The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1858-12-25
FAMILY HABITS.

from the Springfield (Mass.) Republican,
believing it still moro appropriate to this
sity than the meridian for which 1t was
Intended. We commend it to the attentive
perusal of heads of families asd all others:
Has it ever occurred to the heads Of fani-
lies in this little city Of ours, Or out Of it.
wherever these words may be read, that the
fortunes Of those whom they have charge
children, wards, dcpendents-willb be mainly
determined by the habits thew fern in tho
families TO which they belong? Has it oc-
Cured to them that the habits Of reading,
politeness, good natured regard for the feel
ings Of others, idlencss, industry, seeking
for happiness at home, going to chureh-all
these and hundred mor0-are formed in
early life in the family that, in fact, they
are very rarely formed afterwards it has
seemed to Us that there is great lack of;
understanding and obtuseness of feelin:
upon this subject. A father and mother
rear family with little thought of anything
! except as to how they are to be fed and
clothed.
Let us look at one thing in particular, and
let us look at it without any specially relig-
ious intent whatever. We have in Spring
field, something like eleven churches of alt
sorts. There Is but one of these churches
| that is fully attended, and tha. is the Roman
Catholic. If we average the sttings in
| these eleven churches at 600 each, which is
all th.Y will bear, We have 5000 sittings,
for an aggregate of about IL, 900 inhabitants
| IL Is safe to, that there are church sit
tings in Springfield for only half of its pop
ulatlon. Are th.se ever more than half
| full If SO. are the, generally more? We
think not; so we have $500 church goers
or less than one quarter # the population.
In other words, more than three quarters
of the families of the city are not in tho
habit Of going to church. 1se fact will
startie many; vet the best Informed under
| stand it. Now, the responsibility for this
evil-assuming it to be an cvil-lies in the
heads of these families. We therefore ask
these men and women if they know what
they are doing. DO they not know that
their children will be the safer, more likely
to grow up free from vicious habits, more
intelligent, more cleanly and respectable,
more ambitious to appear well, more order
y at home and in society, if they have u
habit Of regularly attending churci,-no
matter what church-than if they are al
lowed to waste their time at home? We
jndgs that there is but ono answer to this
question. Very few men and women are so
vile as not to be anxious for the morals and
habits of their children. Whatever they
may do and be themselves, they have that
degree of respect for that which is good in
children. which makes them more or less
anxious for their morals and reputation.-
But these parents, by staying at home them
its institutions in contempt. They must as
sumo the habit themselves, or they Cannot
fasten it upon their children.
DR.. Bushnell, in his new book-sNature
and the upernatural'-speaks Of mechanics
as class specially liable to inidelty. He
says :S%''Having itfor the principal occupa-
ton and study of life to adjust applications
OF the great laws of chemistry and iynamics,
and exercised but little in subjects and fields
of thought external to mere nature, they,
very many Of them, come to be practical
unbelievers in everything but nature. They
believe in cause and effect, and are likely t"
be just rs much more skcptical in regard to
any higher and better faith. Active minded,
ingenious and sharp, but restricted in tho
range of their exercise, they surrender
themselves in great numbers to feeling OF
unreality in everything but nature" This
repeats not an uncommon statement, and IS
doubtless mainly true; and We quote it as
of special significance in this connection.
because it is notorious that the habit Of
staying away from church exists moro
largely among mechanics than any other
class. 1t is not our province to convince
these men of the truth of Christianity, but
we speak to them Of the beauty and purity
of Christian morals, because they are quail
ties which they both admit and ADMIRE
We can tell them what they themselves
know that q family well instructed in morals,
as taught from the pulpit and in the Sab
bath school, is greatly benftted thereby
We can tell them-nnd we do tell them
that by allowing the moral teachings of the
Sabbath to come into contempt in their own
families, they are irreparably njuring
themselves, and those whom they love, and
laying up for themselves plentiful materials
for repentance. Heaven pity tho poor
children whose parents, through ignorance
and Indifference; suffer them to grow ur
without r. habit of respect to the Sabbath and
its teachings,
But there sre other habits in the family
~ be discussed. How many parents are
there who carefully supply to their children
the mental food they need, and endcavor tn
make reading a family habit! What a
multitude of families there are in which all
the mind, old and young, is allowed to
contract habits of ideness-to run to waste!
1t seems. sometimes, rs If there were books
enough published to swamp the world; yet
2c,O0o copies of valuable book is a large
sale for this country, not enough to supply
one each to the inhabitants Of Springfield
and Chicopee! Ths editions of valuable
books published are but rs dust-they are
entirely inadequate to the supply of the
market that oug ht to exist. If there was a
univ ersal habit Of family book reading, the
present facilities for publishing in this
country could hardly begin to supply the
market. With a population of thirty mill
ions of people, hardly more than a single
million buy books hey yond tho text book used
in schools. The CONSCIENCE is that genera
tions of boys and girls every year emerS"
into their majority without information, and
without the habits that tend to its acquisi-
! ton.
There are otacr things which might be
noticed touching family habits, but this
article has already outgrown our desigu.-
| All we wish for is to impress upon the heads
| of families some slight idea Of their respon-
! sibility for the habits which their children
are forming with relation to moral and
mental improvement. Indifference on this
subject involves brutality. A man who ha.
assumed the position and privilege of a
parent, and is unwilling to discharge the
duties which the position and privilege
involves, is shrk-unfit for his place. and
unworthy Of his power. -s--- ..
rTProf. Trench, in his latest work on the
English language, points out . curious typo