Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1893-08-04

At IS years OF age ne was an luiOt. He hfe'
10 years an idiot and died an idiot, not know
ing his right hand from his LETT, or day from
night The parents aud the teachers made
him an idiot.
You may flatter your pride by forcing your
children 10 know more than any other chu-
dren, but you are making a sacrifice OF that
child IL by the additions to It's intelligence
YOU are making a subtraction from IT'S iu-
ture. The child will 80 away from suen mai
treatment with no exuberance 10 light tna
battle OF life Such children may get along
very we'll while you take care OF them, but
when you are old and dead, alas for them
il through the wrong system OF education
which YOU adopted, they have no swarthi-
ness or forcs OF character to take care oil
themselves. Be careful how you make the
child's head ache or its heart futter.
hear a great deal about black mems rights
and Chinamen's rights and Indians rights
and women's rights. Would God that some.
body would rise to plead for children right
The Carthaginians used to sacrifice their
children by putting them into thearm OF an
idol which thrust forth its hand. The child
was put into the arms OF the idol, and no
sooner touched the arms than it dropped iuto
the fire. But il was the art OF the mothers
to keep the children smiling and laughing
until the moment they died. There may be
n fascination and hilarity about the styles
OF education Of which am speaking, but II
is only laughter at the moment OF sacrifice.
Would God there were only one Jephthaths
daughter.
Again. there are many parents who are
sacrificing their children with wrong sy5-
TENS OF discipline-too great rigor or too
great leniency. There are children in fam
iliec who rule the household. They come to
the authority. The high chair in which the
in lana sits IS the throne. and the rattle is the
scepter. and the other childen make up the
parliament where father and mother have no
vote Such children come up to be mis-
creants.
There is no chance in this world for a child
that has never learned to mind. Such peo-
pie become the botheration of the church OF
God and the pest Of the world. Children
that do not learn to obey human authority
are unwilling to learn to obey Divine author
ity Children will not respect parents whose
authority they do not respect. Who are those
young men that swagger through the street,
with their thumbs in their vest, talking
about their father as 1.-The old man,
''the governor" 'the squire, tine
old chan" or their mother as "the
old woman They are those who in youth,
in childhood. never learned to respect au-
thority. Eli, having heard that his sons had
died in their wickedness. fell over backward
and broke his neck and died. Well he might.
What is life to father who's sons are de
bauched? The dust Of the valley is pleasant
10 his taste and the driving rains that
drip through the roof OF the sepulcAer are
sweeter than the wines of HelbO1.
There must be harmony between the
fathers government and the mothers gov
eminent The father will be tempted to too
great vigor The mother will be tempted 10
too great leniency. Her tenderness will
overcome her. Her voice is a little softer;
her hand seems better fit to pull out a thorn
and soothe pang Children wanting any
thing from the mother cry for it. They hope
to dissolve her will with tears. But the moth
or must not interfere. must not coax oil,
must not be- for the child when the
hour comes for the assertion OF parental
supremacy and the subiugation OF
child's temper There comes in the history
Of every child an hour when it is tested
whether the parents shall rule or the child
shall rule. That is the crucial hour. 1.-THE
child triumphs in that hour, then he will
some day make you crouch. II is horrible
scene. have witnessed it-a mother cone
to old age shivering with terror in the pres
ence of son who cursed her gray hairs and
Knocked her wrinked face and begrudged her
the crust she munched with her toothless
gums
How sharper than a se-pea.'s tooth It'll
To have n thanklesS child.
But. on the other hand too great rigor
must be avoided. 1t is n sad thing when do
nestle government becomes cold military
despotism. Trappers on the prairie tight IRE
with fire, but you cannot successfully light
your childs bad temper with your own bad
temper. We must not be too minute in our
inspection. We cannot expect our children
to be perfect. We must not gee everything.
Since we have two OF three faults of our own,
We ought not to be too rough when we dis
cover that our children have as many. Ii
tradition be true. when we were children we
were not all little Samuels, and our parents
were not fearful lest they could not raise us
because Of our premature goodness.
You cannot scold or pound your children
into nobility OF character. The bloom OF a
child's heart can never be seen under cold
drizzle. Above all. avoid frettlng and
scolding in the household Better than 10
years OF fretting at your children IS enc
good. round, old fashioned application OF
the slipper That minister OF the Gospel OF
whom we read in the newspapers that he
whipped his child to death because he would
not say his prayers will never come to can
onization. The arithmetics cannot cal
culate how many Thousands OF children
lave been ruined forever either through too
great rgor or too great leniency. The heav-
ems and the earth are filed with the groan OF
the sacrificed. In this important matter seek
divine direction, o father. 0 mother. Some
one asked the mother OF Lord Chief Justice
Mansfield if she was not proud to have three
such eminent sons and all Of them so good.
mo" she said. lit is nothing to be proud OF,
but something for which to be very grateful.
Again, there are many who are sacrificing
their children 10 a spirit of worldliness.
Some one asked n mother whose children
bad turned out very well what was the secret
by which she prepared them for usefulness
and fer the Christian life. and she said
This was the secret. When in the morning
washed my children, I prayed that they
might be washed in tha fountain of a
Saviour's mercy. When put on their gar
ments. prayed that they might be arrsyed
IN the robe OF a Saviour's righteousness.
When | gave them food. | prayed that
they might be fed with mama from heaven
When | started them on the road TO school. I
prayed that their path might be as the shin
ing light. brighter and brighter TO the per-
feet day When put them to sleep prayed
that they might be EMBODIED in the Sayiour's
arms" ooh" you say, that was very old
fashioned" 1t was quite old fashioned. But
do you suppose that n child under such
nurture as that ever turned out bad?
In our day most boys start out with no
idea higher than the all encompassing do
lar. They start in an age which boasts II can
scratch the Lords Prayer on a 10 cent piece
and the Ten Commandments on 10 cent
piece Children are taught to reduce morals
and religion. time and eternity, to vulgar
fractions. Il seems to be their chief attain
ment that 10 cents make a dime. and 10 dimes
make dollar. How TO get money is only
equale1 by the other art. how TO keep 1t.
Tell me. ye who know what chance there IS
for those who start out in life with such
perverted sentiments? The money market
resounds again and again with the downfall
of such people. II had a drop Of blood on
the tip OF pen, l would tell you by what
awful tragedy many OF the youth OF this
country are ruined.
Further on thousands and tens OF thou
sands Of the daughters OF America are sacri-
feed to wordliness. They are taught to be in
sympathy with all the arthcaities Of society.
They are induced into all the hollowness OF
what is called fashionable life. They are
taught to believe that history is dry, but that
50-cent stories OF adventurous love are deli
cious. With capacity that might have rivaled
/ n Elorouoa NIGHTINGALE in heavenly minis