Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1898-03-30
HOME AND IT'S INFLUENCES.
An Eloquent Sermon. by Rev A. j Coram
Recently on the importance of Early
Mental Training in Children, and in
Preserving the Sanctity of the Home


There are two institutions which are closely
allied TO each other-the home and the
school. There are two individuals that may
De very helpful TO each other-the parent and
the teacher. The school is dependent upon
the home for the material that shall enter
their doors; the home Is dependent upon the
school TOR what that material shall be when
IL comes out from the loom of school life.
The home working in con uPction with the
school will do much t~wP.d making that
n aterial good. The school working in har-
mony with the home will have better under
standing of the material with which il has 10
deal. To these two institutions the nation
looks for Its coming citizens and the product
of these institutions will determine the char
acter OF our nation: and to some extent the
morals Of the world. The holiest purest
and best plan in the world should be home
Ii 1t be true that environment and association
detsrmtne the character of man, how import
ant u becomes to make home what il should
be, the sweetest place on earth. To ADAM
Paradise was home. To the good among his
descendants, home Is paradise. Home is the
cradle OF childhood. Che Jewels of heaven
are given to gladden. the homes of the earth
They come to us as pure as the morning dew
as white in their purity as the falling snow.
and lie who gave them to us will demand
them at o ur hands, robed in the Same purity
as when He lent them to us. Home should be
as fragrant with the perfume of love as the
garden with the perfume of flowers. The
music of home life should rival in its
harmonies the music of heaven If in the
great Instrument of home life their is a dis
cor liant sound, it is not the place God de
signed it to be, and that home that is I'M
happy miserable and wretched is so because
1t is out of harmony with the purity and holi-
ness of the greater home-Heaven In the
home childhood must grow, amidst the enyir-
onment and association of home receive its
first impressions which shall have IA large
part IN form ing its future Character The
child is not always what the school makes il,
but what the home makes it, Home, says
Chaplin, is the seminary of all other institu-
tions. think am safe in saying that there
ara more children spoiled at home than any
where else. As parents we are apt to condone
their faults and pet them in their rebellions
and let them have their own way, rather
than correct their faults punish for dis
obedience, and give them to understand that
they are not a law unto themselves The
future destiny of a child Is always the work
OF mother, says Bonaparte, but he might
have added with equal truth has over
against the teaching and influence of mother
is set the example of father, anu while
mother blesses child with her holy influence
the father damns the child by a bad example.
The father and mother working together to
make the child life what God intended IL
should be, and seeking wisdom. and guidance
from our Heavenly Father, will be indeed
blest in their children. In the home the par
ents are fitting their children for school-life
Not in the sense of getting them ready by
liking up their clotb es. etc, but by preparing
their minds to resist evil suggestions and to
overcome the temptations that may beset
them. Toprepare them for the activities Of
school life, guarding them against idleness
and inattention, teaching them to obey,
giving them such discipline in the home as
shall result in best work in the school
Father or mother cannot expect the Child to
obey. They cannot hope for q child to be
active in school If they are permitted to be
idle at home. Shakespeare says, "The voice
of parents is the voice of God, for to the r
children they are heavens lteutenants'
Parents sin grieyoUsly against their children,
by not seeking to understa them, by not
gaining their confidence. To prepare and fit
child for school life, parents must give
good examples and reYerent department in
the face of their children. And all thos in
stances of charity which endear each other
sweetness of conversation, affability, fire.
quent admonitions all Specifications of love
and tenderness, care and watchfulness, m ust
be expressed toward children, that they may
look upon their parents as their friends and
patrons, their defense and sanctuary, their
treasure ana their guide. In future years
some boy or girl looking back, will bless God
for the faithful teachings and Cody example
of true father and mother. They will say
with the poet
The voices of my home!-I hear them still.
They have been with me through the dreary
night.
The blessed household voices, won't to fl
My hearts clear depths with unalloyed de-
hear them still, unchanged,--though some
from earth
Are music parted, and the tones of mirth
wild slivery tones, that rang through days
more bright
Have died in others,-yet to me they come
Singing of boyhood hac6-the voices of my
home"
In cherishing the home we cherish all those
institutions which trend to build up our
homes; or in other words, those institutions
that aim to develop intelligence and fit boys
and girls to become intelligent men ard
women, understanding their right relation
to one another, to home and country and to
God. The school is not the least among these
Institutions. We have every reason to thank
God for our public school system. 1T has
done more to broaden men and make neu
liberal minded than all other institutions
save the church; and if there is
any institution which should command the
liberal ana hearty support of the American
people, it is the public school. We believe 1t
to be the duty of every parent to send their
children TO the public school and we cannot
think them true Americans who are afraid to
trust their children to national institution.
To be Americans we must of necessity patron
ize and support American institutions. As
Americans we will look with suspicion on any
class of people who are afraid to trust their
children to our public schools.
The duty of parent does not end with the
preparing and fitting OF the child to attend
school, but we are bound by all parental law
to follow and watch over the school life of
our children, How are we to know whether
the school is the best place for them or not If
we do not make ourselves acquainted with
the school? According to the best informa-
ton can obtain not one-third of our par
entS visit our school or seem to take any
interest in it, beside that of sending their
children. We should know our school better
become acquainted with its working, know
our teachers in their field of labor. 1t is
downright meapness and the height of uu-
fairness to find fault with school we are not
acquainted with but we judge the school by
its fruits 1t Is the true standard of iudg-
ment We acknowledge it, but maxi answer
that the blossom was already on the plant
before it came to us. The school cannot reg
ulate the fruit that LAS already been deter
mined in the home. 1t must be confessed
that as parents we have been to negligent in
this respect. Do your children always go to
school when sent? And do we correct them
If they deceive us in this matter? Not al
ways. Some parents seem to think 1t quite
cute for their boys and girls to play the
truGn. and to skip school II should be the
business of every parent TO know the stand
Ing, morally and intellectualytof their child
glad to give us all the information we needed
on these points. The strength and safety Of
a community consists in the virtue and in
of its youth, especially of its young
men. Every period in life has its peculiar
ions and Dangers but youth is the
time when we are most likely to be ensnared
This pre-em inently is the forming, fixing
period, the spring season of disposition and
habit; and it is during this season more than
any other, that the character assumes its
permanent shape and color, and the young
are wont to take their course for time and
for eternity. The question every parent
should ask himself is this: Is the school to
which | send my boy or girl fit place to
build up good morals, and develop intellect
ual strength if not then 1t is your duty to
alapt ct1ch a bOa nd as shall see Ia it thar tho