Oh, how sweetly those baby eyes look up into the
loving eyes that are brooding over them. Is it possible those baby brows
will ever lie low in the gutter, those sweet lips be stained by oath or
glass; those crumpled rose-leaf fingers ever strike the murderous blow
incited by alcohol? It must be, if that front rank of one hundred
thousand drunkards is to be recruited, for the drunkards of the future
are to-day babies in their mother's arms. Do you who read these words
intend to join this vast army of prospective drunkards, or will you
belong to the cold-water army that is marching on accompanied by health,
vigor, industry, prosperity, success and long life?
We must not be so interested in the inheritance of evil qualities as to
forget the transmission of good. We read in Exodus, twentieth chapter,
that the sins of the fathers are to be visited upon the children unto
the third and fourth generations of them that hate the Lord, but mercy
will be shown to _thousands of generations_ of them that love Him and
keep his commandments. As we have seen the sins of the fathers are
visited upon the children in transmission of diseased bodies, perverted
moral natures and weakened wills, and realize that the promise is being
fulfilled in the visitation of the sins of the fathers upon the
children, let us see if the other promise is being fulfilled also, in
the mercy shown to thousands of them that love the Lord and keep His
commandments.
An English specialist in children's diseases has carefully noted the
difference between twelve families of drinkers and twelve families of
sober parents during a period of twelve years.
INTEMPERATE. | TEMPERATE.
|
Produced 57 children; 25 died in | Produced 61 children; 6 died
the first week of life. These | in first week, of weakness.
deaths due to convulsions, or | 4 had curable diseases. 2
oedema of brain and membranes. | showed inherited nervous defects.
2 were idiots. 5 dwarfs. 5 | This leaves 50 who were in
epileptics. 1 had chorea. 5 were | every way normal, sound in body
deformed. 2 became drunkards. | and mind.
This leaves only 10 who showed |
during the whole of life a |
normal disposition and development |
of body and mind. |
If it were not a fact that health, purity, integrity, intellect and
virtue were being transmitted to a far greater extent than sin and vice,
there would be little good in the world, but the transmission of these
good qualities is so extended, so like the air and the sunshine and the
water, a common thing, that we almost forget to recognize it. When we
turn our thoughts to the investigation of this phase of the subject, we
find that vigorous parents have healthful children, that powers of
intellect are transmitted, and that honesty and uprightness in the
father warrants us in expecting the same in the son. We recognize the
transmission of powers of intellect in the fact that where the parents
have a peculiar talent, we very generally find the same talent in their
children. We are acquainted with musical families, mathematical
families, artistic families, and in the study of renowned people of the
world we find evidences of this transmission of intellect. We also learn
that the effects of education are transmissible, and if the parents are
educated along a certain line the children receive education along that
line much more readily. This fact becomes a wonderful incentive to us to
build up all that is best in our own natures in order that through us
the world may receive an impetus towards higher and better things.
Sometimes when your faults and defects press upon you with tremendous
force and you find it so very hard to overcome them, you may be tempted
to lay the blame on your ancestry who gave you such a dower, who by
their lives handicapped you in your life-struggle. You may feel inclined
to say with some writer, to me unknown, who says:
HEREDITY.
"Your strictures are unmerited,
Our follies are inherited,
Directly from our gran-pas they all came;
Our defects have been transmitted,
And we should be acquitted
Of all responsibility and blame.
We are not depraved beginners,
But hereditary sinners,
For our fathers never acted as they should;
'Tis the folly of our gran-pas
That continually hampers--
What a pity that our gran-pas weren't good!
Yes, we'd all be reverend senators,
If our depraved progenitors
Had all been prudent, studious and wise;
But they were quite terrestial,
Or we would be celestial,
Yes, we'd all be proper tenants for the skies.
If we're not all blameless sages,
And beacons to the ages,
And fit for principalities and powers;
If we do not guide and man it,
And engineer the planet,
'Tis the folly of our forefathers--not ours."
But the lesson of these lines is not that you should lie back in
inaction, making no effort to overcome your defects because they are
inheritances. There is for you a wiser lesson in the theme than that.
When Marshall Ney was taunted with the fact that the Imperial nobility
had no pedigree he proudly replied, "We are ancestors."
There is a grand thought for you. If your ancestors did not do the best
for you, will you not profit by your knowledge of this fact and do the
best for those who shall look back to you as their ancestor? Supposing
that your parents in their youth had said: "I will take care of my
health so that my children may be born with vigorous bodies; I will make
good use of my intellect so that my children will inherit an added
capacity for acquiring knowledge; I will obey all laws of morality so
that my children will by inheritance tend toward virtue;" and supposing
that you to-day, with healthful bodies, keen intellects and upward
tending moral natures, were reaping the reward of their forethought,
would you not bless them for it?
You have no right to remain listless and discouraged because of your
inheritances, whatever they may be. Hear the inspiriting words of Ella
Wheeler Wilcox:
There is no thing you cannot overcome.
Say not thy evil instinct is inherited;
Or that some trait inborn, makes thy whole life forlorn,
And calls for punishment that is not merited.
Back of thy parents and grandparents lies,
The great Eternal Will; that, too, is thine
Inheritance--strong, beautiful, divine;
Sure lever of success for one who tries.
Pry up thy fault with this great lever--will;
However deeply bedded in propensity;
However firmly set, I tell thee firmer yet
Is that great power that comes from truth's immensity.
There is no noble height thou canst not climb;
All triumphs may be thine in time's futurity,
If whatsoe'er thy fault, thou dost not faint or halt,
But lean upon the staff of God's security.
Earth has no claim the soul can not contest.
Know thyself part of the supernal source,
And naught can stand before thy spirit's force
The soul's divine inheritance is best.
The youth of to-day have in their own hands the molding of the future,
not only of themselves, but of the nation, by the every day habits of
their lives. By their thoughts and aspirations, by the moral tendencies
which they are cultivating in themselves, they are determining what
shall be the characteristics of the nation in a hundred years to come.
Shall this be, in a hundred years, a nation of drunkards? The young
people of to-day are deciding that question. Shall it be a nation of
invalids? This, also, the young people are deciding. Shall it be a
nation filled with greed of gain, with a low standard of morals, with
dishonest methods in business, or shall it be a nation wherein vigorous
health is the rule, unflinching courage, absolute integrity and pure
morality shall everywhere reign? What the young people of to-day are
making of themselves physically, mentally and morally, is deciding what
shall be the future of the country.
THE WHITE CROSS.
The cross is considered as an emblem of self-denial, the immolating of
selfish wishes upon the altar of universal good.
In a nobler sense it means not so much self-denial as the creation
of nobler desires, so that the individual wants only those things which
he rightfully should have; he is not obliged to deny himself, because
he asks nothing but that which is noble and pure. In this sense the
cross is not so much the emblem of self-denial as an emblem of
self-ennoblement--the exaltation of self.
The White Cross typifies the purifying of the life from the desire of
mere sense pleasures. It means the noble manhood which claims for itself
the privilege of chastity and the rewards of purity.
The White Cross army is composed of men and boys over fourteen years of
age who unite to resist vice, to secure safety for the home and for
society, to become all that becomes true manhood. In organized
co-operation there is strength. It is not only the "long pull" and
the "strong pull," but the "pull altogether," that is thoroughly
successful.
Hundreds of men are living the white life individually, but are not
associated together in an effort to influence others. Such association
would result in more rapidly spreading the idea of the responsibility of
the individual, would create public opinion, would give moral support to
those who might find their unaided strength inadequate to meet the
temptations of the world, in short, would furnish the conditions
favorable to the highest ideals of social and individual life.
The White Cross Society aims to unite men in such an organized effort
for the elevation of moral standards. Its members are pledged to the
keeping of a fivefold obligation. The first of these appeals to the
chivalry latent in the heart of every man, making him a protector of
every woman, however lonely or friendless she may be, recognizing her
potential value to the race; protecting her against his own selfish
desires, against the open and covert assaults of other men, against her
own unwisdom, if need be.
The second obligation pledges the White Cross knight to a pure heart
expressed not only in conduct but in word. He will think and speak
reverently of life in all its phases, and help to cleanse the
language--written or spoken--of all that pollutes the heart or vitiates
the imagination. The third obligation claims for the White Cross soldier
the glory of living up to the highest moral standards, of being as pure
as the noblest woman that lives. The fourth recognizes the power of
influence and binds the members to a helpful interest in all humanity.
The fifth covers the whole scope of life in the obligation to use every
effort to fulfil the command, "Keep thyself pure." The heart of the true
man must throb a quick response to the appeal made to him by the White
Cross.
It means marital fidelity, it implies the sanctity of the home, it
creates individual purity, and that insures social purity, it means a
nobler manhood, a grander womanhood, a safer childhood.
The appeal is made to you individually. Will you not become a White
Cross knight? Will you not, even if you cannot join an organized
society, become a standard-bearer of the White Cross, pledging yourself
to its five obligations? Soon you will find others willing to unite with
you in this great work, and the society will be formed.
Each one who reads this book may become a true and faithful knight of
the White Cross, no matter where he may be, in city mart or lonely farm,
in busy shop or quiet school, and not only may he be a soldier, but he
may be a recruiting officer, inducing others to enlist under the White
Cross banner.
THE WHITE CROSS PLEDGE.
"_Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God._"
I PROMISE, BY THE HELP OF GOD:
1. _To treat all women with respect, and endeavor to protect
them from wrong and degradation._
2. _To endeavor to put down all indecent language and coarse
jests._
3. _To maintain the law of purity as equally binding upon men
and women._
4. _To endeavor to spread these principles among my companions,
and try to help my younger brothers._
5. _To use all possible means to fulfil the command, "Keep
thyself pure."_
Name_______________________
* * * * *
=Self and Sex Series.=
FOR MEN.
=By Sylvanus Stall, D. D.=
1. "What a Young Boy Ought to Know."
2. "What a Young Man Ought to Know."
3. "What a Young Husband Ought to Know."
4. "What a Man at Forty-five Ought to Know."
5. "What a Man at Sixty-five Ought to Know."
PRICE $1.00 EACH.
FOR WOMEN.
=By Mrs. Mary Wood-Allen, M. D., and Sylvanus Stall, D. D.=
1. "What a Young Girl Ought to Know."
2. "What a Young Woman Ought to Know."
3. "What a Young Wife Ought to Know."
4. "What a Woman at Forty-five Ought to Know."
5. "What a Woman at Sixty-five Ought to Know."
PRICE $1.00 EACH.
Address orders to
=Wood-Allen Publishing Co., Ann Arbor, Mich.=
* * * * *
=Almost A Woman.=
... MARY WOOD-ALLEN, M. D.
Price, 25 Cents.
=GIRLS=
Have long been wanting a book written by Dr. Wood-Allen for them to
correspond with the one by the same author for
=BOYS=
At last the demand has been met and the doctor's new book,
=Almost A Woman=,
Presents in attractive form the pure instruction needed by the
girl.
=MOTHERS=
Will find this just what they have been wanting to put into the
hands of their daughter.
=WOOD-ALLEN PUBLISHING CO.,
ANN ARBOR, MICH.=
* * * * *
=BOOKS=
... By MARY WOOD-ALLEN, M. D.
=TEACHING TRUTH.=
Price, 25 Cents ...
This little brochure aims to answer in chaste and scientific language
the queries of children as to the origin of life. The reception it has
met with is best indicated by the testimonials received from the press
and through private letters.
The principal of a young ladies' school writes: "I invited our girls to
the parlor and read your brochure, which was listened to with the
deepest interest. At certain portions of the reading nearly all were in
tears. It is a most pathetically pure, chaste presentation of a grand
subject. You would have rejoiced could you have heard the expressions
from the young ladies. Surely, dear Dr. Allen, God has blessed many
through your instrumentality."
Read this book if you read no other but the Bible this year.--_Emma
Bates, Valley City, N. D._
Please send me some more copies of your unique and valuable little book.
I cannot keep a copy over night. It would be an evangel to every young
person in whose hands it might be placed. I would also invite the public
school teachers to examine this rare little book.--_Frances E.
Willard._
A skilful, graceful, and reverent effort to assist parents in what has
been a delicate and difficult task. The author deserves the praise that
belongs to the successful pioneer.--_George N. Miller._
=ALMOST A MAN.=
... Price, 25 Cents ...
The success of the "Teaching Truth," and "Child-Confidence Rewarded,"
together with the frequent requests for some inexpensive book for the
instruction of boys approaching manhood, has led to the writing of
"=Almost A Man=." It is intended to help mothers and teachers in the
delicate task of teaching the lad concerning himself, purely and yet
with scientific accuracy.
A booklet designed to help mothers and teachers in the instruction of
boys.
Ought to be in the hands of every parent in the land.--_Toledo Blade._
Chaste and pure, and admirably adapted to mothers in this most difficult,
universally neglected but very important line of work.--_Early
Education._
Many mothers will be glad to read what such an authority as Dr. Wood-Allen
has to say on so important and delicate a subject.--_Mother's Journal._
Worth its weight in gold to the puzzled mother, telling her exactly what
she wants to know. This book deals reverently with the great mystery of
life.--_Ladies' Home Journal._
Too much cannot be said in its favor.--_School Education._
I can conscientiously recommend it to all who are interested in the
physical and moral welfare of youth.--_C. A. Dorman, M. D._
Such literature cannot fail to accomplish great and lasting good.--_Eng.
F. Storke, M. D._
Many have given good advice, but this is the best.--_Rev. Kent White._
I believe this little book would do incalculable good if placed in the
hands of boys after they have reached ten years of age.--_Wm. G. Lotze,
Gen. Sec. Y. M. C. A., Denver, Colo._
=Address,
WOOD-ALLEN PUB. CO., Ann Arbor, Mich.=
* * * * *
=A NEW BOOK=,
=The Marvels of Our Bodily Dwelling=
=BY MARY WOOD-ALLEN, M. D.=
Teaching by metaphor, parable, and allegory has been the method of many
of the wisest instructors.
No one can claim originality in comparing the body to a house, for that
comparison is as old as literature.
But the simile is still of interest to the juvenile mind, and as science
is ever making new discoveries, there is continual demand for new and
interesting works on physiology.
Dr. Wood-Allen in this new book has united scientific facts and metaphor
with the skill that would be expected from her by those acquainted with
her literary powers.
The book will be found equally valuable as a text-book, a supplementary
reader or a reference book in schools, or as a book of pleasant home
instruction. Teachers in Normal Schools will find it a most suggestive
aid in teaching physiology. As it contains the most reliable scientific
facts in regard to alcohol, tobacco, and other narcotics, it fills the
demand created by the school laws compelling the teaching of the action
of narcotics on the human body.
TESTIMONIALS.
A charming book.--_Frances Willard._
Only a scientific person can understand how really good it is. It has
been to me intensely interesting, and I hope sincerely that the world at
large will appreciate it.--_J. M. W. Kitchen, M. D._
It gives me pleasure to note that the book, both by its subject-matter
and its pleasing form of presentation, is well adapted to the use for
which it is intended.--_B. A. Hinsdale, Professor of the Science and Art
of Teaching, University of Michigan._
I find here, wrought out in attractive form, some of the most important
knowledge that our young people ought to know. It is suitable for a
supplementary reader in the upper grammar grades of the public schools.
Part Second particularly is of the highest value to the boys and girls
in our grammar and high schools.--_W. S. Perry, Principal of High
School, Ann Arbor, Mich._
This excellent work ought to be, not only read, but studied by every one
in and out of our schools who is interested in preserving the integrity
of our bodily and mental functions. The author's method would make
knowledge invigorate and mature the judgment and not burden the memory,
and this is the germinal idea in all sound education.--_Geo. E. Seymour,
Professor of History, High School, St. Louis, Mo._
=The retail price of the book is $1.10. Orders promptly filled by the=
=WOOD-ALLEN PUB. CO.,
Ann Arbor, Mich.=
* * * * *
=THE BIRTH CHAMBER.=
PRICE, 10 Cents.
A Supplementary Chapter to =The Marvels of Our Bodily Dwelling=.
In this supplementary chapter are given the scientific facts of special
physiology, written in Dr. Wood-Allen's own delicate style. Many who
have become aroused to the fact that accurate scientific knowledge is
the surest safeguard of purity, are themselves not well enough
instructed to be able to teach their children. This booklet meets the
need of all such, and gives just what is wanted to instruct young people
in regard to the sacred origin of life. Every one who owns "Teaching
Truth" and "Child-Confidence Rewarded" will desire to possess this
booklet also, for it supplements these perfectly.
=CHILD-CONFIDENCE REWARDED.=
PRICE, 10 Cents.
"This little book treats of child-purity with the same delicate but
masterly hand shown in Dr. Allen's other writings."--_Union Signal of
July 5, 1894._
"Unique and valuable."--_Frances E. Willard._
"I am delighted with it."--_Katherine Lente Stevenson, Chicago._
"Most charmingly written."--_Alice B. Stockham, M. D., Chicago._
"The good it will do is incalculable."--_Emily S. Bouton, in Toledo
Blade._
"The best you have done yet. I can recommend it."--_Earl Barnes,
Professor in Leland Stanford University, Palo Alto, Cal._
* * * * *
=The New Crusade=
Price 50 Cents a Year.
Sample Copies Free.
=MARY WOOD-ALLEN, M. D., EDITOR.=
It is sui generis, deals frankly and scientifically with the
moral problems of the home, the school, and society.
It embodies the work of the =White Cross=, =White Shield=, =Mother's
Meetings=, =Child-Culture Circles=, and the =Rescue Work=. Also deals
with the subject of Reform and Legislation for Morality, and yet
continuing to emphasize, most emphatically of all, the necessity of
right instruction as the surest means of promoting purity. Co-operating
with the National Superintendent of the Department of Health and
Heredity, it discusses all topics of health and inheritance, pre-natal
influences, etc. =Physical education will also have its share of
attention.=
Crusaders of old endeavored to overthrow evil by "force and arms." The
NEW CRUSADE proposes to emphasize the positive side of life, and waging
a peaceful war, aims to supplant Ignorance by Knowledge; to eradicate
Vice by Virtue; to displace Disease by Health, and to dispel Darkness by
Light.
Send for terms to agents and our club rates. Make all Money Orders
payable to
=WOOD-ALLEN PUBLISHING COMPANY,
Ann Arbor, Michigan.=
* * * * *
Transcriber Notes
Typographical problems have been changed and are listed below.
Hyphenation and common compound words standardized and listed below.
Author's archaic spelling is preserved.
Author's punctuation style is preserved.
Table of Contents added.
Passages in italics indicated by _underscores_.
Passages in bold indicated by =equal signs=.
Transcriber Changes
The following changes were made to the original text:
Prelude: =meadow land= standardized to =meadow-land= (lads
had crossed the sunny =meadow-land= of childhood and stood
by the gate)
Page 7: Added quotes (="It= has been so long since I saw you
that you have almost grown out of my knowledge.... You must
be fifteen years =old."=)
Page 8: =anyone= standardized to =any one= (supposing you
try to forget that =any one= has ever told you anything
about it)
Page 9: =every thing= standardized to =everything= (We may
go even farther and say with Mr. Grant Allen that
=everything= high and ennobling in our nature springs
directly from the fact of sex.)
Page 13: =microscrope= changed to =microscope= (they are not
visible except with the aid of a =microscope=)
Page 14: Changed period to comma after =to-night= (No one
ever talked to me as you have =to-night,= and I am sure it
makes me want to be better.)
Page 20: Changed single quote to double (that will bring a
blush to the cheeks of either, now, or in the years to
=come."=)
Page 20: Changed ending single quote to double (the doctor
handed him, and then with another "Good =night,"= he walked
away in the darkness.)
Page 24: =plesaantness= changed to =pleasantness= ("all her
ways are =pleasantness=, and all her paths are peace.")
Page 26: Added comma after =mouth= (Your eyes, hair,
=mouth,= chin, your stature, figure, complexion, your
talents, capabilities)
Page 27: =prehaps= changed to =perhaps= (You have observed
them in yourself, though you =perhaps= have not understood
them.)
Page 31: =tobacco using= standardized to =tobacco-using=
(proofs are accumulating of the evil results to the children
of =tobacco-using= parents)
Page 36: =transmissable= changed to =transmissible= (We also
learn that the effects of education are =transmissible=)
Advertisements: Removed extraneous quote after =youth= (I
can conscientiously recommend it to all who are interested
in the physical and moral welfare of =youth.=--_C. A.
Dorman, M. D._)
Advertisements: =M D.= changed to =M. D.= ("Most charmingly
written."--_Alice B. Stockham, =M. D.=, Chicago._)
* * * * *
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