THE BOY AS A BROTHER by Mrs. M. C. Du Bois

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Feb 20, 1901

THE BOY AS A BROTHER.

By Mrs. M. C. Du Bois

THERE is nothing more pleasing than a careful, tender brother, one who has a loving watch-care over the smaller children, and is willing to give up his own pleasure for his brother or sister. Such a boy is indeed a treasure. We may well call him the home-boy. Mother always feels safe when away from home if her home-boy is there. Father does not worry for fear he will do the very thing he has told him not to do.

The good brother will be polite and gentle. He will not tease, nor do things on purpose to vex his sister, but will show her the same respect he does his young-lady friends. He will be his sister’s escort to church, lecture, or anywhere she wants his company. In short, he will make himself pleasant and agreeable in the home. Now, I do not think the brother should be a slave to a sister’s capricious whims, by any means; but he should ever be willing to seek her happiness.

I have been in homes where the brother and sister were at sword’s points with each other; they had no interest in each other. The brother would do everything in his power to tease and torment the sister, while she, with flashing eye, high head, and stinging tongue, would snub him and deal a cutting word at every turn. Reader, have you been in such a home? They are quite numerous in the world.

Again, I have been in homes where true love was the prevailing element; where the brother and sister were models of good behavior; where no word of fault-finding was heard; where the sister treated her brother with as much consideration and respect as she would the brother of her dearest girl friend, and the brother reciprocated the courtesy. It is a pleasure to visit such a home. I am glad there are a few such; would God there were more. God intended the family relation to be most sacred, the home on earth to be a representation of heaven; but, alas, how far away from the original design have most homes drifted! It is only where God is loved and revered, where His truth is taught and respected, that we find the model home.

I feel a deep interest in boys in general, and a few in particular, and I scarcely ever pass a boy upon the highway of life, even tho he may be ragged and dirty, shy and awkward, that I do not think of the possibilities of future greatness wrapped up in him. If I have written anything that will help any brother to see and realize his individual responsibility in the making of a happy home, anything that may encourage him to be a better, more careful, thoughtful, loving brother and son, I shall feel amply paid for the time I have given to this article. God bless the brothers in the homes of our country.

Grand Ledge, Mich. Mrs. M. C. Du Bois.