The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1879-09-18


surprised that children taken from or
phansges, picked up from the streets,
Or adopted from houses Of refuge, do
sometimes, after years of honest train
ing. obey some latent instinct Of vice,
and turn out dishonest and low; but So
ciety il never prepared to see the chill
dren Of the respectable and the good
known to have been carefully rearef and
to have had ret before them q virtuous
example, develop into lswless and wick
ed youths. Yet who of extended ac-
quaintance. cannot recall q sad process
sion of such as these, and in families
where the moral and religious example
was Of q positive nature, and the par
ents, instead Of being thoughtless and
neglectful, gave to the guidance Of their
children their utmost wisdom and loving
carer Do rebelious, ungrateful, wicked
sons receive some special Inspiration Of
evil to make them unaccountably oppo-
site to any thing they have been taught
or learned at homer And what mystery
Of fate or providence Il this that defies
the universal law of cause and effect, and
often reserves for the conscientious and
the painstaking parental bosom the keen
anguish that would seem the natural har-
vest of the careless and the unreffecting!
In searching for the cause, We think
We find that doing every thing for chill
dren, and leaving them almost nothing
to do for themselves, is productive Of
some of this evil. The average child Of
the middle and upper classes in life has
multiplied opportunities = educational
and religious-where his parents had few,
helps to mental Improvement, leisure for
accomplishments, time for recreation,
provision for amusement and little or
nothing demanded in tbs way of tasks
pertaining to the supply Of his own
wants.
Parents in very moderate circumstan-
ces take upon themselves hard lives Of
toll and self-denial, that their children
may have such advantages and such free
dom from care as seems to them viii
make the latter both happy and good.
Fathers and mothers expect by this
plan to develop in their children only
their better propensities. diminish their
temptations, and while they make of
them ladies and gentlemen, prevent also
any excuse for lawlessness and wrong
doing.
After giving their sons no other hard
ships than the learning Of. their school
tasks. parents are grievously and justly
disappointed 10 see them in their young
manhood disposed to self-indulgent, IT,
dolent lives, strong only in selhshness
and obstinacy in pursuing easy, down.
grade paths of sin.
nthere Is will l-power enough to scheme
for self-9ratidcation, and to overcome
obstacles in the way Of gross appetites,
il should not be wanting in the ability to
keep religious vows. to protect inviolato
pledge, or to hold to habits of an hon.
est manhood. Self-reliance united to
the Christian faith il imperative in form
ing symmetrical character. Ministers
cannot carry their recreant boys to the
good7world; mothers can love and do
for, and teach and pray for their grow
sons, but they cannot compel them to
lives of virtue If the sons choose othec-
wise. The Sunday school can make
known the commandments, but it can
not enforce their keeping. or oblige any
to accept the provisions Of the gospel.
The excuse Of irrssponsibility is ss old
- Adam. and has wrought much mis-
chief. The pulpit is powerless. the
Church impcteDt. pure homes are inef-
fectual, il . young man Wills to follow
the baser promptings of his nature.
There il no more need Of tho sons of q
family turning out badly than there is of
the average daughter. II they make
equal effort ct self-control.
The ranks of fallen women are mainly
recruited from the lowest social strata,
and society does not tolerate the pres
ence OF . woman whose name is not
above suspicion. But the good family
Of q debased youth tides him over all So
cial distractions, and he is admitted
among tho best, though his victim IL for
ever under ban. The world is so ready
to overlook the mistakes and follies and
even the grave errors Of young men,
they have every encouragement to ref
ormation-they are 20 heartily reinsta-
ted, trusted. helped. Bad habits are
contagious, and are often picked up and
practiced, until real disgust or growth
Of better sense causes them TO be put
aside for ever, like youths worn-out
or ou:-grown garments. Perhaps NO
permanent harm results, and every one
forgets the folly and forgives the boy.
{ But for the crimes against society
which are deliberate. and from first to last
are earthly, sensual, ,devilish, mo soft excu-
ses are to be spoken. To premcditaded
villainy Christian charity does not ap-
ply. Occasionally, by . swift retribu-
ton, the dark paths Of young mans
life are suddenly laid bare, and the
shame and sorrow that oveswhelm
guilty wropgdoer and innocent friends
prove anew how surely he that sows to
the wind must reap the whiriwind.
The son, the brother, IL the center Of
hope in the family. II he does we'll, all
are proud of him II he il tempted, all
are anxious. There cannot be warmth
and light and elegance enough in pala-
tisl homo to make it cheerful, II the son
spends his evenings where he should
not; but the house need not be wide or