Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1883-04-23
BAD BOYS.
Train Up a Child In the Way He
Should GO.
SERMON ON PARENTAL soIIcITUDE.
To What Extent Parents are Response
bic for the Conduct Of Their
ChIdren-The Extremes of
Home Training.
Special 10 he neglSter.

Special 10 Tie Eeglster.
BROOKLYN, April 22.-Dr. Talmage
preached to large audience in the Brook
lyn Tabernacle this morning.
Opening hymn:
"How frm foundation,
Ye saints OF the Lord,
Is laid for your faith,
In his eXce lent word""
Subject OF the Sermon-"Parental So.
licitude.''
Text-Pnoverbs XII: "A wise son maketh
glad father, but a foolish son Is the heAVl-
ness OF his moth er."
In that graphic way Solomon sets forth
the fact that the good or bad behavior Of
children blesses or blights the parent. l
have known parents that seemed to have
but little interest in their children. A
father says: "My son must look out for
himself. II he comes up well, all right; if
he turns out badly cannot help it. am
not responsible for his behavior. He must
take the same risks in life that took" As
well might the Shepherd throw lamb
into den OF lions and then say: Little
lamb, look out for Yourself II is gener-
ally the case that even the beasts looks
after its young. have gone through the
woods on summers day, and have heard
a great outcry in birds nest, and have
climbed up to see what was the matter.
found out that the birds were starving,
and that the motherbird had gone off not
to come back again. But that is an excep'
tion. 1t is generally the case that the old
bird Will pick your eyes out rather
than let you come nigh its brood.
Tine lion will rend you in twain
Z YOU approach too nearly the whelps. The
fowl in the barnyard, clumsy footed and
heavy winged, flies iiercely at you II You
| come too near the little group, and God
intended every father and mother 10 be
| the protection and the help Of the child.
| Jesus comes into every dwelling aud says
| TO the father or mother; "Iou have been
| looking after this child's body and mind !;
| the time has come when you ought TO be
| looking after its immortal soul" | stand
before hundreds Of people with whom the
| question morning, noon and night Is:
what is to become of this child? What
will be its history? Will it choose paths OF
virtue or vice? Will it accept Christ or
reject him? Where will it spend. .eternity?"
I'D of vessel that foundered. The
boats were launched; many OF the passen,'
| gers were struggling in .He water -
mother with one hand beat the wa a't'
with the other hand lifted up her little
| child toward the lifeboat crying: Save
my child! Save my child" The impassion:
ed outcry Of that mother is the prayer of
hundreds of Christian people who sit
| listening this morning while speak. |
tn M
parental anxiety and then how that anI'
| iety may be alleviated.
find the first cause OF
Parentsl Anxiety
in the inetiiciency and imperfectiDn OF pnr.
ents themselves. We have a slight h1ar,
| all OF us, that our children may escape oar
faults. We hide our imperlections and
| think they will steer clear Of them. Alas.
4 there 'fs poor prospect OF that. There is
more probability that they will choose our
| vices than choose our virtues. There is
| something like sacredness in parental i'm.
perfections when TIE child looks upon
them. The folly Of the parents is not so
| repusve when the child looks at it. lie
says: Father INDUCES in it, mother in
| dulges in it; it can't be so bad. Your boy,
ten years OF age, goes up back street
| smoking his cigar-an old stump that he
| him and says: "What are you doing this
for? What would your father say if he
| knew i:?' The boy says: "Oh, father
does that himself There is not one OF
us this morning that would deliberately
choose that his children should in all
things follow his example, and it is the
consciousness of imperfection on our part
as parents, that makes US most anxious for
our children.
We are also distressed on acc )urt OF the
unwisdom Of our discipline and instruc.
| tion. 1t requires great deal Of ingenuity
! 10 build a house or fashion q ship; bat
more ingenuity to build the temple OF a
child's character and launch il on the great
ocean of time and eternity. Where there
| j. Cne parent that seems qualified for the
work, there seem 10 be twenty paren Is
who misersby fail. Here is a father who
saws: my child shall know nothing but
religion; he shall see nothing hut religion
he Shall hear nothing bat religion The
boy is aroused at six O'Clock in the morn
ing TO recile the ten commandments. He
is awakened off the sofa on Sunday night
| to see now much he knows OF the West
minister catechism. II is religion morning,
neon and night. Passages OF Scripture are
plas erred on the bed room wall. He looks
| for the d6y Of the month in
n hel1gtOus himAnHc.
Every minister that comes tO the house
| is told to take the boy aside and talk to
| him and tell him what great sinner he
| is. After a while the boy comes 10 that
| period Of life when he is too old for chas.
tisement and too young - know and feel
| the force OF moral principle. Father and
and mother are sitting up for the boy 70
| come home. IL is oclock-l0 o'clock
! il l2 o'clock-it is half past IL o'clock,
and they hear the night key jingle in the
door. They say he is coming. George goes
very softly through the hall, hoping TO get
/ up stairs before he is accosted. The
/ father says: George, where have you
been?n "Been out" Yes, be has been
/ out, and he has been down, and he is on
! the broad road to destruction for this life
| and the life to come. Fatherssys: There
| is no use in the Ten Commandments; the
| catechism seems to me 10 be an utter fail.
! ure." All, my friend, you make very
| great mistake. You s.u fed that child with
religion until he could not digest it; you
made that which is a JOY in many house
holds an adherence IN yours. A man IN
mid-life said TO me-" / can't become
Christian. In my fathers house / got
such a prejudice againt religion thst
don't want any Of il. Ny father was Ose
| of the best men that ever lived, but he b nj
such severe notions ABOUT Things dnd ne
| iammed religion down my throat until |
don't want any of it. sir" There have
been some who have erred in that direc-
| ton.
There are households where mother pals
one way and father pulls the other. Father
saws: my son, the first time caught you
in falsehood would chastise you, and
| now am going to do it," "Mothsr says:
Don't: let MIN off this time" In some
| families il is all scolding and fIetfulness
with the child; from Monday morning till
| Saturday night it is that style OF culture:
The boy is picked at and picked at and
picked at Now you might better give one
sound chastisement and have done with 1t
than to indulge in the perpetual scolding
| and fretfulness. There is more health in
one good thunderstorm than in three or
four days Of cold drizzle.
Here is parent who says: Il will not
err on the side that parent has erred. in
being too strict with his children. i will
| let mine do ss they please. IL they want
to come into prayers, they can; il they
want 10 stay out, they can; ii they want 70
! play at cards, they can; they can do any
Thing they please, there shall be no him