The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1862-04-18
BIDDEFoRD, MAINE, FRIDAY MORNING,
down into the clear mirror of his unsullied
character, and seen perfect image Of your.
..II .

uhoBpNu hNoN sHUh hsS w
som, and sat q long time silent.
The father said, rs he sat musing, 're-
produces himself in his children, with such
notifications as the mothers life may give.
need not offer arguments to prove the fact;
every man Of rational perception sees that
il must be 20 under the unvarying law OF
like producing like
Il have no doubt Of Its being so,' he re-
piled. ...7 ...--....
Docs not the fact instruct us ? went on.
Docs it not throw light upon that most dif-
fcult, yet most important OF all our duties.
the government Of our children? First, we
must know the quality, condition, and ca.
pacity of any material upon which We are
to work. The plumber would fail in his Of.
fort to produce useful result if he wrought
with wood in place Of lead; and so with the
gold.bcater, IL, instead Of the most ductile OF
all metals, he subjected iron to his hammer
strokes. As in the lower world Of nature,
different forms require different modes of
treatment in order to eliminate their proper
use, so in the higher world Of mind. All
objective differences arc but images Of men,
tai differences. Mind Is the true world ma
ture the representative and effect, and, as
such, our Instructor IL we will open our
hearts to her teachings.
Il do not gainsay this, returned my friend.
II believe that it is 80. comprehend the
important truth you have stated, that my
child bears likeness to his father. But
what I do not see clearly is, the way in
which am to deal with him. How am to
correct, in my boy, the pcryersities which he
has, by inheritance, from his iatherT
'Tho first thing, answered, lis for you to
pity him. To think compassionately Of him,
burdened, rs no Is, for life. with hasty
temper and u stubborn will.
saw moisture come into my friends
eyes; the firm mouth gave way q little.
MAY refer to the scene that passed here
little while ago?' | asked.
Speak freely returned my friend.
John committed no fault
There was slight motion Of surprise in
my friends face.
,Accdently he touched book, and it fell
upon the aoor-this, and only this
lie was careless, said my friend, with
slight effort at sclf,justiiication.
You, or l, any one, might have done the
same thing. Nay, every day Of our lives,
we do Just as careless things. When the
mind is absorbed we cannot always guard our
movements. Now put yourself in Johns
place. Imagine the book touched without
intention, and it falls upon the floor; and
imagine as sharp word spoke to you as you
spoke to him-what state Of mind would
have rcsultedT
I paused for his answers, but he did not
reply
Gould you have helped the rush OF angry
waves? Hurt pridc-a sense OF wrong
blind impulse-would have made you as
stubborn MS you saw him.
perhaps It would My friends eyes were
on the floor. lie spoke in subdued voice.
you cannot overcome the minds defects
BY an external force I added. There must
be wise appliance of moral means. Deal
by him us you would yourself be dealt by, in
like circumstances. Cure his disease by the
remedies that reason tells you would heal
your own. Weaken his angry wilfulness by
removing excitements. Control yourself in
his presence-hold back your quick spring
ing impulses-never let him SEQ you angry,
nor End you unjust or unreasonable. AL
ways speak kindly and mildly, except when
in grave rebuke or rem0nstrancc for unmls-
taxable faults. self.acknowledged. Help
with his load of hereditary evil tendencies,
instead of adding part OF your own burden
10 tho weak shoulders Of a child. Ii you
cannot control yourself, with reason, judg-
ment, years, and experience on your side,
what can you expect from him?'
stopped, lest were pressing home upon
him too closely.
Just at this moment the door opened and
the child came in. The book still lay where
il had fallen from the table. l turned and
saw the little fellows questioning eyes upon
his fathers face. There was look Of grief
about his lips. Nothing was said! to him !;
in fact, no notice, apparently, taken OF him.
Nv friend changed the conversation TO new
theme, and sat down, noiselcssly, taking, as
he did long, signing breath, presently he
slipped from the chair, and, moving quietly
10 where the book lay on tho floor, lifted and
pla,ed it on the table, pushing it to some dis.
lance from the edge in this very act show
ing his recognition Of the fault for which he
had been harshly blamed, us only an accident,
against the recurrence OF which he would
guard BY placing the book where It would be
in no danger Of falling. noticed another
deep breath as the child's burdened heart
sought to relieve the pressure that still lay
heavily upon It. Then he began, by slow ap-
proaches, to draw near his father. and ut last
stood by his knee. Ny friend placed his arm
around him, as he still talked with me, and
frightened 1t with loving pressure, made
stronger by pity and repentance. John
looked up into his face: and then his father
bent down and kissed him. Reconciled, yet.
as there had been wrong and suffering, and
the grayer Of memory cuts deepest when feel
ing is most intense. was not something lost
in that brief struggle between father and
child, which could never be restored ?-some-
thing hurt, the pain Of which would endure
through natural life?
These are questions for sober thought.
Nv friend, with all his infrmities Of tenn
per, had a strong love for children; a quick
moral sense (: love Of right and Justice
These were all on the side Of truer self-dis-
cipline as affecting the little ones given to
him Of God, that they might be trained for
heaven. saw him, afterward, under stron.
ger provocation; and he did not forget him
self. Nv presence may have revived in his
memory the scene just described, and 50 put
him on his guard. Even if that were 40,
much was gained, for all right efforts give u
measure of strength. and erect barriers
against evil. We overcome what Is wrong in
our natural tempers by resisting the impulse
TO oct in the moment Of proyocation not
by repenting and resolving only.
The repentance and resolution are all we'll
enough. and give strength for resistance
against the hour Of temptation only in the
degree that We resist and refrain in the hour