The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1893-08-11
CHILDREN'S RIGHTS.
DR.. Talmage breaches on Timely
Subject,
The Sacrifice of Children-Crowding the
Child's Mind-Wrong Systems of
Discipline-The Spirit of
Worldliness.

IN late sermon at Brooklyn Rev. 7.
Dewitt Talmage chose for his topic
''Children's Rights" the text being:
Judges, XII, 80; my father, if thon
hast opened thy mouth unto the LORE
10 to me according to that which hath
proceeded out of thy mouth" DIR. Tai
mage said:
Jephthah was a freebooter. Early
turned out from home where he ought
to have been cared for, he consorted
with rough men, and went forth to
earn his living as best he could. In
those times it was considered right for
a man to go out on independent mill
tary expeditions Jephthah was a
good man according to the light of his
dark age, but through a wandering
and predatory life he became reckless
and precipitate. The grace of God
changes a mans heart, but never re-
verses his natural temperament
The Israelites wanted the Ammonites
driven ont of their country, so they
sent delegation to Jephthah asking
him to become commander-in-chief of
all the forces. Before going out to the
war Jephtha makes a very solemn VOW
that if the Lord will give him the vic
tory then, on his return home, whatso-
ever first comes ont of his doorway he
will offer in sacrifice as burnt offer
ing. In those. old times opposing forces
would fight until their swords were
broken. and then each one would
throttle his man until they both fell,
teeth to teeth, grip to grip. death-stare
to death-stare, until the plain was one
tumbled mass of corpseS, from which
the last trace of manhood had been
dashed out.
Jephthah wins the day. Twenty
cities lay captured at his feet Sound
the victory all through the mountains
of Gilead. Let the trumpeters call up
the survivors Homeward to your
wives and children. Homeward with
your glittering treasures. Homeward
to have the applause of an admiring
nation.
Huzza for Jephthah the conqueror!
Jephthah, seated on a prancing steed,
advances amid acclaiming multitudes,
but his eye is not on the excited popu-
lace. Remembering that he had made
a solemn vow that, returning from vic
torious battle, whatsoever first came
out of the doorway of his home, that
should be sacrificed as burnt offering.
he has his anxious look upon the door.
Oh, horrors! Paleness OF death blanches
his cheek. Despair seizes his heart.
His daughter, his only child, rushes
out the doorway to throw herself in
her fathers arms and shower upon him
more kisses than there were wounds
on his breast or dents on his shield All
the triumphal splendor vanishes. Hold
ing back this child from his heaving
breast and pushing the locks back from
the fair brow, and looking into the
eyes of ineXtinguiShablea affection. with
chollcd utterance he says: Would God
that l lay stark on the bloody plain.
Ny daughter. my only child, joy of
home, life of my life, thou art the sacri
6ce,"
The whole matter was explained to
her. This was no whining. hollow
hearted girl into whose eyes the father
looked. All the glory of the sword
and shield vanished in the presence of
the valor of that girl With a self
-tlta AAACt Alidl mai i1DS AtdSll. anu
only wOman's heart can compass, she
su~renders herself to fire and to death.
my father, if thou hast opened thy
month unto the Lord, do thou unto me
whatsoever hath proceeded from thy
month"
She bows to the knife, and the blood,
which so often at the fathers voice had
rushed 20 the crimson cheek, smokes in
the fires OF the burnt offering. No one
can tell US her name. There is no need
that we know her name. The gar
lands that Mizpeh had twisted for
Jephthah, the warrior. had gone into
the dust; but all ages are twisting this
girls chaplet 1t is well that her name
came not to us, for no one can wear it.
They may take the name of Deborah,
Or Abigail, or Miriam, but no one in
all the ages can have the title of this
daughter of sacrifice.
Of course this offering was not pleas
ant to the Lord; but before you hurl
your denunciations at Jephthah's cru
city. remember that in olden times,
when vows were made, men thought
they must execute them, perform them,
whether they were wicked or good.
There were two wrong things about
Jephthah's VOW. First, he ought never
to have made it. Next, having made
1t, it were better broken than kept
But do not take on pretentious airs and
say: Il could not have done as
Jephthah did" If to-day you were
standing on the banks of the Ganges
and you had been born in India, you
might have been throwing your chill
iren to the crocodiles 1t is not be-
cause we are naturally any better, but
because we have more gospel light.
Now, make very practical use of
this question when tell you that the
sacrifice of Jephthah's daughter was a
type OF the PHYSICAL, mental and
spiritual sacrifice of ten thousand chill
iren in this day. There are parents all
unwittingly bringing to bear upon their
children a class of influences which
will as certainly ruin them as knife
and torch destroyed Jephthah's
daughter.
In the first place remark that much
Of the system of education in our day
IS a system of sacrifice. When chill
iren spend six or seven hours day in
school and then must spend two or
three hours in preparation for school
the next day, will you tell me how
much time they viii have for sunshine
and fresh air and the obtaining of that
exuberance which is necessary for the
duties of coming life?
No one can feel more thankful than
lido for the advancement of common
school education. But this herding of
great multitudes of children in ILL
ventilated school rooms and poorly