The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1871-08-19
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"
my dear sir. do you know how
your boy is behsving2 Douyou
know that he 10 playing truant from
getting into bad company,
and learning the ways Of wicked
ness p --o 4. 7t.s IS ob 10
ooh! we'll, he is young now.
BY and by he will hate more sense,
and quit his foolishness.' A'i'
And il was not q naturalgborn
fool that used this sianguage either,
but man Of fine mind, superior
education, and Of Christian pro-
fession. sa4 Z" i'''AS'' - 80
This is sometimes the way in
which indolent parents waive aside
the warnings Of their best and
wisest friends. -..kf.a
And how did this waiting for
sense result2 just as it will al.
ways end The boy made rapid
strides in the school of wicked
ness, ran away, to . great city,
plunged into nameless Woes, drag
ged himself home, not as the pro.
digal penitent, but as a body pu-
trescent, to die in his father 3 house
a heart breaking disgrace to par
ents, and a scandal to, all who knew
him.
And yet, to day, myriads Of par
ents are waiting until the period
OF sowing wild oats is passed, and
indulge the infatuated hope that
Wild oats sown will produce whole
some wheat and corn. =.
The truth is, this waiting for
sense is leaving the wayside house
empty for occupation by banded
rufffans, who, when once establish.
ed, are not going to be frightened
or driven out by . feeble old man
throwing tufts Of grass and wads
of lamentations. slt saf taGis
And, again, it is not an affair of
sense at all, but a matter of habit,
and, above all, of grace.
Did those parents or teachers
take those boys into their private
rooms, carefully teach them with
the open Bible, kneel by their eide
in earnest prayer, put before them
faithful examples, with the, nse Of.
proper discipline. trusting them to
the grace of God? !aa. tad1 sas2
If this is not done in time, it
never will be done later II We
cannot or will not when children
are very young, we shall have no
face or heart to break in with a new
routine when they are older, and
our own reluctance is stereotyped
into hardness. sos- j., =.
Sometimes We have been tempted
to believe that God made q great
mistake in putting such tremendous
passions into juvenile nature, be-
fore reason, reflection, conscience,
and experience have asserted their
power and influence fully. But it
is all right. Passion is simply the
locomotive power, and it draws
Whatever it is hitched on to. The
question is, how shall it be linked ?
for character cannot be developed
without it. A boy or adult with
out passion may be d milksop, a
putty ball, q nonent:ty. who can
not stand without leaning Up
against the side of house, but
be will never make a man, and
never carve his mark in this OBJ
stinate and wicked world.
Now, We hurrah for for the bois
ferrous, the tearing, the overboil.
ing boys. The ablest men are
only enclosed pots of boiling water
fastened upon wheels but they
carry that suppressed and rugula
ted force which risides in passions
governed by principle, moving
along the iron track of duty.
During this formative period, it
is given to parents and teachers to
instruct, to guide and enforce and
those parents are worse than insane
who wait in the idle dream tha
''sense" will come along by and by
and repair the damage caused by
their neglect.
Many young man to-day in
prison, or hospital, or eating husks
in the prodigal's land, curses father
and mother for their terribly guilty
laxness and utter want of parental
wisdom. Woe to the parents who
weakly resign their commission:
and shirk those obligations which
God mas pu: upon them, and which
they had no right to assume un,
less they meant honestly to fulfi
them in the fear of God Le
none Of us make this mista ke.-TS
S. Workman. 81 if ~