The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1858-05-22
Titcomb's Letters TO Young
Married People.
NUMnEIt FOTR.
NIMHfN IUIt'
From the Springfield Republican.

NY lNtulA hl Nlt u lnht u ~ htNonl OF
mental and moral deyrlopement,--that God
/ intended that each soul should pass under a
series Of influences whose office il should be
10 evolve al its faculties, and soften and hnr-
monte them. 10 this end, he has laid upon
each = sweet necessity to adopt the ordinan,
ces he has conlrived, When speak Of ne.
ce,sity, do MT mean compuision save Ia a
limited sense-compulsione entirely consistent
with individual election. Thus | believe that
there is a very material portion ofmcntal and
worsl development which cannot be achieved
out Of the marriage relation and, TO bring
men and women into Ihis relation, he has
given them the sentiment Of love, and the
desire Of mutual personal possession, This
sentiment aud desire are made 50 strong that
they may hardly be resisted, so thnt.nll shall
choose to be joined in coniugal relations.
Thus the strong are softened by the weak,
and the weak are inyigoratcd by the strong :
and the influences Of man and woman upon
each other become the most powerful agencies
for their mutual harmonious growth. But
this is not ALL When a pair have become
united IN wcdlock, there rises in each healthy
heart n desire for offspring Nothing is more
natural than this desire and nothing more
imperative. Its germ is seen far back in
childhood. The boys love Of pets is but a
manifestation or the primary outrcachings Of
this desire, which fastcn at first upon the
only possible objects; and there probably
never lived little girl TINT did not love her
doll beyond all other pny-things. She takes
il first, and retains It the longest Of any
This brings me to the subject Of children.
ns cglimatcy something to be tnlkcd about
in these letters. The having and rearing Of
children form one Of Gods ordinances
for making you what you should he
what he wishes you 10 be. They are as
necessary to you as you are to them. You
can no more reach the. hi CHEST and most
harmonious development Of which you are
capable without children, than you can dcvel-
op q muscle without exercise, Without them
one Of the mos, beautiful regions Of your
natur, must forever remain without nppro.
pirate and direct culture. The offices Of
children in the culture Of their parents are
maniford. In the first place, they are a con
scryatvc and rcgul' ting force. \ pair living
together without children naturally become
selfish, A pair unmatched by innocent c1cS
are often thrown off their guard in their
language towards, and treatment ofcach other,
They lose on great stimulus TO industry and
do not possess that which is. perhaps, the
s,rongcsl bond. under al the circumstance,
of life. which can bind husband and wife to-
,Rctittr. There can be no true development
nj heart and mir d where pure scliShncSs is
the predominant principle; SO God ordains
thai IN CaCn nUuyU trrr--i,-riiii il!e-nncs.
more precious than all else, who shall engage
the sympathy. tax the efforts, and absorb The
. love of those who sustain 10 them the relation
of parents. The law is rrcvcrsihlc that our
TTcs, individual progress in mental and moral
good shall be attained by efforts devoted to
others aud in children each parent finds the
nearest objects Of such devotion. And there
is, perhaps, nothing which so tends to soften
p the heart u, ,les elop the -knalier affections.
men and women us the children which sit
around their table, and frolic upon their
knees.
When sec man stopping the street to COM
fort some weeping child, or to get kiss from
par OF 1UvcnttC tips, I know TINT -ire-ita-
passed through blessed experience with
children. A helpless little head h's been
laid upon his shoulder, in some hushcd and
hnllowcd room where the great mystery Of
birth has been enacted. Some feeble, vail
ing bov. pressed to his breast, has hecn borne.
night after night, with weary arms, back and
forth IN the dimly lighted chamber, while the
mother caught her short half hours of rest.
More likely still, some precious warbler, her
eyes closed, her lips forever stilled, her golden
curls parted away from a marble forehead,
and n white rose in her hand, has been laid
in the grave. and the sod that covers her has
been fcrtilizcd by his tears. Oh there is
something in loving dependent children in
tender care for them, and in losing them,
even, which hcstows upon the soul the
most cnrichinr Of its experiences. They
make ne tender and sympathetic and a thou
sand times reward MS for all we do for them.
We cannot get along without them; YOU can
not got along without them. You cannot nf-
ford 10 do it. They are cheap at the price
of pain and sickness, and care and toll.
What do mean 10y talk like this? What
do mean hy the uttcrnncc Of common place
like this? I mean simply to reveal some Of
the considerations upon which condemn q
great and growing virc among the Young
married people of this eountry--a vice which
involves essential murder in many instances,
and swclls the profits Of thousand nostrum
vcnders. And what do mean by this? |
mean that III thousands of American homes
children have come to be regarded either as
nusances or luxurics ! mean that, in these
! L / !. L !.