The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1874-12-31
IFrom the Phrenoiogicai Journal
That Troublesome Boy.

arA dasnairitg father writes us; ! am
q. = loss a. 10 what to do with my son,
hoy of fifteen. who has so far beensyeh
brought up-that is to say, he has oeen
kept in school from his sixth year TO the
present-and he now plays truant, tells
lies. swears, smokes on the sly, and Is
ruinipg his health by bad personal
habit. learned from other boys. We his
mother and n have often corrected hun
most severely but without avail. de
has run away twice, and threatens to go
again. He has a desire TO become a
sailor. though he knows nothing ot-lt
save what he learns by reading seaesto-
ries We are more distressed about ms
untruthfulness and his secret bad habits
than anything else, fearing II these oe
not overcome that he will surely go to
destruction. and bring disgrace on his
name and kindred. What should be
done with him Any advice given by
letter (not through the Journal will be
cheerfully paid for. Truly yours.
We omit name and address, but print
both the letter and our answer, believing
il will hit other and similar cases. First.
we must inquire what have been the lads
associations; what were the relations be-
tween father and son; were they those
of intimacy, good fellowship and atfec-
ton, or were they those of severe author
Ivy On OAG SAICf anu vi ShAAnAhE ANtN- ~--
the other; was there love, trust, free
dom. or was there dread, coercion, ha-
tired Does the father use tobaecoY
Does he swear2 Or is he praying
MANI Like father like SON is an old
saying, and is more frequently true than
otherwise What part has the mother
PLAYED in the training of her son? Were
they not at least confidential friends?
Did she not teach him the sinfulness OF
sin and the beauty OF truthfulness, Integ-
rity, temperance, chastity and the noble
ness of pure and true manhood Or
did they quarrel, scold, fight, to ''see
which could whipY' Such scenes do oc-
cur between ignorant, ilLtempered moth
erssand unwelcome, Informed. and un-
fortunate sons.
But the boy is here His follies and
his crimes will not yet Justify imprison
ment nor death He cannot be lawfully
put out of the way. must be endured.
His parents are largely responsible for
his waywardness. Their unwise Whip
pings did no good Instead of govern
ing by love. they doubtless attempted to
do it by severity and by fear, and failed.
One thing, which may be done, is plac-
ing the boy in military school, or on
board of a school-ship, or in reformato-
ry-or let him choose pursuit for him
self, and then follow it. If trained in a
military school, or in naval school, he
will be disciplined, subdued, and taught
If in reformatory, wisely conducted, lit
will be the same. But to the one or the
other he should go. If placed on ship
board he will not run away" and he
may make a navigator. If in a military
school, he will be taught engineering
and other useful subjects, besides the arts
of war, which can be turned to good ac-
count in civil pursuits
But why not take him into partnership
at home? If the father be farmer, a
mechanic manufacturer, or merchant,
take the lad in and teach him the bust
ness. The boy is here, in this world,
not:of his own choice, but for a purpose,
and it devolves on the agents of his exis-
tence to put him in the way of educa-
tion, development improvement, useful
ness and happiness. He is not to be
kicked and cuffed about like a dog, and
then expected to exhibit angelic Aquali-
ties. Would it not be as we'll for men
and women first to qualify themselves
for the high and sacred duties of parent
age before entering into the relations of
wedlock? Should they not first learn
how to govern themselves? Should they
not anticipate the wants and necessities
of offspring, and provide therefor? We
hold parents largely responsible for the
success or the failure of their children.
A certain parish. schoolmaster in the
south of Scotland was, much annoyed by
the obtuseness of one of the pupils in
committing to memory the metrical YER
sion of the Psalms of David, portion of
which is generally allotted to each pupil
as Sunday task One Monday morn
ing Tam, as usual, was unable to repeat
even the smallest portion of his psalm:
Turning to the class, the master inquired
if any of them had seen Tam on the pre-
vious day, or if they knew how he en-
ployed his time This appeal for infor-
nation was at once answered by a cho-
rus of voices; one boy calling out that he
saw him "guddling" minnows in the mill
burn; another that he met him seeking
for birds nests third caught him
bathing in the linn; and fourth saw
him pestering his grandfathers ass down
in the meadows During this brief col
loquy, however, Tam found time to re-
call his scattered recollections, and he
cut short further depositions by starting
in low and plaintive tone his allotted
psalm:
"Oh Lord, how are my foes increased u
Against me many rise"
which he repeated to the end It is
needless to add that further proceedings
against him were stayed for that day.
The two words Asit' and ''set" are too
often mistaken for each other When a
grammar class is asked, for the first time,
if it is right to say "hens set, the "court
sets" one-half of them, perhaps will vote
one1..way and the other half the rother.
The court means the judge or judges
the Judge sits, the court sits, the jury sits,
hens sit, birds sit. Setting hen,is wrong
hens are not .setters'e or pointers. Set
requires an obiective.case; we.set a chair.
butlwe.sit insit. There is'a similars diff
culty.in the use of ''lie" and "lay" In
families whose hens ''set." everything
'lays" and all .."lay.abed. Thesquoted
words are wrong. Lay imeanssto place,
and Erequires an objective, as, "the hen
lays eggs" Now lay me-" We should
say the sbook lies on thestable; he lies
abed; lies low; every body lies, if you
please, but nobody lays unless? he has
something toalay.
A Hardshell preacher wished to bring
forth good illustration, as he thought,
and hence he took .carnat. as he called
it, into the pulpit with him, and some
thing to crack it with. On holding it up,
in the course of his sermon, he said: my
friends, you see this warnut-well. this
outer hull here is like the Methodists
soft and spongy, with no strength in it;
see, / even break it with my fingers,
and suiting the actions to the words, he
disclosed the inner hull and said, "this is