Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1881-08-31
Father and Son.

I" If you wish to train up your child in the
way he should go, Just skirmish ahead on
that line yourself" said wise Josh Billings,
and if he was not addressing fathers or
thinking of boys he ought to have been
The writer was present once at social re-
ligious meeting, when avery large man with
a very large nose, and no doubt very large
heart, also, arose and used his space of time
to tell what a good mother he had, and how
her influence had guided him, and iiniOhsd
good men of their boys. The divines fol-
lowed in similar strain and ended with the
same exhortation, and all the brethren set
tied themselves more comfortably into their
seats, and all the sisters bowed their heads
with meek faces as ii sweetly taking up the
heavy burden thus fitteringly laid upon
their frail shoulders. No, not all for one
sat bold upright, too indignant for speech, to
see those great broad-shouldered men thus
calmly shirking the greatest responsibility
God ever called them to bear. Because some
mothers blessed with mighty faith and pow
| erful will, have borne their sons triumphantly
over the quicksands of youthful temptations
and planted their feet firmly on the pleasant
upland of righteous manhood, shall it be de-
manded of every frail woman to whom God
has given a son, that she do the same No !;
with equal Justice it might be demanded Of
every woman that she write books like Mrs
Stowe, entrance large audiences like Miss
Willard and Anna Dickinson, or be a bril-.
liant newspaper correspondent like Mary
Clemmer. What weight has mother:
word when weighed against fathers ex
ample? The mother says "My son, Dc
not smoke; it is bad for your health, bat
for the purse, bad for the morals, and tn,
i IA AL Il u
the evil it works." "What does mother know
about smokingP' reasons the boy; "sh'
never smokes father smokes, and | am &c
ing to too" "Don't spend your evening
about the bar-room and the village store,
pleads the troubled mother; "the converse
ton there is not such as wish you to liste
to-" "What does mother know about bal
room talk ?" questions the boy: she is a
home rocking the baby or darning stockings
father is there and I'm going" One ou
spoken ten-year-old boy said; 81 like m
mother well enough; but think father is
! great deal smarter )" and he expressed th
feeling Of the average boy when he enter
his teens. Now, which parent is likely t
have most influence in forming the chara'
,, ter of that son "I'll take what fatht
takes" said the boy at the hotel Dime
J table, and boys are taking what their father
take all the world over. A father and so
were clambering up the rough, steep side
of mountain, when the father paused +
decide which of the many paths to take tn
boy said, "Ba sure to choose good path
father, for am coming right behind you.
Fathers, upon the hillside of life, be sur
you choose a d" good path" for your sons ar
Just behind, and almost certain to follow il
your footsteps. If the bewitching voice o
pleasure entices you into bad paths of self
indulgence and sin, remember that wher
you trip he will stumble, aud the same fou
mire that soils your raiment will engulf him
But if you choose to walk the pleas mt high
ways of temperance, virtue and Christian
manliness, he shall keep even step with you
and at last dwell in peace at your side
: "The Just man walketh in his integrity
his children are blessed after him."-Se
> | lecied,