The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1886-10-06
The Home Sanctuary.

A lady only a short time ago in speak
ing to another of the wilful, untruthful
child of friend, remarked, Well, |
think she will come out all right in the
end, for the immediate ancestry was
above reproach," Do not pin your
faith to that doctrine, we must answer,
for in studying the laws of inheritance
we find strange and unaccountable de-
partures. Do you recall the words of
Jonathan Edwards with regard to the
maiden, who lived so near to her God
that he seemed to vouchsafe his pres
ence especially to her? She had her
rapt moments, he tells us, when, like
Paul, she seemed to be unable to tell
whether she was in the body or out of
it-hearing things not lawful to utter.
This pure maiden, so peculiarly favored
by heaven, became the wife of the
sanity Jonathan Edwards, and from
the union, in the second generation,
came the notorious Aaron Burr. We
might echo the saying with regard to
the depravity of ministers sons and
deacons' daughters. While it is not
tenable theory, that those who minister
before the Lord in his house are more
liable to the misfortune of having scape-
grace children than others, it must be
allowed that unless the conditions are
fulfilled the blessings upon children's
chilren loses its force. The messenger
sent to Eli with warning and counsel,
illustrates the dependence of the prom
Use upon the conditions, when he said,
"Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel,
saith, said, indeed, that thy house
and the house of thy father should walk
before me forever But now the Lord
saith, Be it far from me; for them
that honor me l will honor, and they
that despise me shall be lightly es-
teemed.'" 1t seems fact, often put
aside, that religious prestige has no
power in itself to insure a souls well
being. That a young mans grand
father preached holiness to the Lord
will not shield him from the temptation
to indulge his baser passions; the train
ing beginning in the arms of his mother,
and uniting gentleness with decision,
must not be set aside until the home of
the parents is exchanged for place in
the stirring world, where the home
prayers must follow him. We have
known parents who gave their energies
spiritual and physical-to the church,
and had not enough left to teach their
children the simple truths of the Bible,
leaving the duty to the Sunday-school
teacher, who, on account of the pitiable
ignorance of her charge, did not find
the service privilege. These neglect
full parents seemed to work on the
principle of give and take. They gave
the church their all; they thought it
not more than justice to take their pay
as they could get it. A wise home
training implies an element of force.
To be power this must be especially a
mental and spiritual force; but it is
well to whisper here word in favor of
timely physical force, which in many
homes has been relegated to the barbar
isms of the past. A gentleman whose
judicious home training was singularly
effective for his purpose of pure and
worthy living, declares that in one
particular instance physical force did
more for him than prayers or tears or
the tenderest counsel could have done.
His mother questioned her boy with re-
gard to certain duty, upon which he
boldly told her an untruth. Suddenly
he was shocked by vigorous slap from
the hand that never before had lain
upon him but in tenderness. Through
it he seemed to feel throughout his
frame the thrill of horror which his
mother had felt at the knowledge that
her boy had told lie. He knew there
was no anger towards him; he knew
that the tender, motherly love which
had prompted the act would receive
him again to comfort him and console
him when he sought the long-tried
shelter. 1t was this knowledge that
made him understand the blow as only
a phase of the mothers wisdom and
tenderness. There can be no true
home protection without parental re-
straint, talk as we may of leading by
the affections, etc. Wise restraint is a
Bible doctrine, aud if we had no other
example than that of Eli, we should not
be without the " Thus saith the Lord, :"
with reference to the duty of parents to
their children. The home may become
a sanctuary; it should become one, and
whenever it does it will furnish high
priests for holy places.-Christian al
Work.