Wyandot County Republican. [volume] (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1869-1903, 1871-11-16
HOME TRAINING.

The training OF any man, even the
wisest, can not fail to be powerfully int1u-
enced by the moral surroundings of his
early years. He comes into the world help
less, and absolutely dependent upon those
about him for nurture and culture. From
the very first breath that he draws his edu-
cation begins When mother once asked
clergyman when she should begin the
education of her child, then four years old,
he replied Madam, if you have not
begun already, you have lost those four
years. From the first smile that CLEANS
upon an infants chek your opportunity
begins"
The child is, as it were, laid at the gate of
new world, and opens his eyes upon.
things, all of which are full of novelty and
wonderment. At first it is enough for him
to gaze; but y-and-by he begins to see,
to observe, to compare, to learn, to store
up impressions and ideas; and under wise
guidance the progress which he makes is
really wonderful Lord Brougham has
observed that between the ages of eighteen
and thirty months child learns more of
the material world, of his own powers,
of the nature of other bodies, and even of
his own mind and other minds, than he ac-
quires in all the rest of his life. The knoWl-
edge which child accunulates, and the
ideas generated in his mind, during this
period are so important that if we could
imagine them to be afterward obliterated,
all the learning of a senior wrangler at
Cambridge or a hrst-clasSman at Oxford,
would be as nothing to it, and would
literally not enable its object to prolong
his existence for week. Homes, the
nurseries of children who grow up into
men and women, will be good or bad ac-
cording to the power that governs them.
Where the spirit of love and duty per-
vades the home, where head and heart
bear rule wisely there, where the daily
life is honest and yirtuous, where the gov
ernment is sensible, kind and loving-then
may we expect from such a home an issue
of healthy, useful, and happy beings, ca
pable, as they gain the requisite strength,
of following the footsteps of their parents,
of walking uprightly, governing them
selves wisely, and contributing to the wei
fare of those about them.
One good mother, said George Herbert,
is worth a hundred schoolmasters. In the
home she is tsloadstone to all hearts, and
loadstar to all eyes," Imitation of her is
constant-imitation which Bacon likens to
"a globe of precepts." But example is far
more than precept. 1t is instruction in ac-
ton. 1t is teaching without words, often
exemplifying more than tongue can teach.
In the face of bad example the best of pre-
cepts are of but little avail. The example
is followed, not the precepts. Indeed, pre-
cept at variance with practice is worse than
useless, inasmuch as it only serves to teach
the most cowardly of vices-hypocrisy
Even children are judges of consistency,
and the lessons of the parent who says one
thing and does the opposite are quickly
seen through The teaching of the friar
was not worth much who preached the vir-
tue of honesty with a stolen goose in his
sleeve.
Woman above all other educators, edu-
Gates humanity. Man is the brain, hut
woman is the heart of humanity; he its
Judgment, she its feeling; he its strength,
She its grace, ornament, and solace. Even
the understanding of the best woman seems
to work mainly through her affections.
And thus, though man may direct the in-
tellect, woman cultiyates the feelings,
which mainly determine the character
While he fills the memory, she occupies
the heart She makes us love what he can
only make us believe, and it is chiefly
through her that we are enabled to arrive
at virtue.
The respective influences of the father
and the mother on the training and de
velopment of cIarater are remarkably illus
trated in the life of st. Augustine Will,
Augustine's father, a poorfreeman of Tha
caste, proud of his sons abilities, endeavoret
to furnish his mind with the highest learn
ing of the schools, and was extolled by hi
neighbors for the sacrifices he made fo
that object, beyond the ability of hi
means" his mother, Monica, on the othe
hand, sought to lead her sons mind in tn
direction of the highest good, and witt
pious care counseled him to chastity, an.
amidst much anguish and tribulation be
cause of his wicked life, never ceased f
pray for him until her prayers were hear
and answered Thus her love at last tn
umphed, and the patience and goodness o
the mother were rewarded not only By th
conversion Of her gifted son, but also ofhe
husband Later in life, and after her hus
bands death, Monica, drawn by her affeC
ton, followed her son to Milan to watcl
! over him, and there she died when he wa
in his thirty third year But ii was in til
earlier period ofhis life that her exalnpi
and instruction made the deepest impre<
. sion upon his mind, aud determined his fu
ture character.
There are many similar instances of earl
impressions made upon child's min,
springing up into good acts late in life
after an intervening period of selfishnes
and vice. Parents may do all that the,
can to develop an upright and virtuou
character in their children, and apparentl
in vain. 1t seems like bread cast upon th
waters and lost. And yet sometimes i