A Valuable Secret

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · May 4, 1882

A Valuable Secret.

It is related of Franklin that from the window of his office in Philadelphia he noticed a mechanic, among a great number of others, at work on a house which was being erected close by, who always appeared to be in a merry humor, and who had a kind and cheerful smile for every one he met. Let the day be ever so cold, gloomy or sunless, the happy smile danced like a sunbeam on his cheerful countenance. Meeting him one day Franklin requested to know the secret of his constant flow of spirits.

"It's no secret, doctor," the man replied. "I've got one of the best of wives, and when I go to work she always gives me a blessing with her parting kiss; and when I go home she is sure to meet me with a smile and a kiss of welcome; and tea is sure to be ready; and as we chat in the evening, I find she has been doing so many little things through the day to please me, that I cannot find it in my heart to speak an unkind word or give an unkind look to anybody."

And Franklin adds; "What an influence, then, hath woman over the heart of man, to soften it and make it the foundation of cheerful and pure emotions. Speak gently, then; a happy smile and a kind greeting after the toils of the day are over cost nothing, and go far toward making home happy and peaceful.—Presbyterian Journal.