Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1861-06-15

Of the charge which he had abused Bu
usually the fault is at home If the seet
planted there be good, it will produce gooC
fruit. Yet my reader will say that the bes
man he ever knew had the worst children
he ever saw. The truth Of the statemen
Is admitted, bnt what do you know of The
home life of that family :? How much un
reasonable restraint has been exercised up
on those children From how many exhi
bltlons OF stern and unrelenling Injustice
have these children suffered z What laxi.
" OF discipline and Carelessness of culture
nave relgned in that family z / know
many who seem to be excellent men i'm SO.
cle'y, but who are anything but nmiable
men at home. In one they are pleasant,
atfable, kind and charitable in the other.
cross grained, hard, unkind aud unjust. |
declare with all posiiiveness that when a
lamlIy or neighborhood of children is
oad, there is reason for it outside of the
children. There are bad influences which
descend upon them, and work out their
natural results in them.
IL Is astonishing TO see how long seed
will he in the ground without terminating
now true IT viii remain to its KIDD through
untoId years. Cut down n piue forest.
where nn oak has not been seen for a cen
tnry, and on oak shrubbery will spriny mn
Heave out upon the surface pile of earth
that has lain hidden FROM the ewes of n
dozen generations, and forthwith it will
grow over with weeds. Plow up the
prairie, and turn nnder the grass and flow.
els that have grown their since the white
settler can remember, and their will spring
from the inverted sod a strange gov iii
that has had no representative ia the sun
light for long ages Soul and soil are alike
in this. l once heard a man say of his
father, who had been dead many years-T
hate him :: l hate bis memory The words
were spoken bitterly, with a flushed face
aud angry eyes, yet he who spoke them
was one Of the kindest and most pIaca bic
OF men. Deep down in his heart, under
love for his mother which was almost
worship, aud under affection for wife,
children and sisters which was as deep as
his nature, and under multiplied freud.
ships, there had been planted this seed.
Ihe father had treated the boy harshly aud
nnJustly; and the young soul was stung as
,ne lehder trult is stung by un insect.
Where anger and resentment where sown,
aHger and resentment were ready 10 spring
up the moment the seed was uncovered.
| have known men TO carry through life a re-
venge planted in their hearts by some unjust
and cruel schoolmaster How many men
are there in the world who have sworn to
revenge themselves upon one who had stung
them with anger or injustice when in child
hood2
So we come to the grand lesson that if
We would have good children, we must
ourselves be exactly what we would have
them becomej if we would govern our fam
lilies, we must first govern ourselves; if we
would have only pleasant words greet our
ears in home circle. we must speak only
pleasant words. We should see to it that
we plant nothing, the legitimate fruits of
which we shall not be willing and glad to
see borne in the lives of our children. If
our children are bad. the fauI: is, 90 cases in
a hundred, our own, in some way. If we
would reform society, or make it better 10
any respect, our quickest way to do it is to
reform and make ourselves better If /
would reap courtesy and hospitality and
kindness and love, must plant them
and it is the sum of all arrogance TO assume
that / have right to reap them without
planting them. A man who receives cour.
teSY without exercising it, reaps that which
be has not sown. He is thief, aud ought
in justice to be kicked out of society.
Blessings on the man who sows the seeds
of happy nature and noble character
broadcast wherever lis feet wander who
has smile alike for JOY and sorrow, o tender
word always for child, compassionate
utterance for suffering. courtesy for friends
and for strangers, encouragement for the
an open heart for all-love for
all--good words for all Such seed produce
after its kind in all soils, when it finds lodg-
ment, and that which the sower fails 10
reap, passes into hands that are grateful
for the lurgess. .