The man that is unkind to his horse, will be unkind to his cattle, and will not hesitate to scold and beat the cow that furnishes him milk, butter, cheese and beef. He can not drive his stock from one pasture to another, without disgrace to himself and abuse to his cattle by a display of temper and profanity, and sometimes, in driving his pigs, he will lose his temper and wish he could kill the brutes, which, on reflection, would give very little satisfaction, for the pig has no fear of death before his eyes, and no future to dread and if you can only make the pig think you don't want him right where you do want him, he will go there fast enough. The perversity of pig nature and human nature is much the same. All domestic animals, from the horse to the faithful watch dog and mousing cat, are almost human in their susceptibility to kindness, and the man who does not realize this is not the one to handle them. If we enhance the comfort of our animals, we enhance their value; hence, we can not afford to disregard the principles of kindness from a financial standpoint. The colt is never made baulky by kindness, or the cow ugly. The successful man is the kind man, as a rule, kind in handling his stock and in feeding and sheltering. The man or farmer who understands his business and is properly educated need not hesitate to ask the most refined lady in the land to share his home and interests, for the man who is prepared and fitted to be a farmer in its truest, best sense, is fit to be a king and ruler as God designed him to be, and when God bequeathed to him his great estate, He expected him to renew the earth, and his possessions, but the creating He did himself. He made the cattle with horns; doubtless the cruel practice of dishorning did not belong to his plan, and in our eagerness to renew we had better not try to re-create or change the original. If the horns are in the way had we not better make beef of the offenders, and raise only the hornless, for many generations will pass away before we can establish the belief that the practice of dishorning cattle is not cruel and barbarous. This is an age of progress, new ideas and practices appear with every generation, we should accept only those that are an improvement, and in accord with the original plan written on each lesson, we read the fact of our own eternity. All grow old and die, and on our faltering footprints of to-day youth presses, beautiful youth in all its forms, the lofty trees, and all nature's care renewed each spring, they put on their garments of youthful verdure regardless of our sleeping beneath them. And after the flight of untold centuries the freshness of that far away beginning lies, and will continue to lie, and as the fair beginning still remain, so let the lessons of kindness remain. We can remain and improve without marring the design. Kindness in every walk of life brings happiness. The man his animals will be unkind to his family. like oil on the troubled waters of the human heart; the kind word to the beggar, the cup of water to parched lips have all helped to swell this broad river of mercy that leads to eternity, and will not be lost in the moral garden of the Lord. Every time we refrain from harshness or cruelty we have gained one step in the ladder that leads to success, and finally to God and heaven. who is unkind to Kind words fall We are not fit to be rulers unless we love our subjects and seek their highest good, even though they be animals. Too many of us are like the butternut tree, we impoverish the soil on which we grow, by a cultivation of moroseness, instead of love and tenderness, and thus make all things unhappy, for fear if we should show a little sympathy they will go wrong and pursue the very course to make them go wrong. Some natures, like the butternut, are so cold, selfish and absorbing they chill and impoverish every thing that comes in contact with them. Others are like the olive tree that enriches the soil on which it grows; they are radiant, affluent souls who enrich life by their presence, whose smiles are full of blessing and whose touch is balm and healing, like the touch of him of Nazareth, we would prefer this olive tree from whose branches blessings and benisons descend. And in conclusion let me say, that if my weak effort will be the means of sending one man home to his family before his manhood trails in the mud, or before his brain is on fire, or influence one kind deed, or saves one dumb crature from blows and abuse, or in any way helps some one to conquer self, and thereby become "greater than him that taketh a city," my point will be gained and hopes fulfilled. It is well for us to ripen if possible "without shriveling," and keep our hearts warm with tenderness and loving kindness, and with gratitude to God, whose attributes of power we feel, unseen, yet present; untouched, yet always felt. We should be satisfied with nothing short. of this approval of heaven and our own souls, remembering: that great achievements and grand successes can not be ⚫ made in a day, or to stand forever, unless founded on right principles and right acts; but when thus builded you have a foundation less perishable than marble, which is the everlasting principle of truth and right. Swift years but teach us how to bear, And speed our actions as we will. Press onward through each varying hour; Pursue the bright and endless way. Mr. Fish I move a vote of thanks to Mrs. Warren for this interesting paper. The motion was carried. Convention adjourned. President Sanger in the chair. 7:30 A. M. THURSDAY. A PLEA FOR A BETTER PARENTAGE. MRS. VIE. H. CAMPBELL, EVANSVILLE, WIS. "A corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. By their fruits ye shall know them." In bringing this subject before you, for your consideration this evening, I am well aware that I am taking a "new departure;" that I am going out through avenues that have closed, in quest of knowledge which has, until quite recently, been considered not proper for general discussion. And, although the programmes of this and similar conventions have, interspersed all through them, topics relating to the improvements of our domestic animals, which are considered perfectly proper subjects to be freely discussed in open sessions, all allusions to the methods of perfecting the human race are carefully and studiously avoided. Not from any consciousness of superiority gained, nor from a lack of desire for self-improvement, but because of certain existing false notions of life and its relations which have hedged us about with barriers called modesty and propriety, beyond which very few men or women have dared to go. Therefore, at the risk of running the gauntlet of severe criticism have I attempted to make a plea for better parentage. And I ask that you will for the time being, lay aside all pre-conceived notions of delicacy and false modesty, that we may consider the science of human development. I trust that what I may say will not jar too harshly upon ears too sensitively attuned, for my sense of right makes me speak the truth, inasmuch as "the truth shall make you free." Silence in these matters has so long been enjoined that the present condition of the race and its outlook for future progress declares that speech is golden. When we contemplate the seething, surging, illimited sea of humanity spread out in grand expanse before us, with its mistakes and its failures; its vices and its virtues; its white. caps, its billows that run mountain high; its smooth surface, whose calm, unruffled depths mirror back the light of truth and reason; its hidden reefs, upon which many lives have been stranded; its peaceful harbors; its malstroms, into which thousands are annually whirled into eternity; its ports of safety, and its octopus which never relapses or relinquishes its hold upon its victim until his destruction is accomplished. When we contemplate all these, our task seems a herculean one, and we almost fear that our efforts may prove futile. But when we reflect that if the laws that tend toward the perfection of the physical health were ob. served by but a single generation the next one would be physically beautiful. Likewise, if the laws which serve to build up the physical and moral nature of mankind were carefully adhered to by this generation, the next generation would be morally beautiful, then our task seems much easier. Humanity can never be raised by the mass, but must receive its upward tendency through the elevation of the individual. Whatever tends to develop or advance the individual man, also materially tends to promote the elevation and advancement of the entire human race. The vices of one person affect a whole community to a greater extent than ever before. The perfect education of man broadens his faculties, quickens his perceptions, and gives him a leverage upon the world around him. 66 Man, know thyself," is a command given through a Divine inspiration. To properly understand ourselves is to hold the key which unlocks God's hidden designs and purposes. His manifestation will then no longer be termed miracles nor riddles, but the beautiful outworkings of Divine laws only unrevealed because we have not developed to that higher degree necessary for their perfect understanding. When we have advanced, figuratively speaking, until we can stand on Pisgah's glorious height with cultured intellect and quickened perception, we shall be enabled to view the beauties of the plane of truth spread out before us, drinking deep draughts of inspiration that shall prove as "cups of healing" to the race. Thought flows outward from the infinite mind unceasingly, and as we develop and ascend to higher planes we are able to grasp advanced and mature thought. What have seemed to us as freaks of nature or |