Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1879-12-05
A Juvenile Sermon.

"A JuVeuue SeImOu.
Proverbs, xix. 26. HE that wasteth
bis father and chAseth away his mother
il soc that causeth shame and bring
eth reprosch."
Many 4 rainy day has passed since
the rainy Sunday in Chicago, years ago.
when . person now present, and an
umbrella long passed away. went to st.
James Church to listen to the Bishop
OF Minnesota. With true human ma
ture and Christian self-indulgence the
old folks Of the parish stopped ct home
on account Of the weather, but sent the
tender little ones through the tempest
to answer u the roll-call at Sunday
school, and listen to the chanting Of the
Lisauy, accompanied by the diapsson
Of the thunder cloud. As the man
with the umbrella saw the little ones
returning. vet and bedraggled, to the
homes where papa and mamma had
been SO comfortable throughout the
storm, he nursed the rebellious thought
that the sunshiny influences of home
might have been Is profitable as q
shower Of catechisms to those tender
blossoms which can never die. 1t was
evident that good Bishop Wbipple
thought SO to for. instead of reading
the written sermon, he cast it away aud
said "a few words to these children,
which, perhaps, the few older people
present may afford to listen to-" In
the story of Joseph and his brethren,
he showed the holy type of the medi-
alton, and that Of such as little children
is the Kingdom of Heaven. 1t was full
of pleasure and hope for the babies,
and solemn thought for the older ones.
We thought of that sermon yesterday
morning when we saw eleven children
convicted of crime in Judge Brown
ing's court. Think of it, fathers and
mothers Eleven children, on Monday
morning. The day before was Sunday.
If seven of those boys had been in a
happy home, or in Sunday. school,
they would not have been stealing rope
from a raft at the rivers edge. They
would not have been sent to Jail for ten
days. The biggest one among them
didn't appear to be more than fourteen
years old the smallest was little fell
low-just out of his babyhood-not as
high as the table. They all laughed as
they pleaded guilty, and didn't seem to
care tig. What sort of life is be-
fore these children? What are their
parents doing for them?
Two others were arrested for viO-
lating the ordinance in regard to public
bathing. The misdemeanor is, of
course, slight one, and we mention it
to show how slight an offense may
bring boy into a criminal court, and
familiarize him with things of which
there is no present necessity of his
knowing anything. Another little boy,
not more than ten years old, was sent
to the reform school at Eldora, he be.
ing utterly incorrigible and beyond the
control OF his mother. His sister, a
girl of fifteen, went to the reform
school ut Monut Pleasant.
We do not believe in depravity. We
do not believe that these children, with
proper attention, proper education and
proper affection on the part of their
parents, would have thus gone astray.
Some Of them, perhaps. are past
preaching to now. This sermon is for
fathers and mothers who have children
whom they love more than they them
selves will know, until they find their
little ones in similar trouble aud dis
grace. The man whose duty calls him
abroad at all hours, sees many youth.
full wanderer on our streets. The pale
light of the midnight stars shows, as
plain as the blaze of the midday sun,
the down.hill paths through which
these young feet are running races. It
is the neglect or indifference of parents
" that causeth shame and bringeth re-
proach."
How can all this sorrow and suffering
be avoided? BY the daily influence Of
that most sacred of all secret places,
the home. Make it a pleasanter place
for your boys and girls than any other
place in the world. Make it so at
tractive that it will so govern their
tastes that, when they are not there,
you can be sure that they are in some
other good place. Use the influence
thus gained to teach them, first, hon
esty next, self-respect; and next, in
telligence. 1t is u sad fact, but "pity
It's, It's true" that more than nine.
tenths of our criminals are compare
lively ignorant people. These poor
young ones at the police court didn't
have any of the air of the school house
about them. Our schools are plenty,
and AS free as water. When they are
there, they are in far less mischief than
when they are out !; and every good
thing which they learn is morsel of
refinement that will last all their lives.
Let them work at school and be happy
ut home. Let them be watched. Weed
their minds as you would weed poorer
garden, and they will neither waste q
father nor chase away q mother, or
cause shame, or bring reproach. -
Hamkeye.
General Garibaldi is described rs
looking we'll, but pale and thin. He is
anxious as to the issue of his
divorce case, which was to have been
decided in the Court of Appeal on the
7th OF August. A curious incident oc.
Cured at the LAST trial. The young
King, who has chivalrous admiration
for the old General, said, while the
trial was pending, II hope he will
succeed, 'povero vecchio.'" Some OF.
hcious person Garrett the phrase to the
judges as they were celebrating, with
the addition that the King desired that
they would pronounce a favorable yer.