Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1872-10-31
[Original.]
FAMILY GOVERNMENT.

A family is nation in miniature. All the
nations of the earth are made up of families,
and the whole partakes Of the general COM
plexion of the several individuals. Every
individual, who in the providence Of God has
been made the ruler of a household, is aware
that to discharge his duty properly is no easy
matter. As rule, children carry out the
practices which their parents taught them in
infancy and childhood. The precepts which
parents endeavor to instill into their offspring
are generally good the manner in which they
choose to impress these good precepts upon
the minds Of their children is often wrong.
Parents often teach their children to do what
is right and proper whilst they themselves do
what the children know to be wrong. In
every such case the practice is followed by
the children and the precept disregarded.
This is natural. It is only what we would
expect. The profane father need not give
his children lessons on the sin Of profanity.
His lessons will never be learned at least they
will never be practiced. The child under
such circumstances may very properly reply
to the parent, "Thou that teachest, thou shalt
shalt not swear, dost thou sweag2"
But parents often err in the manner in
which they teach precepts which they them
selves practice. Some are too lenient, and
Others are too harsh. Some, like Eli of old,
say "It is no good report hear of you, my
children" and there the matter ends. Others
again take the opposite extreme They are
harsh and cruel The child is treated more
like vicious beast of prey than human
being. From tender infancy until the period
when its minority ceases, the child is abused
and censured for every little fault and beaten,
often numerically, for every wrong act. The
result is fearful. What it may be was de-
signed for good, becomes in the very nature
of things terrible evil. The whole nature
of the child is changed. 1t becomes vicious
in nature and worthless in all its habits.
Like Gagged tiger it longs to get away from
the fathers house that it may give full vent
to its pent up passions and appetites. 1t
hates home, hates its father; in fact hates it.
self, and apparently, does every thing to bring
ruin upon itself and infamy upon its parents.
These are no imaginary cases. 1t would
be good thing for the world if they were.
There are many young persons whose parents
are running them both for time and eternity
by kindness and perhaps an equally great
number who are destined ultimately to be
driven to desperation by wickedly cruel
family government.
1t is evident that the right course lies be-
tween the two extremes. Every parent
should first learn to govern himself. 1t is
useless to attempt the government Of others
until we are able to control ourselves. Par
ents should be prudent. If there is any one
thing that the human family need more than
another, after the grace of God, it is prudence.
In fact, one of the legitimate works Of the
grace of God, is to make men prudent. A
graceless parent will generally fail to govern
bis family for the good of society and the
the glory of God. Nothing but the grace OF
prudence will keep parents from running
headlong into extremes. We might conclude
this article by saying that the most deformed
thing in the universe is a badly-governed
family. There is moral and social deformi-
ty in it, which beggars description.