The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1886-12-09
IR. TALhAGE'S SERMON.
WHAT IS TO BECOME OF OuH
CHILDREN.
:, Ve-.t: 'Seeing that bis life Is bound nm Ia
Che lad,s Life - SGenaois .u,s 90 oo1uN w -.

Whieh Jacob felt toward Benjamin, the
youngest son OF that patriarchal family; but
they are words just as appropriate to many
parent in this house-since ''his life is
pound up in the lads lifon / have known
parents who seemed to have but little interest
IN 'neir chiidren. A tather says: MY son
must look out for himself. II he comes up
wen, all right; il he turns out badly cannot
neip It. am net responsible for his behay-
ior. Ito riast take the same risk in life that
itoos:" AS well might the shepherd throw a
IAN b INTO den of lions and then say: Little
ia,nb, look out for yourself"
u as generally the case that even the beast
looks after its young. l have gone through
ene woods on summers day, and have
eeard great cutlery in a birds nest, and
rave climbed up to see what was the matter
found cut that the birds were starving and
that the mother bird had gone Off not to
come back again. But that is an exception.
IL is generally the case that the old bird will
pick your eyes out rather than let you come
nigh. its brood. The lion will rend you in
tWsin if you approach too nearly the
whelps; the fowl in the harvard,
clumsy-footed and heavy winged, flies fierce
~ at you ii you come too near the little
group, and God intended every father and
mother to be the protection and the help Of
the child. Jesus comes into every dwelling
and says to the father or mother: "Y on have
mind; the timc has come when you ought to
be looking after its immortal soul" l stand
before hundreds OF people with whom the
question morning, noon and night is: "What
IS to become of the child! What will be its
historyl Will it choose paths Of virtue or
vlcef VIII it accept Christ or reject Him!
Where will it srend eternity"
L read of a vessel that foundered. The
boats were launched; many of the passengers
were struggling in the water. A mother
with ole hand beat the waves and with the
other hand lifted up her little child toward
tha hfe-boat, crying: Save my child! Save
my childn The impassionel outcry of that
mother is the prayer of hundreds of Chris
uan people who sit listening this morning
while speak propose to show some of the
causes of parental anxiety, and then how
that anxiety may be alleviated
lind the first cause of parental anxiety in
the inetiiciency and imperfection of parents
themselves We have slight hope, all of us,
that our children may escape our faults. We
hide our imperfections, and think they will
steer clear of them. Alas, there is a poor
prospect OF thati There is more probability
that they will choose our vices than choose
our virtues. There is something like sacred
ness in parental imperfections when the child
looks upon them. The folly of the
parents is not so repulsive when the
child looks at it. He says: "Father
lndulges III it; mother INDUCES in
it; it can't be so bad' Your boy, ten years
OF age, goes up back street smoking his ci-
gar-an old stump that he found in the
street-and a neighbor accosts him and says
What are you doing tn for? What would
your father say il he knew it!' The boy
says: 30, father does that himself" There
Is not one of us this morning that would de-
hberately-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 account Of the
unwisdom Of our discipline and instruction.
1t requires great deal of ingenuity to build
house or fashion ship; but more ingenuity
to build the temple of child's character,
and launch it on the great ocean of time and
eternity. Where there is one parent that
seems qualified for the work, there seem to
be twenty parents who miserably fail. Here
is father who says: "My child shall know
nothing but religion; he shall hear nothing
butrelig ion; he shallsee nothing but religion"
The boy is aroused at O'Clock in the morning
to recite the Ten Commandments. He is
awakened off the sofa on Sunday night to sea
how much he knows of the Westminster Cat
echism. 1t is religion morning, noon and
night Passages of Scripture are plastsred
on the bedroom wal. lie looks for the day
of the month in a religious almanac. Every
minister that comes to the house is told to
take the boy aside, and talk to him, and
tell him what a great sinner he is.
After a while the boy comes to that
periol of life when he is too old
for chastisement, and too young to know
and feel the force of moral principle.
Father and mother are sitting uD for the boy
to come home 1t is nine O'Clock at night
ten o'clock-it is twelve o'clock-it is half
past twelve, 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 beene' 'Reen out" Yes he has
beon out, and he has been down, and he
is on the broad road to destruction, for this
life and the life to come. Father says:
"There is no use in the Ten Commandments;
the Catechism seems to me to be an utter
failure" All. my friend, you make a very
great mistake. You stuffed that child with
religion until he could not digest it; you
made that which is joy in many households
an abhorrence in yours! A man in mid-life
said to me- 81 can't become Christian. In
my fathers house | got such a pre- iud ce
against religion doi t want any of it. My
father was one of the best men that ever
lived, but he had such severe notions about
things, and he ammed religion down my
throat, until | don't want any of it, sir.
Ihere nave been some VINO nave erred III UlaI
direction.
There are households where mother pulls
one way and father Iulls the other. Father
says "My son, | told you the first time
caught you in a falsehood J. would chastise
you. and now am going to do it." Mother
says: Don't; let him off this time" In some
families it is all scolding AMI fretfulness with
the child; from Monday MOI ming to Satur-
day night it is that style of culture The
hoxy 10 bod OF nd y,oyad of and riol al
OF. Now you might better give one sound
indulge in the perpetual scolding and fretful
ness. There is more health in one good thun-
derstorm than in three or four days of cold
drizzle.
Here is parent who says; 81 will not err
on the side that parent has erred in being toe
strict with his children. will let mine dc
as they please. If they want to come in to
prayers, they can; if they want to play at
cards, they an; they can do anything they
please-there shall be no hindranCe Go it!
Here are tickets for the opera and theatre,
son. Take your friends with you. Do what
aver you desiren One day gentleman comes
in from the hank to his fathers office, and
says:
'They want to ses yen over at the bank a
minute.' Father gees into the bank. The
cashier says: is that your cheekln Father
check; / never cross IT. in that way;
never make the curl to y in that way Il
is net uy check; that's forgery Send for
the polcei' "Ah, says the cashier. don't
be so quick; your son did thatm The fact
was that the boy hal been out in dissipating
circles, and ten and fifty dollars went
in that direction, and he had been
treated and he hal to treat others, and the
boy felt he must havo $500 to keep himself
in that circle. That night the father sits ur
for tho son TO come home. 1t is O'Clock be
fore he comes into the hall He comes in
very much flushed, his eyes glaring and hi
breath offensive. Father SAYS: My son,
how can you do sol Ihave given you every
thingyo wanted and every thing to make You
comfortable and happy, and now find. iu
my old age. that you are spendthrift. q
lbertinc and drunkard. The son saws
Now, father, what's the use Of your talking
in that wayl You tod me might have q
good time and to go it. have been acting
, on your suggestion, that's all" And s.
one parent errs on one side, AID another
rarept errs on the other, and how to strike
happy medium between severity and toe
great leniency. and train our sons and
daughters for usefulness On earth and bliSs
in heaven, is a question which agitates every
hou eh1ld in my congregation. Where SC
many good men ard women have failed, i
it strange that we should sometimes doubt