The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1873-11-08
RELIGIOUS TRAINING OF CHILDREN
ABSTRACT OF A DISCOURSE, DELIVERED
BY REV. E. MILLER, IN THE METHo-
DIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, ELKToN.


90, and when he is old, he uW not depart
from it."-Proverb 90: 6.
There does not exist on earth more
interesting, and at the same time, more
helpless and dependant being than little
child. Born into this world without any
volition of it's own, and without any power
to shape its own destiny. it has commenced
an existence that will have no end; an
existence that will run parallel with that of
the Deity himself. That little child, now
so helpless and dependant, will, one day,
stand up in the manhood of its being, a
blessing or a curse to society, eXerting an
influence for veal or for woe, on hundreds,
perhaps thousands of other deathless spir-
it's. Though now without any intellectual
or moral developments, that little child
possesses a nature that elevates it in the
scale of being above the proud monarch of
the forest, or the huge Leviathan of the
deep. 1t has susceptibilities that will one
day bring it into association with the tall,
bright spirits of Heaven, or the dark DEM
ons of the neither world. Yet, with that
elevated nature, and those high suscepti-
bilities, look at it now. Physically, it is
perfect weakness; morally, it is without
impression; intellectually, without ideas
or expansion. And what is still worse, it
is without any resources within itself.
Every step, in the progress of its develop
ment, must depend on means exterior to
itself. You must nourish its body with
food, Or it dies; you must implant intel
lectual ideas, or the mind remaius a blank;
you must instill the principles of virtue,
or vice gains dominion. But perhaps the
most important consideration here is, that
that little child is now as clay in the hands
of the potter, ready to receive any impress
sion, shape, or form, you may choose to
give it. And as its childhood and youth
is, so will its manhood be. For human
nature, for the most part, is just what it is
trained up to be. AS in the natural, SO in
the moral WORLD
Just as the twig is bent the trees inclined
1t was said of John Q. Adams, that " the
child was the father of the man." And
the same, we suppose, might be said, OF
nine tenths of the human family. The
leading traits of character generally begin
to "crop out in childhood; and the fu-
ture man depends mainly on the manner
those traits are suffered to ripen into ma
turity.
1t is true, indeed, that some, after reach
ing mature years, do entirely change their
course of life. But those are the excep-
tions, not the rule Hence if we look out
upon society, ard mark the leading devel-
opments in the case of the rising genera
ton, and the leading influences that give
shape to those developments, we may form
pretty correct idea of what the next gen.
Grafton will be. In harmony with this
view are the teachings of Scripture. Said
God of Abraham, 81 know him, that he will
command his children and his household
after him, and they shall keep the way of
the Lord to do justice and judgment; that
the Lord may bring upon Abraham that
which he hath spoken of him." ''Train up
a child in the way he should CO. and when
he is old, he will not depart from it.
There are two ways by which children
reach maturity. One is by "coming up,"
spontaneously, as it were; the other is by
being trained up. Those of spontaneous
growth are generally very marked charac-
tiers. Their distinguishing traits easily
betray, not their raising, but their want of
it. You may know them by their disre-
gard of parental authority; their want of
reverence for religion and its institutions;
and sometimes by their fondness for the
,,ard-table, the bar-room, and the mid
night revel; and sometimes by their prom
inence at riots and other gatherings that
disturb the public peace.
Those that are trained up are the exact
antipodes of the unframed. They have
opposite qualities of mind and heart, and
opposite characteristics of life. Now it is
this training that claims our attention at
present.
"Train up child in tile uay lie should
co."
But what is that way? If this question
related only to this world, and involved
nothing more than future profession or
occupation in life, it might be safely left
to the judgment of the parent; or, perhaps
to the inclination OF the child. But "the
way he should CO." evidently means the
way of piety and virtue; the way that in
wolves the duties he owes to God, to him
self, and to his fellow beings. What those
duties are, is not left to erring human ma
ture to determine. The Bible has settled
that beyond controversy or evasion. To
God we owe fear, love, trust, worship, and
obedience. To man we owe truth. JUS
tice, fidelity, mercy, and benevolence. To
ourselves we owe chastity, temperance, and
purity.
Now, it is in the practice of those duties
that children are to be trained. And this
training will require three things-the
enlightenment of the mind, the subiuga-
tion of the WILL and the cultivation of the
affections.
But how is this training to be effected?
1. By means Of instruction. Children
should not be treated as brute beasts with
whom coertion is the principle motive to
obedience. Their rational nature should
be recognized and made the basis of their
training. Hence the fist thing to be Sc
cured, is the enlightenment of the mind,
and the formation of the conscience. This
makes instruction necessary, because the
mind has no innate religious ideas. In
other words, such ideas do not arise in the
mind from the instincts of nature. as do
ideas of food, clothing, protection, &c.
Religious ideas are revealed ideas. They
come to us from God himself though the
medium of his word and works. And it is
the province of instruction to convey such
ideas to the mind.
Now, in regard to religious instruction,
we have several remarks to make. In the
first place, 1t should begin early,-iust as
early as the child is capable of receiving
ideas of God and divine things. You may
begin when the child is three or four years