St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1886-12-04

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out OF the fiery tongue of the worm that
never dies. The clock strikes twelve-it is
the tolling of the bell of eternity at the
burial OF soul. Two hours pass on, and they
are all sound asleep in their chairs. Land
lord says: Come, now, wake up-it's time to
smut up" Push them out into the air.
They are going home. Let the wife crouch
IN the corner, and the children hide under
the bed. They are going homeI What is
the history OF that young manf He began
his dissipation at the Fifth Avenue Hotel,
and completed the damnation in the worst
grog-shop in Navy street.
| But sin even does not stop here II
comes to the door of the drawing-r room.
There are men of leprous hearts that 90
into the very best classes of society. They
! are so 1ascinating-they have such be-
Wltchlng way of offering their arm Yet
| the poison of asps is under the tongue and
| their heart is hell At first their sinful de-
vices are hidden, but after a while they
begin to put forth their talons of death.
Now they begin to show what they really
are. Suddenly, although you could not
have expected it-they were so charming
IN their manner, SO fascinating in
their Enthusiastically cloud blacker
than was ever woven of midnight
or hurricane, drops upon some domestic
circle. There is agony in the parental
bosom that none but the Lord God Al
mighty can measure-an agony that wish
rs that the children of the household had
been swallowed by the grave when it
would have been only loss of body instead
Of loss of soul Oh, there are scores and
hundreds Of homes that have been blasted,
and if the awful statistics could be set be-
fore you, your blood would freeze into a
solid cake of ice at the heart. Do you won
der that fathers and mothers are anxious
about their children, and that they ask
themselves the question day and night
what is to become Of theml What will be
their destinies!"
Let me say to you, as parents, that
great deal of anxiety will be lifted if YOU
will begin early with your children. Tom
Paine said: 1.-THE first five years of nv
life l became an intdel." A vessel goes
out to sea; it has been out five days;
a storm comes on it; it springs leak; the
helm will not work; every thing is out
of order. What is the matter! The ship is
not seaworthy, and never was 1t is poor
time to find it out now. Under the fury of
the storm the vessel goes down. with go
passengers, to watery grave. The time
to make the ship seaworthy was in the dry
COCK before 1t started.
Alas for US, if we wait until our children
get out into the world before we try to
bring upon them the influence of Christ's
religion. tell you, the dry dock of the
Christian home is the place where we are
to ut them for usefulness and for Heaven.
In this world, under the storm of vice and
temptation, it will be too late In the 90
mestic circle you decide whether your child !
c a ha f-,rt nj fa1c - lol
be generous or penurious.
Two young men come to the door of sin. |
They consult whether they will go in. The
one young man goes in and the other re-
treats. Oh, you say, the last had better |
resolution. No, that was not it. The first |
young man had no early good influence; |
the last had been piously trained, and when |
ne stood at the door Of sin discussing the |
matter he looked around as if to see some
one, and he felt an invisible hand on his |
saying: Don't go inl Don't go
my Whose hand was it! A mothers
hand, fifteen years ago gone to dust. A |
gentleman was telling me of the fact that |
some years ago there were two young men
Who stopped at the door of the Park Thea
er, in New York. The question was wheth-
'r they should go in. That night there was
% be very immoral play enacted in
he theater. One man went in; the
'ther stayed out. The young man who
vent in went on from sin to sin and
through a crowd of iniquities, and died in
he hospital of delirium tremens. The 9th
r young man, who retreated, chose Christ,
vent into the Gospel, and is now one of the
most eminent ministers of Christ in this
ountry. And the man who retreated gave
s his reason for turning back from the
lark Theater that night that there was
oicc within him saying: Don't 20 in;
ont go in" And for that reason, my
riends, believe so much in Bible-classes.
'ut there is something better than the
'ible class, and that is the Sunday-School
lass. like it because it takes children at
n earlier point; and the infant class like
till better, because it takes children before
hey begin to walk or to talk straight, and
OF begin too early.
But want you to remember, y father! o
lother! that it is what you do that is going |
} affect your children. You tell your chill
rem to become Christians while you are |
OF, and they will not. Do you think
oah's family would have gone into the 1
rk if he had not gone ina They would
ay: mo, there is something about that
oat that is not right; father has not gone
l." You can not push child rem into the
.ingdOm of God-you have got to pull them
l.. Do you know all the instruction you
i've to your children in religious direction
oes for nothing unless you illustrate it in
our own lifei 1t is what you are, not 80
uch what you teach. III
Have family altar. Let it be cheer. I
Il place, the brightest room in your house. t
0 not wear your children's knees out
18th long prayers. Have the whole exer-
Sc spirited If you have melodeon, or
, organ or piano in the house, have it
,en. Then lead in prayer. If you can not
AXE prayer of your own, take Matthew
enry's prayers or the Episcopal prayer :
sol Nnna hatfar fhnra hot |