INTRODUCTION TO CHAPTER XI
By T. T. Geer
Happy the boy, and happy he alone,
He, who can call to-day his own;
He who, secure within, can say
To-morrow do thy worst, for I have lived to-day.
—Dryden.
Disobedience to parents is one of the fruitful sources from which our Reform Schools are filled, and, afterward, as a result of which, many young men drift into our penitentiaries. We often find fault with our lawmakers, and sometimes justly, but it is a comforting thought, that if all our laws, bad as some of them may be, were obeyed at all times by everybody, there would be no inmates of our Reform Schools or Penitentiaries, provided there should be no violation of parental authority, as well.
Obedience to law, parental and governmental, would bring absolute happiness to our homes and hearts as nearly as such a condition is possible with our earthly surroundings. Let the boys remember this at all times, and build on this foundation early in life a structure that will always prove a valuable and invaluable investment.
