The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1871-09-07
FCULTTY -ATING THE CIVIL VIRTUES
From the New York Tribune.

I From the New York Tribunes
Tt take 5 but three or four nuggets O.
ftrutls daily lodged IN. . young mind tc
ma Ite the foundation of a character like
1.-The street s ofthe New Jerusalem -p1ge
gold. The difficulty in thousand
mothers ;and teachers, is that instead OF
Iputting t he gold there in nuggets, they
hammer it out fiat and propose to plaster
it all oFel the foundation stones, and SO
I'VE get man that is simply a gilded
character. For instance, a cousin Of ours
has unboI nded ambition about her bow
She wie]D4 him to repeat the Command.
ments,- to Lords Prayer, the Greed, the
Sermons l the Mount, the 10Th charter
OF lst Ger lnthians, the 10th, the 5Ist, the
2Cthb anc4 the 1880 Psalms she wants him
ITO be pqd tie, to be energetic, 20 be re-
old people, devout on Sunday,
studious on other days, ohaste in his Ian,
:g1agerT wi thout a spot on his collar or a
dog. ear / his arithmetic.
The fin ndamental difficulty with ker
anda tho usand such is that in vain en-
deaYontc keep alls the commandments,
they ne9n 9r know which are the weightier
matters f the law and which are Simply
mint, 9ni e and cummin. That lad Of
hers Is fine boy, but he is uncertain. In
his m5Dc which is. the greater impropDie.
ty,, -tei 1r his pantaloons climbing after
cherries or to tell lie; he knows that
either Q { these oEenses Will get him a
roproof.
Nqw the vital thing in the foundation
OF chars 'cter is tc'have only few founAa
tl9n $50 mes, but those few are to be- like
the val Is of Mount Zion, not to be moved
out ed heir places. Great mischief has
been done by supposing that civil Tir-
tues are good foc"nothing unless they are
linked with prayer meeting viEtues
Dons attempt bomake your boy a saint,
or o model OF pronriety, or a walking
Chesterfield make sure that he Will, not
Lie, that he Will not cheat, that hel will
nos steal, that he,obeys his parents, and
observes the Sabbath, and let the minor
virtues take care. of themselves.
What pitiful thing it is in schools. in
families, nay, "a pnlpits, to meet wish
men that glisten,all over like a newpaper
collar with the elegancies and DropTie-
ties OF life, men who are clean, polite and
we'll informed, men versed in literature
in science end. I'M the Scriptures, but
whom, upon handling them and dealing
with them we, find, honey -combed, from
end to end with the dry rot of q. Great
vice, such as lewdnesS or pilfering, or hy-
pocrisy, or selfshness.
o. all virtues, VIC. rank Truth Ggst. The
boy, the girl that Will not lie, that can
be depended upon to tell the truth will
make good man, good woman, and
will command the confidence all above
and all beneath ahem from childhood to
old age. Yet Lying is passed over in
children as, a veaial sin. Boys, cheat in
their little Trades with each othar, and
the one who gets the best erdlof she bar
gain is called SMART. They slip off from
obedience to parentel commands or can
swer back and the offense is,oxerlooked
as trivial. ThAs are formed slippery"
characters, and the hearts Of indulgent
rents,brought to grief.
1t is,all very we'll for boys and girls to
repeat Scripture we would, have them
thoroughly conversant with the sacred
oracAes; it IS right and proper that they
should, attend the stated means of grace
and tone UP their morality every day
with bible readings at the family altar,
but unless the love of truth is fixed deep
in their hearts, the habit of obedience is
fixed in their lives ana honesty charac-
terizes all their dealings, with each otAen.
they will grow up talse-hearted, unsrust-
worthy, and never attain the true man
hood and and true W0manhood. Should
severe temptations assaiA them when par
ents can no longer shield them,, what
barrier shall interpoee between Thanh and
utter moral ruin.