Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1886-12-02
1YyLurrcKs on gARLY rnAIsrrc.

| INFLUENCES OF EARLY TRAINING.
Two young men come TO the door OF sin.
/ They consult whether they will 60 IN. The
young man goes In and the other retreats o,
you say, the last had better resolution. No,
Z that was not II. The first young man had no
/ early good influences; the last had been pious-
i ly trained, and when he stood at the door Of
sin discussing the matter, he looked around as
hand on his shoulder saying: Don't go In,
don't go inn Whose hand was It'll A moth
er's 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 theater In
New York. The question was whether they
should go In That night there was 10 be a
very immoral play enacted In the Park theater.
One man went In; the other stayed out The
young man who went 10 went on from sin TO
sin, and through crowd OF iniquitics, and
died In the hospital OF delirium tremens. The
other young man who retreated chose Christ,
went into the gospel, and is now one Of the
most eminent ministers Of Christ In this coun-
try. And the man who retreated gave as his
reason for turning back from Park theater that
night, that there was an early voice within
him saying: Don't goin! don't go in" And
for that reason, my friends, believe so much
In Bible classes But there Is something bet
ter than the Bible class, aud that is the Sun
day school class ! like 1t because 1t takes
children ut an earlier point: and the infant
class like still better because it takes chill
dren before they are beginning to walk or
talk straight, and puts them on the road to
heaven. You can not begin too early. You
stand on the bank Of river flowing by. You
can not stop that river, but you can travel
days and days toward the source OF 1t, and
YOU find after awhile where 1t comes down
dropping from the rock, and with your knife
you make score In this or that direction
for the dropping to take, and you decide the
course Of the river. You stand and see your
q
petuosty and passion. and you can not affect
them. Go up toward the source where the
character first starts, and decide that 1t shall
take the right direction, and 1t will follow the
path you give II.
EXAMPLE BETTER THAN PRECEPT.
But want you to remember, . father! 0
mother that It Is what you do that is going to
affect your children and not what you say.
You tell your children to become Christians
while you are not, and they will not Do you
think Noah's family would have gone into the
ark If he had not gone In, They would say:
mo, there is something about that boat that
Is not right; father has not gone in" You can
not push children into the kingdom Of God:
you have got to pull them in. There has been
many general In a tower or castle looking
at his army fighting, but that is not the kind
Of a man to arouse enthusiasm among his
troops. 1t is a Garibaldi or Napoleon |. who
leaps into the stirrups and dashes into the
conflict and has his troops following him
off in your impenitent state and tell your
children to go ahead into the Christian life,
and have them go. You must yourself dash
into the Christian conflict; you must lead
them and not tell them to go. Do you know
that all the instructions you give to your chill
dren In religious direction goes for moth
ing unless you illustrate 1t in your own lifei
The teacher at q school takes q copy-book,
writes a specimen of good writing across the
top of the page, but makes a mistake In one
letter Of the copy. The boy comes along on the
next line, copies the top line, and makes the
mistake, and II there be fifteen lines on that
page they will have the mistake there was In
the copy on the top The father has an error
in his life-a very great error The son comes
along and copies 1t now, tomorrow, next
year. copies 1t to the day Of his death. 1t Ii
what you are, not so much what you teach.
HOW TO WIN THF YOUNG.
Have family altar! Let 1t be a cheerful
place, the brightest room in the house Do
not wear your childrcn's knees out with long
prayers. Have the whole exercise spirited.
II you have q melodeon, or an organ, or a pi-
ano In the house, have 1t open. Then lead in
prayers. II you can not make prayer of your
own take Matthew henry's prayers of the Epls-
copal prayer book. None better than that
Kneel down with your little ones morning and
night, and commend them to God Do you
think they will ever get over it: Never! After
you are under the sod good many years,
there will be some powerful temptation around
that son, but the memory OF father and mother
at morning and evening prayers will have Its
effect upon him. 1t will bring him back from
the path Of sin and death.
But want you TO make a strict mark,
sharp, plain line between innocent hilarity on
the part OF your children and vicious pro-
ruin because they make racket. A glum,
child makes the worst form Of
villain. Children whei. they are healthy al
ways make a racket. l want you at the very
first sign Of depravity in the child to correct it.
Do not laugh because It is smart. II you do
Do not talk Of your ohildren's fraltles lightly
in their presence, thinking they do not under
stand you; they do understand. Do not talk
OF your child, making him feel
little one You're the worst child / ever
kneww II yon do he WI he the worst man
you ever knew. Are your children safe for
heaven! You can tell better than anyone
else. put to you the question: "Are your
children safe for heaven"
BROUGHT TO BEpGMPTIoN
heard of a mother who, when the house
was afre in the excitement of the occasion,
got out great many OF the valuable things
many choice articles of furniture-but did not
think to ask until too late: is nv child safeI"
1t was too late then. The flames had encircled
all; the child was gone o, nv dear friend,
when sea and land shall burn in the final con-
q agration, WI your children be safel
wonder II what l have said this morning
has not struck chord in some one In the
audience who had a good father and mother,
but who is not yet Christan3 Is that your
historys Do yn know why you came here
this morning! God sent you to have that
revived. Your dear Christian mother
how she loved you! You remember when You
were sick, how kindly she attended you; the
night was not too long, and you never asked
her to turn the pillow but she did IL! You
her prayers also; you remember
how some of you'll do not know where the
nan Is in the audience-how some one here
broke bis mothers heart You remember her
'orrOs over your waywardness; you remember
The old place where she did you so many kind
lesses; the chairs, the table, the doorsil where
you played; the tones of her voice. Why, you
Fan think them back now. Though they were
borne long ago on the air, they come ringing
through your soul to-day, calling you by the
first name. You are not mister" to her; II is
just your plain, first name. Is not this the
time when her PRAYERS will be answered. Do
you not think that God sent you IN to-day to
have that memory of her revivedl II you
should come TO Christ this morning, amid all
the throngs of heaven, the gladdest of them
would be your Christian parents who are in
glory waiting for your redemption. Angels of
God, shout the tidhgs, the lost has come back
again; the dead Is alive. Ring all the bells of
heaven at the jubilee! RIngF Ring!