Smyrna times., 1869-10-13
BOYS AND GIRLS.

massachusetts will meet at Lowell on the 14th {
inst, and among the questions which have
been announced for discussion is the following:
w hat shall be done to reach the boys Ofeight
to sixteen years Of age-this being confessedly
the period of greatest peril to youth" We do
not suppose that the word 'reach" here refers
altogether to religious influence, for probably
IN persons so young the members OF the Chris
tlan Associations would be contented with the
preservation OF reasonable degree OF moral
innocence; and even this, such is the precOcity
OF American children, is not always to be anticl-
pated with certainty. The palpable solution of
the problem is to be found in healthy relation
between the parent and the child and ifrefOrm
is needed, 1t is with the parent that the reform
must begin. There are no foreign expedients,
there are no scientific process of education |
there are no devices of the most generous |
benevolence which can compensate, in the tor
nation OF boy char lcter for an evil example |
or tor careless oversight at home. To com.
pllcate the question We have the whole train of
inherited prOpensties, and like in the father is
lenlent to like in the boy A coarse genitor
will have coarse progeny. Moreover, it is very
much, so far as our limited knowledge extends,
a mere matter OF chance whether a child will
be colOred in his character by his father who
may be bad or by his mother who may be good
or whether he will not reproduce either their
virtues or the vices of some remote ancestor
There is temptation so hard is the settlement
OF the whole matter, to refer it to some inexOT
able fatality and many an anxious parent,
! weary OF constant effort and comparative failure,
r has settled into kind of pathetic despair.
t 1t may, however, be safely affirmed that in
| majority of cases in which boy goes to the
bad his parents, or one or the other of them, is
r alone to blame A father who allows himself
Y to be utterly absorbed in worldly affairs; who
f makes 1t manifest to the quick perception of
: childhood that the pursuit of gain is the best
j. business of life who INDUCES himself in vices
J. which cannot long be hidden from the eyes
S of his sons who is coarse in his speech and vul-
e gar In his manners, or who preserves an icy
e dignity which Tepels confidence who speaks
e contemptuouSly, if he speaks at all, of the cul-
ir tlvatlon of the intellect who does nothing to
b develop the tastes and to encourage the gene
rous energies of his children--Such father
lie when shame and anguish come of juvenile evil
h doing, may then remember how widely differ
le ent might have been the result, if the highest
e. of duties has been faithfully performed If tC
" this negligence has been added the constant
evil of an over indulgent mother-of weak
IS. woman who will not believe that her beautiful
Sc boy can ever go wrOng-Oi silly and untaith
al full wife who secretly takes the side of her soI
Id against her husband, should he make the fee
nd blest effort to avert the impending ruin-il
i, such miserable cOniuncture Of malign inbuen
m ces, we may be sure that the rain of the chile
s
n upon the presence OF which it is presumption
K to count.
of We have offered these suggestions becaus
ng we believe that for many years the parenta
er. character has been growing weak and inefficient
lis Not only is there too much reliance upon Ou
ss- system of public education, but there has bee
ed pretty general abdicatiOn Of parental AT
or thority. Children do not love, or at least
s not treat their parents with the ancient piety
ife They are disObedent without repentance an
disrespectful without remOrse. Kindne
wn awakens no gratitude, and elfsacrlfice r
his sense of obligation. A father whose whole Iii
md has been devoted to his children, who al
erv dearer to him than life itself, may watch
rd- vain for some sign of thankfulness; and yet
rife will still pursue the same unwiSe methods, ar
ty. endeavor by increased indulgence to win Il
the love for which his soul is craving. And so Il
vife domestic cemedy-alas is it not nearer
he tragedy ?-goes on. Master insults papa, al
hat miss bullies mamma; well meaning observe
had who tender their advice are requested to mil
the their own business from attic to cellar Il
and children are a pervading nuisance; i'll Il eat
cen servants give warning and are dismissed; VII
Urn tors shun, if they can, the house which harbC
avs such terrible infants, who grow less and le
tolerable as they grow older and stronger. L
ad- years advance; the little faults of infan
su- ripen and rot into mature and incorrigit
hill. vices; and those unfortunate children pa
ian. from the bud of pecadillo to the full and nc
use ious bloom of comparative depravity, the
be- selves destined to perpetuate insubOrdlnati
m and to experience the discomfort which til
+ all formerly inflicted.
to In every well constituted household childr
hem are at once a safeguard against lapse into t
1een l0oser ways of life and an ornament bringi
, of the blessing of continual sunshine. COnsid
into ing that when they are not these they are
her most always perpetual irritation and disco
|
or tn astonishing that parents even for a selfish sal
and take so little pains to guide and to form tn
-aise progeny, and to show to them the real va
cad of good manners, for these, if not acquired
has youth, are rarely acquired at all. Where tn
; the is refinement and conscientious purpose at
paid head, children will grow up almost always
wife hned and In most cases substantially conscl
tious; but under weak and vulgar rule, h
him is it possible for them to develop into well b
Mrs men and women? For generation after &
Grafton, teeth may be set on edge, beca
some long buried forefather had a passion
The sour grapes If the Young Mems Christ
"If Associations wish to make children "betw
his the ages of eight and sixteen years y W
alton they should be, let them, in these days Of
yn as rental neglect and of offences against the !;
n to of nature which are hardly to be named, S
3en'l to magnify the dignity of the parental OF
casts aud to impress upon the public mind the L
wine ful importance of parental responsibility. i
mer. Is something which cannot be delegated, an
fast involves devotion to duty for the neglec
d to which neither day schools nor Sunday sch
gen. can compensate. No parent can be sure [
thin under the closest watchfulness his child
they grow into well-rounded and useful charac
olfax but every parent may be sure that from an
nper- fort, arising either from weakness or indole
on to to escape an appointed task only misery in
,r bis ceivable is likely to arise. ~. r. Tribune
rmed - ""-'----
is a Vallejo, California, has a society of 20
MS of ladies pledged not to kiss any young man
an for ,,cas fohaooo II othars m ho E;sSad