I KNOW A THING OR TWO

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jan 22, 1894

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 20, No. 12.

I KNOW A THING OR TWO.

"My dear boy," said a father to his only son, "you are in bad company. The lads with whom you associate indulge in bad habits. They drink, smoke, swear, play cards, and visit theaters. They are not safe company for you. I beg you to quit their society."

"You needn't be afraid for me, father," replied the boy laughingly; "I guess I know a thing or two. I know how far to go and when to stop."

The lad left his father's house, twirling his cane in his fingers and laughing at the "old man's notions."

A few years later and that lad, grown to manhood, stood at the bar of a court, before a jury which had just brought in a verdict of guilty against him for some crime in which he had been concerned. Before he was sentenced, he addressed the court and said, among other things, "My downward course began in disobedience to my parents. I thought I knew as much as my father did, and I spurned his advice; but as soon as I turned my back upon my home, temptations came upon me like a drove of hyenas and hurried me into ruin."

Mark that confession, ye boys who are beginning to be wiser than your parents. Mark it, and learn that disobedience is the first step on the road to ruin. Don't take it. —Selected.