The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1883-07-28

"The moving Finger writes, and having
Moves or; nor all your piriv and wit
Can lure il back 10 cance h lfa line,
Nor all your tears wash out word Of it."
The nbove lines, translated by an eminent
oriental scholar, were written by Persian
poet more than five hundred years before
the birth of Christ. They sum up with
great force and poetic excellence the very
prosaio but appalling factthst no human
creature can recall word spoken or undo
single act OF life. There are uniform
laws at work in the moral as well as in the
physical world which cannot be Violated
without consequences, eithur inischevous
or ruinous.
I Certain results must follow certain
breaches Of the moral law as sssuredly ss
the thunder follows the lightning flash
There may not be the immediate connection
in the order of time that exists between
material phenomena, but the connection is
clear and the result is certain.
remember once hearing father cay that
he never corrected his children, no matter
what wrong they might do, "because," he
said, "rhey are only children, aud when
they grow up and get sense they will see
the folly of dong wrong, and then it will BE-
all right" But the "child is father of the
mani" and the habits of mind or action
! formed by child in the cradle, If not di
rected in proper emanuel by constant,
jndicious aud ever watchlui correction, are
the habits that must govern its youth and
maturity and--if the wind has been sawn-
must reap the whirlwind in rich harvest
about the dying bed.
Iugeisoll, the prominent inidel, tells
story which good christians would do well
to take to heart:-A little boy six years old
had been put Off drive in the carrisge
with his parents upon two successive days;
the third day he was also put off, and as he
stood on the door step and watched his par
ents drive away, he turned to his nurse aud
pointing to his amiable ancestors, said
bridget, them two folks ore the greatest
d. liars in the whole world" 1t would
Ge interesting to know how that child grew
up lie probably had the came contempt
for-truth that he had for his parents, and
the latter probably proceeded in the regular
course of petty fnlsehood, never realizhg
that every small lie added another death
entrusted to their care.
The notion that advanced years and cu!-
tivated intellect can usually correct the ior' e
ofhabit is the uiosi pernicious doctrine th t
has eyer been Preaebed in this world
What would men think of father who re-
} fused to have his ems brought up to trade
5 or profession on the principle that when
, they came Of age they, would have sense
81 and judgment enough to do whatever was
A most beneficial for them? This is not the way
f that doctors, printers, carpenters or black
smiths are made. II is necessary that such
habits should be acquired by long years
n ofsuch labor and attention us shall enaL {
t the learner To Apply his best abilities to the
Hit4inInrnt of certain ends marked out hy
4 the special trade or calling which he mf J
r. have adopted. But mans moral lilc II
/, more complex than the learning Of tra' c
= Tie human mind aud human soul al,
:. formed of such delicate material that every
Is influence To which they are submitted
n leaves some mark, whether that IN .rk be
IS new blot or a new beauty. "As the twig
n bent, so the tree grows" and it is Just
T.. ridiculous to expect that the children o
n Vicious or deceiliul parents will be virtuou
IF ami honorable, as to look for peaches on
r. pine tree, or to expect that an untr0inet
Ooy will grow up into a skilled mechau
e by The aid ofsome miraculous iulerpostion
!, Miracles are now pre,ty well out OF date.
IL is very doubtful il one human soul, brough
,r up aud trained in at atmosphere OF SIN unt
ID impurty, has ever been saved by tue Sal
'e vation Army, or truly reformed in howl
= ing wilderness Of camp meetings. Sucl
circus" salvation methods may be til
~ means OF making a lew ignorant peopl
te think seriously ana thereby lead them to
ps systen Of re OrmatiOn, under terror Of eter
y nal damuation. But for carrying out III
10 whole programme Of general reform n
y lite camp meeting has no more real IN
u Huenoe than a tOOthBche. All lie's preyi
i. GUS footsteps must be retraced. Old inau
ences csnnot be shaken OIL they must b
II. battled with in never-ending contes
is. The results of past wrong doing must l.
M h.rpa nj ha a,,Ta Ia
%, aud wicked action must remain, stamre
T. forever as indeliblY MS the rsvages of
or plague or the deep scar from sabre STOKE.
as Do we seem 10 say then that there is n
nt remission of SINS, and that out ol evil mu
IT, come evil2 Yes; we do ssy 50 emphaticsll.
The consequences of past transgressions cal
a. not bo obyisled. We must grind our teel
re and grin and bear with them. Out Of ev
may come some good but must come q
enormously richer crop ot Whist is not goo
Whst are we 10 do theni The answer is
plain one. Seeing that we cannot rsmsi
be the past, We may learn seriously To tai
ed thought for the future, and. believing pr
lg. foundly in the deep siguifcsnce OF an a
zee oieut uttersnee, we may guard children al
ore others from the fatal consequences Of igno
ZEN snce and inherited frsilues by keeping ev
Ide before their minds the eternal truth al
s a importance Of ole single sentence. BE eu
The your ain will hud you out.
ce, FAJKLAND.
I'VE Franklin School Board.