The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1854-04-19
IN ADVANCE
n UNI B E R 10
The Duty Of Parents.
From The Germdn.1

AS well bred children are the most
worthy ornaments and the greatest Joy of
their parents, (for neither honors nor de-
lights of any other kind can equal the sat
lstactlon gwen by virtuous of,pring,)
thus there is nothing more becoming to
the father Of family than the endeavor
to bring them up in the fear of the Lord,
and in the practice of all social virtues.
For the father ought to be at the same
time the religious instructor and the tutor
Of bis children; it is his duty to teach
them in their youth what to practice when
grown up. Besides, lie must do his best
to make them useful members of, and not
troublesome burthens TO the State-not
to feed a nest of idle hornets, but rather
to breed industrious bees. And to this
end he must enable them, either by learn
ing OF 10y the useful arts or by some res
pectable trade, to support themselves and
their families i'll course Of time, and to
promote the welfare of the commonwealth,
and to stand in no mans way. Neither
must he say unto himself, have wealth
enough, so that my offspring need neither
to exert their brains nor their hands for
their support, but may live in idlenCss.
For besides there being nothing more per-
ncious to mankind in general, and to
youth i'll particular, than vanity and
sloth, your treasures, . We fathers, are but
uncertain possessions. Thus let it be your
aim rather to have virtuous than wealthy
children as it will be more to their advaL-
tage to inhert.Tmpershable than transient
blessings. Such blessings are virtue, the
fine arts, an honest trade. which may be
called treasures in themselves, by whose
means they may, in all places and circum-
stances, be independent, and of which no
one can deprive them, as even a wretched,
shipwrccked mariner might carry the
like Aristippian riches safely to shore.
Many silly parents commit grave errors
in this respect, and are moro d,ligent in
the ImpSESSffmmSaanh sSsf mmSaanIre,, what ashes and dirt
UKi i'Dest inetreaSe the fertility Of their acres,
than in considering what arts, handicrafts,
or professions are most likely to render
their children virtuous and Industrious
Just as if their estates and treasures were
dcarcr unto them than their very children,
for whose sake they endeavor to augment
and improve them. We ought to remem-
Der, too, that the new vessel smelleth long
Of What hath been first poured into it, and
that the little reed may be bent in any
way as long as it is young, but that it
stittens with age, and breaks if one tries
to give it new direction. We know,
too, that children like to initiate their pa
rents in every thing, SO that some seem to
have lcarut drinking, others swearing, and
again others irasciblity, by imitation from
their parents. Therefore, it beseemeth
all good parents, that their children should
see nothing evil, but only all good but
only all good qualities in them, so that
they may become, as it were, the mirror
of virtuous life. A wise father ought to
be very careful to teach his children, by
his own example, to be careful of their
words, by which means they will be saved
from many troubles, and have the more
opportunities OF doing good for, in gene
raj mony words make much mischief, and
empty casks sound louder than full ones
and the bristly boar maketh more noise
than the woolly sheep. He who accus-
tometh himself to prating seldom learns
real benevoence; and, again, he who ac-
custom eth him3cltto bencvolence speaketh
little himself, but is always well spoken
Of by others,