W.T. Stead's Father

W. T. Stead was born in the manse of a Congregational minister. Said the famous son, who when a lad became a member of his father’s church: “The most interesting man I ever met was my own father.

He was my teacher, my story-teller, my universal encyclopedia of knowledge and my greatest playmate. He was a retiring village pastor of a small Congregational church in the North of England. His stipend never ex- ceeded one hundred and fifty pounds a year, and when I was born it stood at eighty pounds.

We were a large family, and it was no easy task to make both ends meet. So I learned my lessons on my father’s knee.” A father, discussing his wayward son with a friend, met the retort, “If he were my son, I would kick him out.” The father replied, “Yes, if he were your son, so would I.

But he isn’t your son. He’s mine, and I can’t do it.” Many a man sees his plans frustrated and his self-sacrifice in vain because his boy falls short of his hopes. Yet we may disappoint God just like that.