Page:TheYoungMansGuide.djvu/153

 reth. It may  sometimes  be  difficult,  when pride, obstinacy,  or  self-will  strives  to  gain the upper  hand. But it  is  all  the  more  necessary that  you  should  now  learn  to  bow  your head, and  accustom  yourself  to  obey;  for  at a  later  period  you  will  find  it  still  more  difficult, perhaps  even  impossible.

But mark  this  well:  your  subjection  to authority  ought  not  to  be  the  result  of  stern compulsion, but  a  Christian  virtue. This obedience springs  from  humility;  faith  sanctifies it  and  love  lightens  its  yoke. Only this Christian  obedience,  obedience  for  the love of  God,  can  keep  its  ground  under  all circumstances, and  throughout  your  whole life.

5. In  an  age  when  respect  for  both  divine and human  authority  appears  to  be  fast vanishing from  the  face  of  the  earth,  the example of  childlike  veneration  for  parents, which was  set  by  a  man  at  the  time  when he was  in  high  authority,  when  he  was  the President of  the  French  Republic,  deserves to be  mentioned  here. I refer  to  M.  Loubet. It is  touching  to  read  of  the  respect  and  affection with  which  he  clung  to  his  good,  simple, old mother.

It was  everywhere  noticed  with  approbation that,  on  the  occasion  of  a  visit  to  Montelimar,  he  could  not  be  induced  to  be  present at an  official  reception,  to  be  succeeded  by  a grand  banquet. He preferred  to  remain  at the  home  of  his  mother,  surrounded  by  a