St. Paul daily globe., 1889-06-28
PARENTAL RESTRAINT.

While the goSsip-mongerS are enjoy
ing the delicious morceau of sensation
alism they have found in the dark
shadow which has lately fallen upon a
st. Paul household, the more thought
full and sympathizing portion of the
community extract from this sad occur
renee the useful lesson which teaches
the necessity for more vigorous eXer-
else OF parental restraint than the people
of this age are given to. Indicative
of the progressive conditions of this age
it has become favorite saying with us
that the children of to-day are wiser
than their grandparents were, and,
lured by this flatterlng belief in the
capacity of their children for taking
care of themselves, parents are dis
posed to let them cut loose from par
entail restraint and protection earlier
than is good for them. What fatal
mistake is being made in this particu-
lar, and what common mistake it is!
1t is true that this age has made
wonderful progress in the physical
sciences and in all material conditions,
yet it is lamentably true that it has
made no progress in essential better
ments. In that respect at least, the
world is now behind the times OF our
grandfathers and our grandmothers.
The world is so full of wolves, and so
many of them are in sleeps clothing,
parents little realize to what dangers
they expose their children when they
set them adrift in the world beyond
the restraining influences of home life.
There never comes time in the life OF
a young man or young women when
the guiding hand of the father or the
vigilant eye of the mother are not use
full and beneficial. The beasts of prey
are so numerous in the domain OF So
ciety, and their arts are so skillful, it is
a blessed stroke of good fortune
if the young person exposed to
their wiles does not fall vic
tim to their hellish designs. And
what is most singular of all is that so
many American parents of wealth are
indoctrinated with the idea that it is
essential to a polite education that their
children shall live awhile i'll Paris.
when it is notorious that nowhere in all
the world is the social atmosphere so
filled with moral malaria as in the gay
French capital. The head Of the house
hold who is the possessor of jewels
will bar his doors and windows
and take every precaution against
the invasion of robbers. And yet there
is no gem among all the glittering treas
ures of the Golcondas, the CALIFORNIA;,
or the Perus, comparable in value to a
daughters honor, or the untarnished
name of son. Still, how careless many
parents are of these most precious treas
ures OF the household circle. How many
cases are there where the failure to
properly exercise parental restraint
has brought the leper's taint upon
the child, and has caused him
or her to be cast forth into scorched
and barren desert without verdure, or
one single cooling fountain at which to
find rest, in all the desolate pilgrimage
of life.
Home instruction and religious train
ing, as useful as they are, cannot al
ways be relied on as a safeguard for
young people who drift beyond parental
protection. Parents, your children need
your vigilant care every day and every
hour. There are too many alluring
forms of vice in this world to trust them
far away from you any length of time.