Monmouth weekly herald. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1854-1860, 1857-07-02
OLE familp Girtlt,
The Mother Of the Wesley's
HER FAMOUS LETTER ON THE GOVERNMENT
OF CHILDREN.

81 HEREBY send you large extract
NJ of the letter of Mrs. Wesley to her
eAAson John, on family government
This letter should be printed in large let
ters and hung up in every Christian fam
lily, and read daily until the important
principles it contains are burned deeply
into every parents heart. The letter is
dated Ellsworth. July "A, 1882, and was
written at the earnest solicitation of Rev.
John Wesley.
DEAR SIR According to your re-
quest, have collected the principal rules
| observed in educating my family. The
children were always put into a regular
method of living, in such things as they
were capable of, from their birth. When
turned year old, they were taught to
fear the rod and to cry SOFTLY, by which
means they escaped much correction
which they might otherwise have had;
and that most odious noise of crying chill
dren, was rarely ever heard in the house.
As soon as they grew pretty strong, they
were confined to three meals day
They were suffered to eat and drink as
much as they would, but not to call for
any thing. If they wanted aught, they
used TO whisper to the maid. AS soon as
they could handle knife and fork, they
were set at our table. They were never
suffered to choose their meat. Eating
and drinking between meals were never
allowed, unless in case Of sickness, which
seldom happened; nor were they suffered
to go into the kitchen to ask anything OF
the servants when they were at meat. II
it were known they did SO, they were Ger
tainly beaten. At six, as soon as family
prayer was over, they had their supper.
At seven the maid washed them, and be-
ginning at the youngest, she undressed
and got them all in bed by eight, at which
time she left them all in their several
rooms awake, for there was no such thing
allowed in our house as sitting by child
until it fell asleep. They were so con
stantly used to eat and drink what was
given them, that when any of them were
ill, there was no difficulty in making them
take the most unpleasant medicines, for
they burst not refuse it.
In order to form the minds of children,
the first thing to be done is to conquer
their will. To inform the understanding
is a work Of time, and must. with children
proceed by slow degrees, but the subject
ing the will is thing that must be done
at once, and the sooner the better; for by
neglecting timely correction, they will
contract a stubbornness and obstinacy
which are hardly ever conquered In the
esteem of the world they pass for kind
and indugent, whom call cruel parents.
who permit their children to get habits
which they know must be afterward brok
en-. When the will Of child is subdued.
and it is brought to revere and stand in
awe of its parents, then great many
childish follies and inadvertencies may be
passed by. But no wilful transgressions
ought ever to be forgiven children with.
out chastlsement, less or more. | insist
upon conquering the will of children be-
times, because this is only strong and ra-
tional foundation of religious education.
without which both precept and example
will be Intellectual. But when this is
done, then the child is capable of being
governed by the reason and piety of its
parents, till its own understanding comes
to maturity, and the principles of re
ligion have taken root in the mind.
cannot yet dismiss the subject. As self
will is the root Of all sin and misery, so
whatever cherishes this in children, in
sures their wretchedness and irreligion.
Whatever checks and morti6es it, pro-
mote their future happiness and piety.-
This is still more evident if we further
consider that religion is nothing else than
doing the will of God and not our own;
that the one grand impeachment to our
temporal and eternal happiness being this
self-will, no indulgence of it can be tri-
vial, no denial Improbable. Heaven or
hell depends on this alone, so that the
parent who studies to subdue it in his
child, works together with God in the
renewing and saving a soul; the parent
who INDUCES it, does the devils work,
and makes religion impractcable, saliva
ton unattanable, and does all that in
him lies to damn his child, soul and body.
foreverl Our children were taught the
Lords Prayer as soon as they could speak.
They were early taught to distinguish the
Sabbath from any other days. They were
taught to be still at family prayers, and
to ask blessing Immediately after meals,
which they used to do by signs, before
they could kneel or speak. They were
quickly made to understand, they should
have nothing they cried for. '"-Lutheraa
Observer.