The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1883-11-28
The Deacon on Child-Training.

bJHTJ u new bOCleIy IL bHOuIh 10 Cdiiou
THE Society to Prevent Kindness to
Children"
"Why, Amos Goodenough !" said his
wife.
/ think that is as near as l ever heard
the deacon's wife come, in public, to dis
senting from any opinion expressed by
the deacon. How much she may dissent
in private, do not know. She is an indie
pendent little woman, and has mind OF
her own, and knows how to express it
when there is occasion.
al have no doubt" continued the dea-
con, not replying to his wife, and appar-
emily not hearing the interruption, "that
in what are called the lower classes Of So
ciety, children suffer very often from
cruelty and neglect; but am sure that
in the circles represented in this club, our
children suffer great deal more from
over-care and mistaken kindness"
"That's Jest my opinion" said Mr..
Hardcap; I often tell my wife. 'Spare
the rod and spoil the child but she don't
b'lieve me. l am glad to hear you say
30, deacon and hope Elizy u take it to
heart"
"You know, Mr.. Hardcap," said the
deacon, that the revisers have discovered
that that's wrong translation or wrong
reading of that passage. They're going
to give US a new reading. In the new
revision it's going to read Spoil the rod
and spare the child and think, myself,
that will be great improvement"
There was little ripple of laugh at
this new revision, which we all recognized
as the deacon's own-all except Mr..
Hardcap, who did not lessen the ripple by
his solemn protest:
81 don't b'lieve in these new-fangled
readin's of Scripter," said he; 81 jest
wish they would leave it as it is. think
the Bible is good enough jest as the Lord
gave it to US. 1t don't want no improv-
in'."
"But, Deacon" said Jennie, "pray tell
US what you mean. Do you really think
we can love our children too much, or do
too much for them ?"
1--WE can make idols of our children,
certainly" said the parson.
"No," said the deacon 6" 1 don't be.
Iieve we can. We can love God too little,
and truth and righteousness too little
but we can't love our children too much.
But we can love them not wisely, and can
kill them by mistaken kindness"
81 remember" said l, Z" a case that il
Illustrates that. had friend, some years
ago, who had son, little boy five or six
years old, whom he idolized. He could
not bear to deny him anything. One hot
summer evening the family had cucum-
bers for tea. The boy wanted some. The
mother said no (; he appealed to the father
the father could not bear to deny him
the boy ate saucer of cucumbers, drank
his usual glass of milk, was taken with
cholera morbus in the night, and was
dead in twenty-four hours"
But that's an extreme case don't you
think so ?" said Mr.. Geer.
EYES," said the deacon, "that is an
extreme case. Most parents look ahead
as far as twenty-four or forty-eight hours
but great many parents do not look
ahead much further. The true secret Of
child nurture is given in the text, Train uI
child in the way he should CO. Looh
ahead. See what sort of man you want
your boy to be, and train in him the quail
tiles you want in him in his manhood"
81 wish you would tell me-" said Mr.
Wheaton, show to cure my boy Of being
late to breakfast. He never comes dowr
till breakfast is half over. [ have tolG
him hundreds of times that he never car
get on unless he is punctual, but it doesn'
make any difference; not a Bit"
"Suppose you had clerk" said the
deacon, "who was regularly late to the
bank; what would you do 2"
He wouldn't have the chance to b.
late but three times" said Mr.. Wheaton
"The fourth day, when he came to hi
desk, ne would find his discharge on it,"
Exactly" said the deacon. Sand by
suffering your boy to be regularly late T.
breakfast you are preparing him to ge
his discharge whenever he begins to worl
where men have to live up to law or leave
You can't very well discharge your boy
but if you carried the same spirit int
your house that you carry into your banl
you would soon cure him of his late
ness"
"I'd take that nonsense out of hin
very soon if he was my boy" said Mr.
Hardcap, "with good dose of switch
applied externally"
Do you believe, deacon" said Mrs
Hardcap, timidly and appealingly, "i
whipping children for every offense2
seems to me very hard and they are 8
ignorant; and we have our own faults tot
/ can't bear it,"
81 should have supposed, myself" sal
the deacon, shat any Christian man Ii,
ing in this nineteenth century, and po
sessing an average degree of intelligence,
could be able to find some less brutal an
barbaric way Of governing his childre
than fogging them. But it seems ths
there are some who can't"
at was Solomon's way" said M
Hardcsp, doggedly; sand Solomon's wa
is good enough for me-"
al doubt" said the deacon, quietl
"whether there is any better way for
man who has as many wives and as man
children as Solomon had. He and th'
old woman who lived in the shoe we
about in the same case"
1T seems to me-" said Jennie, tn
there are different kinds of rods"
"Hickory's the BEST" said Mr.. Har
cap; "Pve tried 'em ALL
al don't see," continued Jennie, wit
out needing the interruption, show al
child can be governed without being col