Litchfield enquirer., 1837-08-24
TOUR CHILDREN.

ernment. We good people of America, in our race for self government, are in dam ger ot not governing ourselves. Our lads grow up lnsnbcrdinate finding out to our and their cost, that it is free countrv.'- An English traveller could find no hovs in the United States; all being either children or men. The evil is undeniably on the increase. Parents, are abandoning the reins; and when once this shall have be- come universal, all sorts of government but despotism will be impracticable.
 Take that forward child in hand at once, or you will soon have to be his suppliant, rather than his guide. The old way was perhaps too rugged, where every thing was accomplished by mere dint of authority; but the. new way is as bad on the other side; no man is reduced to the necessity of choosing an extreme.
 We often visit houses where the parents seem to be mere advisory attendants, with a painful sinecurc. Let such hear tho words of wise congressMan of New-Jer- sey, and signer of the Declaration :- There is not more disgusting sight than the impolent rage ofa parent who has no au,horitv.. Among the lower ranks of peo-
 
 cency, you may sometimes see father or mother running out into the street after a child who is fled from lkem, with looks of fury and words of exSttation and they are often stupid, enough to imagine that ncighbors or passengers will approve them in their conduct, though in fact it fills every beholder with horror.' am afraid none of us need go many rods from home to wit ness the like. What is commonly admin- istered as reproof is often worse than no- thing. Scolding rebukes are like scalding po,ions; they injure the patient. And an- gry chastisement is little better than oil on the fire. Not long since was passing by the rail road from Newark to New. ork. The train of cars pursued its furious way immediately by the door ofa low shanty,' from which small child innocently issued, and crossed the track before us just in time to escape being crushed by the locomotive. We all looked out with shuddering, when To the sturdy mother, more full of anger than alarm strode forth, and seizing the poor infant, which had strayed only in con- sequence of her own negligence. gave it a summary and violent correction. Infer ence parents often deserve tho strokes they give.
 Implicit obedience-and that without question, expostulation, or delay-is the Keystone of the family arch. This is per- iectly consistent with the utmost affection, and should be enforced from the beginning, and absolutely. The philosopher whom l cited above says of parental authority:@sI would have it eGrly that i. may be absolute, and absolute that it may not be severe. It holds universally in families and schools. and even the greater bodies ofmen, the arr my and navy, and those who keep the strict- est discipline Agive the fewest strokes.'- Some parents seem to imagine that their failures in this kind arise from the want of certain mysterious knack, of which tbcy conceive themselves to be destitute. There is such knack, but it is as much within react! az the knack of driving a horse and chaise, or handling knife and fork, and will never be got by yawning over it..
 Not only love your children, but show that you love them; not by merely fond ling and kissing them, but by being always open to their approaches. Here is man who drives his children out of his shop be- cause they poster him; here is another who is always too busy give them a good word. Now would gladly learn of these penny wise and pound foolish fathers, what work they expect ever to turn out which shall equal in importance the children who arc now taking their mould for life. Hap less is that child which is forced to seek for companions more accessible and winning than its father or it's mother.
 You may observe that when a working man spends his leisure hours abroad it is at the expense of his family. While he is at the club or the tavern, his boy or girl is seeking out-oi-door connexions. The great school ofjuveniIe vice is the street. Here the urchin, while he knuckles down at taw,' learns the vulgar oath, or the pu- trid obsccniiy. For one lesson at the fre- side. he has dozen in the kennel. Here are scattered the seeds of falsehood, gam- bling, theft, and violence. pray you, as you love your own flesh and blood, make your children cling to the hearth.stone.-- Love home yourself; sink your roots deep y among your domestic treasures set an example in this, as in all things, which your offspring may follow. The garden plant seems to have accomplished its great work, and is content to wither, when it has maiured the fruit for the next race: learn lesson from the plant.
 Nespark Daily Advertiser.
 Anecdofe.--A young fellow calling at the office of one of our Dentists, in this city, a fow days since, remarked that his head