, 1886-04-04

AZ IL tAAH 1hAHNiAf nAA hAt Wy
she managed this boy, you know she was in
telligent There arc no persons in a com
munity who med to be so wise and well in
formed as mothers.
OH this work Of culture In children for
this world and the naxtl This child is timid,
and II must b. reused up and pushed out into
activity. This child Is forward, and he must
bo held back and tanned down into modesty
and politeness Rewards for one, punish
ments for another. That which will make
George will ruin John. The rod is necessary
in ono case, while n frown Of displeasure Is
moro thnn enough in another. Whipping and
a dark closet do not exhaust al the rounds of
domestic discipline. There have boon
children who have grown up and gone TO
glory without ever having had their ears
boxed.
Obi how much care and intsligcnns are
necessary in the rearing OF children But in
this day, When there are so many books on
tho subject. no parent Is oxcusablo in being
ignorant OF the best mode Of bringing up a
child. II parents knew more OF d~ietetics
there would not bo so many dyspeptic
stomachs, and weak nerves, and incompetent
livers among children. II parents knew more
Of physiology there would not be so many
curved spines. and cramped chests,
and lnhamed throats, and diseased lungs
as thcre are among children II parents
knew more of art. and were In sympathy
with all that is beautiful, there would not b.
so many children coming out in tho world
with boorish proclivities. II parents knew
more Of Christ and practiced more OF His re-
ligion, there would not be so many little feet
already starting on the wrong road, and all
around us voices Of riot and blasphemy would
not como up with such ecstasy Of Internal
triumph.
Tn eaglets In the eyrie have no advantages
over the eaglets Of n thousand years go; the
kids have no superior way OF climbing up the
rocks than the old goats taught hundreds OF
years ago; the whelps know no more now than
did the whelps Of ages ago-they are taught
no more by the lions of tho desert; but IL is a
shame that in this day, when there are SC
many opportunities OF improving ourselves
in tho best manner of cultivating children,
that so often there is no more advancement
in this respect han there has been among
the kids and the eaglets and the whelps.
Again, Hannah stands before you as a
Christian mother. From her prayers and
from the way she consecrated her hoy to
God l know that she was good. A mother
may have the finest culture, the most brilliant
surroundings, but she is not fit for her duties
unless she be a Christian mother. There may
DO wel-read libraries in the house, and ex-
quisite music in the parlor, and the canva OF
the best artists adjoining the walls, and the
wardrobe be crowded with tasteful apparel,
and the children be wonderful for their attain
ments, and make the house ring with laugh
ter and innocent mirth; but there is some
thing w~oful-looking in that house If 1t be not
also the residence of a Christian mother.
/ bless God that there are not many prayer
less mothers-not many of them The weight
- ~w.-.fltIfe 4 -. sl.e 49, F..I a..
need OF n divine hand 10 help, and a divine
voice to comfort, and a divine heart to SYM
pathize. Thousands of mothers have been
led into the kingdom of God by the hands OF
their little children. There were hundreds of
mothers who would not have been Christians
had II not been for the prnttle OF their little
ones. Standing some day in the nursery,
they bethought themselves: This child God
has given me to raise for eternity. What h.
my influence upon lit Not being a Christian
myself, how can I ever expect him to become
a Christiani Lord help meF'
Are there anxious mothers, who now
nothing OF the infinite help Of r~eligioni Then
l commend to them Hannah, the pious mother
Of Samuel. Do not think 1t Is absolutely i'm
possible that your children como up Ubiquitous.
Out Of just such fair brows, and bright eyes,
and soft hands, and Innocent hearts, crime
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heart, and rubbing out tho smoothness from
tho brow, and quenching the luster Of the
eye, and shriveling up, and poisoning, and
putrefying, and scnthing, and scalding, and
blasting, and burning with shame and woe.
Every child Is a bundle Of tremendous pos
sibilities; and whether that child shall come
forth 10 life, its heart attuned to the eternal
harmonies, and after n life OF usefulness on
earth go to a life of joy in heaven or whether
ncross 1t shall jar eternal discords, and after
a life OF wrong-doing on earth 1t shall 60 10 a
nome OF impenetrable darkness and an abyss
Of mmoasurable plunge, is being decided by
nursery song and Sabbath lesson, and even
ing prayer, and walk, and ride, and look,
and irown, and smile. o, how many children
in glory, crowding all the battlements and
lifting a million voiced h~osanna, brought to
God through Christian parentagel
One hundred and twenty clergymen were
together, and they were telling their expert
ence and their ancestry, and Of the 100
clergymen how many of them, do you sup
pose, assigned as thc means of their CONVEX
sion the influence OF a Christian motherf
One hundred out of the 100. Philip Dodd-
ridge was brought 10 God by the Scripture
lesson on the Dutch tiles Of a chimney fire
place. Tho mother thinks she is only rock
ing a child, but at the same time she may be
rocking the fate Of nations, rocking the
glories Of heaven. The sam maternal power
that may lift the child up may press a child
down.
A daughter came to a worldly mother and
said She was anxious about her sins, and she
had been praying all night The mother
said; "Oh, stop prayingl don't believe in
praying. Get over all these religious notions
and m give you a dress that will cost 500,
and You may wear it next week to that
party Tie daughter took the dress, and she
moved in the gay circle, the gayest OF all the
gay, that night; and sure enough, all relig'
ious impressions were gone, and she stopped
praying. A few months after she came TO die,
and in her closing moI.ents said: Mother
l wish you would bring me that
dress that cost $500 The mother thought
1t a very strange request but she brought it to
please the dying child. "Now,r said the
daughter, mother, hang that dress on the
foot Of my bed" and the dress was hung
there, on the foot OF the bed Then the dying
girl got up on one elbow and looked at her
mother, and then pointed to the dress, and
said; ~Mother, that dress is the price of my
souli' o, what a momentous thing 1t is to
be a motherl
A gain, and lastly, Hannah stands be
fore you the rewarded mother. For all tbs
coats she made for Samuel, for all the pray
ers she offered for him, for the discipline ex-
erted over him. she got abundant compensa-
ton in the piety, and the usefulness, and the
popularity Of her son Samuel; and that is
true in all ages Every mother gets full pay
for all the prayers and tears in behalf OF her
children. That man useful in commercial
life; that man prominent in n profession;
that master mechanically, every stop he
takes in life has an echo OF gladness in the
old heart that long ago taught him to be a
Christian. and heroic and earnest.
The story'of what you have done, or what
you have written, OF the influence you have
exerted. has gone back to the old homestead
for there is some one always ready 10 carry