Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-12-18
written for the Herald.l
The Children an society. 4
NO. xxxvI.

The practical question here arises,
how shall parents protect their children
from the public perils which surround
/ them
In answering this inquiry, | may first
suggest, in general, we must rely mainly
upon the pleasant home, and faithful
home-training. To save our children
from the corrupting influences of bad
associates, they must be separated from
them as much as possible. To this end
let home be made pleasant and attractive
Throw around it every charm, and open
withinit the sources of every rational
| enjoyment. Children must be amused,
and if they do not find such amusement
at home as their natures crave, they will
seek them abroad, amid corrupting pub
| lie influences.
There are sports and games that are
Harmless in the family circle, that would
lead to dissipation and crime if INDUCED
in in the littlesclub houses and saloons
where the reckless and profane
are accustomed to congregate.
And the practical question for
parents to settle is whether they
will provide these means of home
enjoyment for their children, or leave
| them to spend their long evenings and
rainy days away from home protec-
ton and with companions of doubtful
character No sensible parent, as it
! seems to me, can be long in doubt as to
the question of duty in case so plain
1t is idle to talk of holding and restrain
ing these children by the force of au-
thority alone, in such matters; it is wise
to interest them at home, and thus pro
tect them from the contagion of corrupt
associations.
To the same end parents should en-
courage and patronize such public enter
tainments as are harmless and profitable,
that their children may be occupied and
| protected from the exciting and dissipat
ing influences of such exhibitions as arr
given by Jim Crow and Company.
and kindred troupes, through the length
and breadth of our land. They pervcrt
the public taste, and corrupt the morals
| of every community, and cannot fail to
reach our children and youth whose
time and attention are not better ocCu-
pied. ...-...~.. .....
Social neighborhood gatherings for the
young and the old, with their sports and
games; the lyceum with its debating
club and public, literary and scientific
lectures, are among the best substitutes
for these demoralizing attractions of tn"
outside world.
And how shall our children be protec.
ted from the fearful influence of cor
rupt literature
1t is of the first Importance to culti-
vate in them taste for the solid branch
es and hard study. In this way the
ground win be preoccupied. The student
whose time is earnestly devoted to the
study of language, mathematics and the
sciences, will also be interested in his
| tory and the standard works of English
| literature. He will have no taste for
| the dissipating and and corrupting novel
which is thrown in his way. 1t is the
| idle brain that Graves the excitement of
clpHned mind that murders time IN por-
ing over senseless stories. s.s
If the taste is not perverted, the time
of our children will be fully occupied in
profitable study and reading. Correct
habits of thought and action will grow
with their growth, and strengthen with
their strength, until they are fortified
against the influences of a corrupt litera-
ture; to the same end parents should organ
| ize to establish town and village libraries;
which should be selected with the great
est care for the free use of every family
| These should contain booksof reference,
history, biography, science and litera-
ture books of criticism, travels and re-
views. From them should be excluded
all merely sensational and immoral
works of fiction. Such libraries are use
| full not only to occupy the time that
would otherwise be worse than wasted
by many, but they furnish substantial
aids to self-culture and improvement.
Great care must also be exercised in
the selection of magazine and newspaper
reading. Amid these the serpent is
more often coiled, and through them his
poison is diffused. Parents should scru-
pulously exclude from their homes and
their public reading rooms all this spu-
rious and cOrrupting literature, whether
found in the monthly, aoeekIy or daily.
Their children will thus avoid the temp
tation and the danger, and will be left
to feed upon more healthy diet and to
breathe purer atmosphere.
With these precautions and safeguards
thrown about them, they will be COM
paratively safe. But the great import
ance of moral and religious culture
to prepare them to escape the corrupting
influences of society, cannot be overes-
timated The great point to be gained
in the discipline of the family, is the
formation of character But character
must be built upon principle, and prin-
ciple must draw its vitalizing power
from the pure morality of the gospel.
External circumstances are important,
but internal motives control the will and
regulate the life. Hence, our children,
to be safe in the midst of public perils,
must be ''pure in heart, and fully es-
tablished in the habits of right thought
and action.
Human life is battle field in which
each youth finds himself opposed by hos
tile enemies who seek his destruction
Without strength and experience, he is
unequal to the contest. He must first
DC RudIu6u anu SuSldIllCu ny LuC NlRl-
lance, wisdom and strength of those
whom God has placed over him. Pa
rental discipline must create and devel-
OPP self-reiance, and direct and control
self-eultare. Surrounded by every
means of. protection, he must be taught
to fight his own battles, and gain his
own victories, even to the attainment Of
noble manhood or womanheod. So
may our children Withstand the corrupt /
ing and ensnaring influences of society,
if they are armed with the "breasplate
of righteousness, the 'tshield of faith, y
the 'shelmet of salvation" and the
Sword of the spirit, which is the word
of God. 4 l...... ~, PARENs.
STREET IEeIDENT IN DETROIT. Says
the Detroit Free Press, There is an old
goat owned on Lewis street, which. has
received great deal. of training from
the boys. Last Fourth of July they dis