This is part 12 of John Plowman's pictures by Charles Haddon Spurgeon, published in 1892. The first chapter is Light Cat, Light Kit. There's a picture here of a domestic scene, a living room, and on the carpet there is a large cat with three small kittens purring around it. Most men are what their mothers made them. The father is away from home all day and has not half the influence over the children that the mother has. The cow has most to do with the calf. If a ragged colt grows into a good horse, we know who it is that combed him. A mother is therefore a very responsible woman, even though she may be the poorest in the land, for the bad or the good of her boys and girls very much depends upon her. As is the gardener, such is the garden. As is the wife, such is the family. Samuel's mother made him a little coat every year, but she had done a deal for him before that. Samuel would not have been Samuel if Hannah had not been Hannah. We shall never see a better set of men till the mothers are better. We must have Sarah's and Rebecca's before we shall see Isaac's and Jacob's. Grace does not run in the blood, but we generally find that the Timothys have mothers of a godly sort. Little children give their mother the headache, but if she lets them have their own way, when they grow up to be great children they will give her the heartache. Foolish fondness spoils many, and letting faults alone spoils more. Gardens that are never weeded will grow very little worth gathering. All watering and no hoeing will make a bad crop. A child may have too much of its mother's love, and in the long run it may turn out that it had too little. Soft-hearted mothers rear soft-hearted children. They hurt them for life because they are afraid of hurting them when they are young. Coddle your children and they will turn out noodles. You may sugar a child till everybody is sick of it. Boys' jackets need a little dusting every now and then, and girls' dresses are all the better for occasional trimming. Children without chastisement are fields without ploughing. The very best cults want breaking in. Not that we like severity. Cruel mothers are not mothers, and those who are always flogging and fault-finding ought to be flogged themselves. There is reason in all things, as the madman said when he cut off his nose. Good mothers are very dear to their children. There's no mother in the world like our own mother. My friend Sanders from Glasgow says, the mother's bread is very sweet. Every woman is a handsome woman to her own son. That man is not worth hanging who does not love his mother. When good women lead their little ones to the Saviour, the Lord Jesus blesses not only the children but their mothers as well. Happy are they among women who see their sons and their daughters walking in the truth. He who thinks it easy to bring up a family never had one of his own. A mother who trains her children aright had need be wiser than Solomon, for his son turned out a fool. Some children are perverse from their infancy, none are born perfect, but some have a double share of imperfections. Do what you will with some children, they don't improve. Wash a dog, comb a dog, still a dog is but a dog. Trouble seems thrown away on some children. Such cases are meant to drive us to God, for he can turn blackamoors white and cleanse out the leopard's spots. It is clear that whatever faults our children have, we are their parents, and we cannot find fault with the stock they came of. Wild geese do not lay tame eggs. That which is born of a hen will be sure to scratch in the dust. The child of a cat will hunt after mice. Every creature follows its kind. If we are black, we cannot blame our offspring if they are dark too. Or if we're white, we can't blame our offspring if they're white too. Let us do our best with them and pray the mighty Lord to put his hand to the work. Children of prayer will grow up to be the children of praise. Mothers who have wept before God for their sons will one day sing a new song over them. Some cults often break the halter and yet become quiet in harness. God can make those new whom we cannot mend. Therefore, let mothers never despair of their children as long as they live. Are they away from you across the sea? Remember, the Lord is there as well as here. Prodigals may wander, but they are never out of sight of the great Father, even though they may be a great way off. Let mothers labour to make home the happiest place in the world. If they are always nagging and grumbling, they will lose their hold of their children, and the boys will be tempted to spend their evenings away from home. Home is the best place for boys and men, and a good mother is the soul of home. The smile of a mother's face has enticed many into the right path, and the fear of bringing a tear into her eye has called off many a man from evil ways. The boy may have a heart of iron, but his mother can hold him like a magnet. The devil never reckons a man to be lost so long as he has a good mother alive. woman great is thy power see to it that it is be used for him who thought of his mother even in the agonies of death. The second chapter says a horse which carries a halter is soon caught so there's a picture here of two men there's a horse on the loose kicking and bucking and a man who's trying to catch the horse but he can't catch it There's a second man with another horse which has a halter on and the horse is coming along patiently by his side as he walks back towards the stables. With a few oats in a sieve, the nag is tempted, and the groom soon catches him if he has his halter on. But the other horse, who has no rope dangling from his head, gives Master Bob a sight of his heels, and away he scampers. To my mind, a man who drinks a glass or two, and goes now and then to the taproom, is a horse, with his bridle on, and stands a fair chance of being locked up in Sir John Barleycorn's stables, made to carry Madame Drink and her habit. There's nothing like coming out fair and square and standing free as the air. Plenty will saddle you if they can catch you. Don't give them the ghost of a chance. A bird has not got away as long as there is even a thread tied to its leg. I've taken the pledge and I will not falter. I'm out in the field and I carry no halter. I'm a lively nag that likes plenty of room, so I'm not going down to the horse and groom. In other concerns, it is much the same. You can't get out of a bad way without leaving it all together, bag and luggage. Halfway will never pay. One thing or the other, be an out and outer or else keep it in altogether. Shut up a shop and quit the trade if it is a bad one. To close the front shutters and serve customers at the back door is a silly attempt to cheat the devil, and it will never answer. Such hide-and-seek behaviour shows that your conscience has just enough light for you to read your own condemnation by it. Mind what you are at. Don't dodge like a rat. I am always afraid of the tail end of a habit. A man who is always in debt will never be cured till he has paid the last sixpence. When a clock says tick once, it will say the same again unless it is quite stopped. I have a story about a grandfather clock that wouldn't stop ticking but I'll save that for another time. Harry Higgins says he only owes for one week at the grocer's and I am as sure as quarter day that he will be over head and ears in debt before long. I tell him to clean off the old score and have done with it altogether. He says the tradespeople like to have him on their books, but I am quite sure no man in his senses dislikes ready money. I want him to give up the credit system, for if he does not, he will need to outrun the constable. Bad companions are to be left at once. There's no use in shilly-shallying. they must be told that we would sooner have their room than their company, and if they call again we must start them off with a flea in each ear. Somehow I can't get young fellows to come right out from the black lot. They think they can play with fire and not be burned. Scripture says, you fools, when will you be wise?" April 1st stands marked by customs rules, A day for being and for making fools, But pray what custom or what rule supplies, A day for making or for being wise. Nobody wants to keep a title, a little measles, or a slight degree of fever. We all want to be quite quit of disease, and so let us try to be rid of every evil habit. What wrong would it be right for us to stick to? Don't let us tempt the devil to tempt us. If we give Satan an inch, he will take a mile. As long as we carry his halter, he counts us among his nags. Off with the halter. May the grace of God set us wholly free. Does not scripture say, come out from among them and be separate and touch not the unclean thing.