"Do not speak
again till you can conquer such a spirit," and they were both silent for
a few moments. The mother's heart went up in fervent prayer that this
might be a salutary trial, and that she might be enabled to guide his
young and hasty spirit aright.
At length he spoke slowly, and his voice trembled with the strong
feelings which had shaken him. "Mother, you are the dearest and best
mother that ever lived. I wish I could be a good boy, for your sake; but
when father speaks so harsh, I am angry all the time, and I cannot help
being cross and ugly too. I know I am more and more so; I feel it, and
the boys tell me so sometimes. John Gray said, yesterday, I was not half
as pleasant in school as I used to be. I feel unhappy, and I am sure if
I grow wicked, I grow wretched too." And again he burst into a passion
of tears.
"Does not sin always bring misery, my dear boy?" asked his mother, after
a little pause, "and will you not daily meet with circumstances to make
you angry and unhappy, if you give way to your first impulse of
impatience,--and is it not our first duty to resist every temptation to
feel or act wrong? God has not promised us happiness here, but He _has_
promised that if we resist evil it will flee from us. He has promised
that if we strive to conquer our wicked feelings and do right when we
are tempted to do wrong He will aid us, and give us sweet peace in so
doing.
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