The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-06-23
PARENTAL LOVE.

| PARENTAL LIVE.
The speaker then commenced his lecture by
describing the affections Of the heart, the first
of which was the affection between man and
man and man and woman, which was known
as friendship. This affection, which was the
theme of the poet, and frequently described in
both sacred and profane history, was pure and
simple, and constituted q tie which gave man
strength of purpose and ennobled his nature.
Another of the affections was love, not the
sensuous, sexual love, of which the poet
! treats, but the blending Of two souls into
one, the love of man and wife. Next, parental
love, which was the purest, grandest and most
beautiful of all the natural affections. The
love of parents for their offspring was like that
OF Christ for the souls He came to redeem
like the love of God for his creatures. After
dwelling at length upon the unselfshness of q
parents love, and upon its holy nature, the
speaker directed the attention Of his hearers to
IT'S DUTIES.
The first duty Of a parent, said he, is love.
Who could help loving the little. angel which
had been sent to take up its abode with them !?
But how little do parents realize the true love
they should give their offspring. To feed,
clothe and educate the child seems to be the
whole extent of the love of some parents.
There should always be present. to the child the
evidence of his parents love. Wwhat use is the
fathers reproof OF advice, or the frown on the
mothers brow, If the idea is not conveyed
with them that 1t is their very love which
causes the reproof or the frown? A father who
does not thus show bis love for his offspring at
all times, does not do his duty; ;and the mother
who does not-but such woman Is no
woman-she is parody, caricature Of
woman. Love must be shown in the eye
and on the lip. Do not say that this is un-
necessary-that child will not observe 1t. A
child is wonderfully acute, and observes close
ly. See how, out Of number of strangers In
room, he will at once select the one who
loves children, and go to him with all the
trust and confidence of childhood. The next
duty Is the education of children-an educa-
ton that hasto be given before that which is
acquired at the school or the college. The
father and mother must study the character OF
the child. This study will enable them to cor
rect the faults of the child as he grows older.
The speaker then dwelt upon the delights of
home and Its advantages, and denounced the
hotel, club and clearinghouse (where 1t was
not unsvoidable) where there was no home
life, and where the parents had no opportunity
of studying the character of their children. A
mother, said he, is the first Instructor. A dis
tinguished author has said that child js like a
rough block of marble, out of which the sculp-
an angel. So can the mother mould out of that
seeming inert block of marble the noblest of
natures. She must not scold him from her, but
must sympathize with him, listen patiently to
all of his troubles aud thus will she learn his
true character In her work, she will be as
sisted by the calm judgment Of the father, who
will thus correct the defects which the blind
ness of mothers love may have overlooked.
But thu. good example Of each will serve more
than all things else to impress upon the child's
mind The truths they have taught him. If the
father be not always respectful ana kind to
the mother, how will the child learn that re-
spect for the sex which is grace to the man
ly and chivalrous Unless the wife be always
respectful and loving to her husband. how can
she expect her child to obey, when she in
structs the child to reverence and obey him.
TRIALS
The delight of a man In his wife and child,
the bright picture Of his babe at home with his
wife, (Which he carried to, through, and from his
work, and of his wie's Joy with her child, were
glowingly described by the speaker, who then
proceeded to show what was one of the great
est trials of parental love, that is the mainte-
nance Of the child when poverty comes; and.
without work and unable to get 1t, he sees his
child sinking slowly for want OF the nourlsh-
ment he could not give. In this connection
the speaker described the strength of a moth
er's love for her child, and related an incident
of shipwreck, where a mother and a child
were left alone on q rudely-constructed raft,
and who, to supply her babe with nourlshment,
with her teeth lacerated her veins and arteries,
and with her lfe-blood the babe was kept
alive, while she died from the loss of thisNery
blood
Another trial, said the speaker, was the loss
of babe whose presence had gladdened the
hearts of Its parents, and in pathetic language
he portrayed their grief, especially that Of the
mother. At this time there was scarcely q
dry eye In the hall. In concluding this recital,
he said that none but woman could portray
the anguish Of mothers heart, and then read
part of the following poem by Miss Proctor,
which. by request Of a large number OF ladies
and gentlemen, we publish entire:
Links I'm Heaven.
BIZ ADELAIDE ANNE PROCTOR.
Our God In heaven, from that holy place
To each Of US an angel guide hath given;
But mothers OF dead children have more grace,
For they give angels to their God anu heaven.
How can mothers heart feel cold or weary,
Knowing her dearer self, safe, happy, warm;
How can she feel her road too dark or dreary,
Who knows her treasure sheltered from the
storm.
How can she sin? Our hearts may be unheed-
Our Cod forgot; our holy saints deGed;
But can mother hear her dead child pleading,
And thrust those little angel hands asidef
| Those little hands stretched down to draw her
Nearer to God by nother.love: we all
are ollnd ana weak, yet surely she can never,
With such stake In heaven, fail or fall.