Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 December 1874 — Jerking the Reins. [ARTICLE]

Jerking the Reins.

Perfect horses—if we may take the word of gentlemen of the equine profession, as, of course, we may and must, since, as a rule, they are more severely veracious than was “ the Father of his Country” himself —-are quite numerous; but a perfect driver who can find? A horse of average intelligence may be controlled in good.part=at least, ou ordinary occasions—by the voice; in this way, without the use of the whip or reins, he may be made to go faster or slower, or to stop at once. The horse always knows whether he is going away from the stable or toward it; he knows also the places where he has been accustomed to stop; and, although he wears blinders, he sees everything before him and on -each side, and much that is behind him. He is the most sagacious of animals. The reins and whip might, I believe, be dispensed with altogether; and that they are used is owing rather to timidity and st.upidity on the part of man than to the lack of docility or tractability on the part of the beast. Much has been said and something has been done of late to prevent the too free use of the whip, both as a persuader to more rapid mot ion and as a gratification of an evil temper by those having charge of these noble creatures; but, for my part, I have always had great sympathy as well for those unfortunate, unoffending horses whose drivers—too kindhearted, too absent-minded, or too indo-. lent to use the whip—hrb continually jerking the reins. If the end in view were to destroy the temper or break, the spirit of the animal —to make of a good racer, roadster, carriage or saddle horse a poor, dispirited, ambitionless hack —this, I should suppose, would be just the means to be used for its accomplishment. Horses, however, are not the-only creatures that are afflicted in this way,'and horse-drivers are not the only persons who so afflict. In the government of the family there is a gfreat deal of jerking the reins. Many parents, instead of controlling their children in a reasonable way, with or without the use,of. the rod, are continually badgering and hectoring them. Some have a way of bringing up the mistakes or errors of the past, even though as parents they had forgiven and forgotten them long ago. on the principle that they should be moaned and howled over periodically. Some parents have a way of reminding their children of their faults in the presence of others, cutting their tender sensibilities with the keen edge of irony, perhaps, or piously predicting for them the doom of such as are ungrateful or disobedient to parents. Some parents have a way of reiterating their dissatisfaction in view of an jiction or. choice of their chile ren which it is impossible to alter or remedy and concerning which it were well for them to be silent. i

In many such instances there is no lack of parental affection? There may be a strong desire for the children's well being and doing; but, just as drivers continually and almost unconsciously jerk the reins, without so much as thinking to take the whip from its socket, so these parents, not only unconscious that they arc doing wrong, but gvc.n thinking that they are doing their duty, jerk the reins of parental authority. The Apostle Paul was not a father —by the way, it is a pity he wasn’t ; but he understood human nature pretty well, and was' a close observer of different methods of parental managing, and, • after exhorting children to obey their parents, he adds: “ Fathers, provoke not [do not irritate} your children, lest they be discouraged. ’ The 1 apostle-evidently* had in mind the ivery fault we are considering, ilusbands sometimes jerk the reins.

It is not ordinarily great sins—like intemperance, gambling, and unfaithfulness—that destroy the- peace of the household and make home so often like the house into which the seven devils were entered, for these offenses are comparatively rare; but it is the minor transgressions and shortcomings. The trouble is due in numberless instances to the conduct of the husband toward the wife. He forgets the “ honor” that is her due as the “ weaker vessel.” If his victuals are not cooked to his taste, if his dinner is not ready at the moment, if his linen is not immaculate, if the servants are insolent or leave without due notice, if he have met with losses in business, if he is kept awake nights by the children, if almost anything occurs to mar the peace of his existence, he is apt to manifest his displeasure, first of all toward her with whom, according to Peter, who was a husband as well as an apostle, he should dwell “ according to knowledge”—that is, “in accordance with an intelligent view of the nature of their relation.” It is not enough that the husband be not “ bitter” against his wife; he should not be sharp with her; he should not jerk the reins, even if they are made of silk. Among employers there is a tendency to jerk the reins. Many a man who would scorn to be unjust in payment of services rendered, even to the amount of a mill, or who M ould not use violence if he had the opportunity and provocation of a plantation overseer, does great injustice to the conscientiousness and general faithfulness of those whom he employs and injures their feelings perhaps twenty times a day by his quickness of manner or bluntness of speech. Many a housekeeper of culture and refinement seems to forget that her servants have necessities and weaknesses similar to her own, that they are liable to mistakes and to failure in the performance of duty and that perfection is no more likely to be found in the kitchen than in the drawingroom. Such housekeepers are quick to perceive and sharp in the correction of faults; while They pass by excellencies" without a word of commendation. “Masters [and mistresses], give unto your servants that which is just and equal.” The “ help” of the period is far from perfect; but it is not improved by the constant jerking of the reins. Teachers are too much inclined to jerk the reins. They have smiles and smooth words for “the scholars who learn easily," who have few difficulties to overcome and need little sympathy or encouragement ; and reserve their frowns and maledictions for those luckless wights to whom a ladder is like an oak plank, who are always striving and never achieving, and who are poorly enough off' with all the advice and good-natured incitement That a teacher can command. Ministers, like “the rest of mankind,” occasionally jerk the. reins They sometimes show an inclination to lord It over God’s heritage. They say and even do sharp things now and then; not for the good that may be accomplished thereby, but for the sake of saying and doing them. They seem to be fearful that some may not be aware or may forget that they have the “oversight of the flock of God.” Now this jerking the reins by those in authority is not a determined and deliberate sin. There is no “malice prepense” in it. It is rather a habit that grows little by little, until at length it may become intolerable. There are parents, estimable citizens, with whom their children cannot live; housekeepers with whom as such no fault can be found who have become obliged to do their own work or leave it undone: and husbands or wives—the weaker sex sometimes hold the reins—with whom, though they are excellent persons, their companions find it very difficult or quite impossible to get along. I know of an old man, now a widower, for whom all his friends are thankful that he has outlived his better half, so that before he dies he may have a little rest. I have.an idea that if a horse,-habitu-ally tormented in the manner we have been considering, were, like Balaam’s ass, for a few moments endowed with the gift of human speech, he would discourse somewhat in this wise: “ Good sir [or madam], I am pot a stone nor a post to be jerked in this way, nor am I a wild animal. lam a horse, the most faithful, intelligent, affectionate servant man has in all the brute creation, lam ready to do your bidding at any hour of the day or night, to eat what you give me, and to live where you may please to stable me. You sometimes leave me without a blanket, exposed to cold or wet; you sometimes forget to feed and water me at the proper time; you often give me musty hay, or sour meal, and sometimes only post-meal. I have even known you, when I was hungry, to hitch me to a post with an iron top. You sometimes whip me when lam going fast enough. All these afflictions and inflictions I have borne and can bear again; but do not, I beg of you—do not keep jerking the; reins, for the iron bit to which Iffey are attached passes through my mouth, and when you jerk it does you no good, for I go no faster than if you were to speak to me ever so gently, for my hearing is good, and it does me harm; it hurts and irritates me and makes me an ambition less, spiritless creature.” The human expostulation, if utterance were given it, would be essentially the, same. — Rev. E. N. Pomeroy, in N. T. 7m dependent. -