The Indianapolis leader. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1879-1890, 1879-12-06
9 Whatsoever a Man Soweth that
shall he Reap"

of it?
No farmer ever sows wheat and
expects to reap crop of barley; rel
ther does he SOW oats and expect a
crop ofrye; but he expects to SOW and
to reap only of such as he has sown.
The stock. raiser expects only from
certain kinds and grades of stock he
will have only corresponding grade
or kind. The full breed will produce
full breed, while the mixed and mon
grel kind will bring the same. The
same is true of the elements. Heat
gives off heat, while ice will give off
cold. The honest, the upright, the
good and the true will give off like
qualities, while the evil, the deprav-
ed. the low and the vicious produce
the same evils.
The parents who are healthy and
strong, generally have strong, healthy
children; while parents who are
weak morally, socially, intellectually
and physically, generally their chill
dren will show at once all these marks
upon their bodies and minds, or upon
both How often and how terribly
are parents made to feel and to trem-
BILE when they know the many dread
evils they so continually are bringing
to bear upon their children. Look at
the scrofula, consumption, and scores
of other diseases preying upon their
vitals, while impure and poisonous
blood courses their every vein. God
says, 81 will visit the iniquities 9th
fathers upon their children, even unto
the third and fourth generation Of
them that hate me, and keep not my
commandments Then are not these
ills in most cases chargeable to par
ents? Is it not fearful thing for par
ents to be thus entailing misery upon
the unborn? Should you rest content
till you have rooted out the very
seeds of disease from your own bod
les? While it is criminal to disobey
any law, is it not more criminal to
disobey the laws of nature and oflife ?
Is it not criminal TO drink and fill
your body with disease and your
heart with murder? And he who
thus destroys his own mind and body;
can he become the father Of strong
bodied and strong-minded children ?
Like begets like. The stream can
not rise higher than its source. Can
the idle, vicious, indolent and base
produce that which is perfect2
AS certainly as bad colds and
coughs, neglected, will bring on con.
sumption and death, just that certain
" are We to blame if we do not cure
these evils. Then are parents not to
blame for their own weakness and
ignorance, when they know full well,
that they are not blessing either to
themselves or to the world, and that
they are continually thrusting thous-
ands into life without being able to
help society take care Of them? Can
the wicked and vile of earth estimate
the dread calamities being entailed
upon the world by such wretched
class of beings as those who hate God
and keep not his commandments are
continually raising up? Is not the
liar, the thief and the drunkard but
the children of like parents? Does
not the drunkard often inherit his
love for strong drink from drunken
parents
History teaches us that nearly all
Of our good and great men, have had
the best women on earth for mothers.
George Washington was the son of a
religious and pious mother. Profess
sor o. s. Fowler, the great American
Phrenologist, says that cit is not so
much what parents do, as it is what
they are, that controls their Off
spring" While we can hide our
faults from others, we cannot hinder
the young from partaking of all our
natures. Then should not parents
cease to do evil cease to poison your
hearts and minds, and cease to murder
these poor bodies, given us for wise
and good purposes, and learn that
whatever we SOW, that shall we also
reap.
Not only God but the vile sin
ner hi nself remembers all his sins
that he has committed. Though
scores of years may have elapsed, this
sin will never be etfaced from his
mind, and the remembrance of it will
continually fill his mind with fear.
Such being the fact, how all-impor-
tant to the young, that they carefully
avoid all sin, and strive to be right in
all things and at all times.
Those who commit these awful
crimes and sins in youth, breaking
away from all parental restraint, pro-
flaming the Sabbath and indulging
their evil passions, are laying up
treasure of sorrow and pain for all
coming life, here and hereafter The
seed you are now sowing will pro-
duce the bitter fruit of which we shall
forever and forever be compelled to
eat.
The poet. Keble SAYS: