The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1897-05-13

AnuOTeH-CnIeSS lney are WdOe u
Respect and Obey Parents They
Will Not Make Good Citizens.
An esteemed friend requests that |
write letter about how to raise a fam
lily Of children SO that they will all be.
have, the boys make good citizens,
good husbands, good fathers and the
girls make good wives and good moth.
ers. "Is it possible to do this?' he
asks.
When the lawyers determine that a
thing cannot be legally done they say
it is "ultra vires," which means be-
yond strength. In the first place, i,
is not possible 10 devise any plan OF
method BY which all children Can be
raised or trained to do right and be-
| have. 1t is "ultra wires" and even il
it were possible, it is "ultra wires
with me to make it known. Ever since
the failure of Adam to raise Cain, this
thing of raising all the children to be
good has been an unsolved problem.
Whether the difference in children OF
the same family is due to the laws Of
heredity or the doctrine of election or
to different environments and associa-
tions or to the devil himself we cannot
tell, but one or more of these causes
have been at work. My wife and |
were discoursilg about this last night
nj q
century we could not name single
family of six or more children ofwhom
all were good. Anxiety and grief and
trouble because of children, is the com
mon lot. 1t began with Adam and
! came on down to Noah and Jacob and
David and Solomon. and vet these
| men had the special favor of God and
were blessed by Him in every way ex-
cept in the conduct Of some OF their
children. Poor old Eli, the high
priest and judge of Israel for iorty
years, was cursed with two bad boys
and God at the last cursed him for not
restraining them. "There shall not
be an old man in thy house forever,
and all the increase of thy house shall
| die in the flower OF their age Be-
cause his sons made themselves vile
and he restrained them not. What an
awful curse was that! These sons of
| Belial! This word means worthless,
bad, naughty, vile, and fits many bad
boy in our day. 1t is fact that re-
fleets on our sex that the sons of Belial
are mentioned more than dozen
times in the scr ptures, but there is no
daughter Of Belial. "He restrained
them not" Well, the good old man
did talk to them and reprove them
most earnestly. "Why do ye such
things? 1t is no good report that
! hear. Ye make the Lords people to
transgress. If one man sin against
another the judge shall Judge him, but
if man sin against the Lord who
! shall entreat for him?''
wonder what kind of restraint the
Lord expected or required of Eli. 1t
was not talking or pleading with them
| Of course, for he did that. / wonder
if the old man didn't experiment on
the modern Atlanta plan of raising the
boys on his love and their honor, for
fear of breaking their spirits. 1t makes
an old man very tired to read the wise
utterances of the modern Solons
| against corporal punishment of bad
boys in the public schools. l had
| rather 20 and ask the convicts in the
chaingang for an opinion. Nine
tenths OF them would say | began in
| disObedence and was not restrained.
The lamentable fact is that at least
one fourth Of the boys at these schools
have no restraint at home and if they
are not punished at school they get it
! nowhere, and so these sons of Belial
go to the bad very early and become
victims to the rigor Of the law and the
courts. There is many boy in these
schools who is right now on his way
to the chaingang. These Solons say
that corporal punishment is brutal and
barbarous and must give away to the
progress and refinement of the age.
About what time did the youths OF
this generation become better than
those of half century ago? Read the
daily papers and answer. How many
houses in Atlanta are in mourning fol
the bad conduct Of their boys? What
good results can come from expulsion
Of bad boy from SCHOOL, He is not
wanted anywhere by decent people,
and so he associates with his kind and
becomes worse and soon comes t
grief and brings sorrow to his kin
dred.
Obedience TO law, 10 government
to parents is absolutely necessary TO
the peace and welfare Of society. Thi
obedience is enforced among bad men
by the fear of the law. 1t cannot bs
t enforced among bad boys except by
fear of corporal punishment. Thei
factor to be considered. Obedience
must begin early, even in infancy
My little two year old grandchild love
to play in the dirty coal box. "Caro
line, you must not do that her moth
er says, and enforces her command b,
slapping her little hands and ther
washing them. That is corporal pun
: ishment. and is just as severe 10 III
little child as the rod IS to the boy q
ten, and both are right and both effec
tual. The enforcement of obedience
in early childhod saves all necesslt.
for punishment in later years, and i
saves sigh. Of scolding. VIVA, :
world Of worry bad children are ,c
other people! What a comfor, ar
: good ones at home and abroad Som,
mistaken parents say that their boy
, are too high-strung to be whipped
Yes, and those bows are in danger {