The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1882-05-18
Ungoverned Natures.

There have been of late sey.rai occur.
rences, the reports of which have had
wide publicity, which have been indica.
two OF the fact that there are many per.
sons to whom the term we have used
above can be trnthfully applied. Fo,
these incidents, though widely talked
about, are after all, but samples of the
results of too.prevalent tone Of mind,
here young woman Of remarkable Der.
sonal beauty, in spite Of the warnings of
her parents, yields herself to bad compa.
ny, and is found drowned Whether Il
was AZ accident, or suicide through re.
morse. or murder, cannot yet be deter
mined. But, whatever It was, it was tho
ungoverned nature that led to the fatal
end. A young married woman-the
pride OF year-has petulant dispute
with her husband, and with oo.handy
pistol puts an end to life. That her life
had been shadowed by the dissipation of
her husband, only makes the matter worse,
Tor it reveals two ungoverned natures
tound together, witu tiiu iueviiable in.
crease of resultant misery.
One &C not take up daily paper with.
out seeing the record Of many crimes. aud
the incidents to which we have referred
are out of the common, simply from the
fact that they have been more bruitcd
abroad. The world is full of these un.
governed natures, and the very air is do.
lorous with the cries of woe that their evil
doing have caused.
Even where the evil does not 70 to the
length OF crime, yet how much of mis-.
chief is wrought by this cause. Here il
homo that ought to be the abode Of
te. CO, but 1t is filled with iangling.
Parent quarrels with parent, child with
child. The parents are not self.controll-
cd. and, consequently. cannot properly
control their children, while tho children
are in state Of rebellion against their
parents, only restrained, when restrained
at all, by sense of servile fear. Here
isa young man-"good hearted" people
call him-but he acts upon impulse.
Perhaps he yields to the temptations of
WI at Is falsely called "good fellowship" ;"
Hos llows himself to drift along ON the
GU r mt Of his appetites. and becomes q
at.. Or he does no., want to appear
"L'cnu" and soi indulges in extravagances !;
the end very likely is peculatior and Il en-
ruin! The young woman 10 Aatteted
by the attentions of some stranger, and.
despite the warnings OF parents wiser
than herself, rashly, without WEIGHING
the matter, links her fate with his, only
to find, when too late, that she is misma-
ted, and must drag out an existence of
marital iLislicity.
The root of the evil lies far back.
Any one who has opportunity of obser.
vation can see how frequently it is the
case that children are not trained to obey.
There will be, certainly, o mechanical
obedience under stern command; but
the spirit of obedience will be wanting.
The children are not governed" in any
just sense OF the term. They are per
mitted to follow their own wayward i'm
pulses, except when their conduct causes
inconvenience to their parents. OF tho
principles Of obedience, of the claims of
right and duty, they are left In utter
Ignorance. That there are multitudes
OF families constituted on this basis, the
most casual observation will chow.
Parents are solemnly responsible before
God for the training Of their children.
They are to teach those children the
principles of self-government. No child
is thoroughly obedient till lie obsys. not
simplly because he must through fear of
penalty, but because he chooses to obey
because obedience is right. The conste t
mistake that is made ia in not beginning
early enough. The infant in the cradle
can be taught obedience. It does not do
to wait, permitting the little one to have
Its own way, and expecting that later on
you can control him. The question of
obedience is essentially settled during the
first year of child's life. 1t can be set
tied without harshness, without undue
severity, certainly without any physical
harm to the little one. But it must be
asttied, or the path is straight one to
the full development of an ungoyerned
nature with all its mischievous and evil
consequences. Lowlessness in the State
comes directly from lawlessness in the
household. Crimes against property.
against purity, against life, petty mean.
ness, and tyranny, ere the direct outcome
of the unchecked ebulitions Of childish
temper or wilfulness. No parent, to be
sure, can change his child's heart; that
Is Gods work. But the parent can teach
his child the principles of self.govern.
ment. Perhaps in teaching him otea!7
ence to parental authority, he is at the
same time intoxicating ia him submis-
sion to the divine authority. In any
case the obedient child viii make tho
most docile and symmetrical and servicea-
BILE Christian.
IT parents have neglected their duty.
and one finds himself approaching ma.
turity, or even advanced in life, Without
having learned self.control, nevertheless
his duty is plain. The task will be
hard, undoubtedly, but he must learn to
govern himself. For his own sake. sor
the sake Of others, no man has right
to permit the mere impulse of his nature
to control his conduct. Anarchy in the
individual is just as evil in proportion as
anarchy in the State.
We have discussed this matter on the
lower, however important. plano Of it's
relation to our fellows. There are higher
considerations, which we commend to cur
readers, and with which we close. The
all.imperative duty Is to bring our nature
into subiection to the perfect and holy
will of God. Until this is done our ma.
ture will not be properly governed.
When this is done in every one, the Mil
lennium will have come ! CAristian
Weekly.