The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1880-05-19
Parents Responsibilities.

DIR. JOHN HALL ON THE IMPORTANCE OF
A RELIGIOUS TRAINING FOR CHILDREN.
AT the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian
church the annual sermon in behalf of
the American Sunday School Union was
delivered by DIR. John Hall, who took
for his text, How shall we order the
child, and how shall we do unto him p
These words, said the speaker, were ut
tered by the father of Samson to the
angel sent to predict the birth of him
who should be the deliverer of his peo-
pie. He was to be Nazarite unto God,
and he was moreover endowed with
supernatural abilities for the supernatural
work which God gave him to perform.
His parents were anxious that he should
be properly trained for his work, and it
was under this anxiety that the ques-
ton In the text was put. l am speak
ing to many parents, said the preacher,
to whom this question directs itself. God
has blessed your children, and in the
very nature of the case you must be their
first and earliest teachers. You are re-
sponsible for the manner in which you
teach them and for the way in which
you mould their youthful minds. If you
sorrow to you as well as to them. In
how many instances are boys and girls
of respectable parents sent to school
after school in the hope of correcting
the evil which has grown up at home and
which threatens to cling on through
life? And this is too often the result of
employing strangers to instruct children,
In whose youthful minds are thus sown
evil seeds which are difficult to eradicate
AS an illustration l have known the
children Of Christian parents to give
alteration daily at their prayers to the
Virgin Mary for months and months be-
fore their parents found it out Moth
ing can relieve parents who are we'll to
do from the responsibility of personally
seeing to the early education of their
children. The children Of poor parents,
however, are unavoidably exposed in
many ways to evil influences. and it is
almost impossible for them to escape i'm
moral contagion. Take your children to
God and ask His advice as to how you
shall train them that they may make
good good men and women.
The Church accepts the responsibility
for the moral and religious training of its
children. Do not suppose that when
your children have been baptized that
that is all that is necessary. They are
then in the Church, but they are not of
the Church until they come to the Lord s
table. The Church, in common with the
parent, is bound to do everything it can,
morally and spiritually, for her children.
We do not stand here alone-we are part
of great community 1t is a disgrace
full fact that men of means show very
little public spirit. We have not read
the Bible Alright if it does not induce us
to condemn that man who selfshly
wraps himself in his individuality and
says, " Am | my brothers keeper" We
have secured universal suffrage, and we
must make the best of it; but it is easy to
see how it may be abused We can see
it here in New York, where public af-
fairs are so badly administered and taxa
ton is so enormous that the great mid
die class cannot live in the city, owing
to the cost of h3uses. Then again there
are vast numbers of immigrants con-
stantly coming to our shores many of
whom are just the material that dem
agogues make use Of The moment there
is pressure for food or for employment
| fear that through this class there will
be strain put upon our institutions that
will be difficult to bear Religious train
ing is almost abandoned in the public
schools, and the only hope for the future
safety Of the nation lies in the efforts Of
the American Sunday School Union
" Y. Herald.
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