The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1898-02-21

|, young men and young women. who are
bending every energy TO cultivate their IN
, teIlect
We can pray for them. surely we can
have them In our thought and in our heart
for Gods ear is not deaf. His arm is not
short. Beloved they are. our boys and
girls, who are In the schools and colleges
OF the land. They once Fay In our arms In
bue-eyed innocence and smiled into our
faces the unmarried image Of ourselves. We
watched over their helpless years with
loving solicitude. surrendered TO them with
untiring sacrifice and heard their sweet
prattle with endless pleasure. They are
ours. we have toiled for them. are toiing
for them. Lamenting our own insufficient
equipment for life and remembering the
hard struggles on our own career we are
/ willing almost to slave that they may be
j better equipped for life and have less
i difficult time OF IT, We sent them forth
into the midst OF a needed opportunity with
fear and trembling. Our hearts would
break should they come back TO us with
the early beauty Of the character sadly
i married. its simplicity gone its confidence
chilled. Its tenderness hardened rough
4 ness and coarseness where there was gen
4 tleness. murmuring. se1-wili aud pride
4 where there was obedience; something of
! falsehood, something OF profaneness, somc-
4 thing Of mpurity, where there was true
and blamcicss conversation" And VET they
must be sent forth II they are TO be equip
/ pea f0T the StruREle OF Ire. Inc perlOu
| CT Innocent childhood may be prolonged by
extreme care, but II must end sooner or
| later and the knowledge OF good and evil
! In its full force. must come. Their con
dltion is TO know good and evil. II they
know only evil II is the condition OF hell"
| According TO Thomas Arnold schools nre
TO be acquitted or condemned according
! to the moral quality they encourage and de-
| velop. III there IL temptation in abund- |
! ance. but no support against temptation, |
| and no examples OF overcoming it. IL some |
are losing their childs innocence. but none. |
or very few are gaining mans virtue"
| then the school Is doing more evil than
| good and it's unwise or incompetent or
wicked teachers should be gent adrift II !
| innocence is exchanged only for vice then
we have not done orr part; then the evil |
| III not unavoidable but our sin, and wo NAV |
be assured that for the souls So lost there
viii be an account demanded" both OF the
! school OF the children and of YOU.
| We can not escape our responsibility as
parents. We ought always TO keen the
children In our heart and In our prayers. |
| If any Of YOU say | have no children, the |
responsibility Is not mine, | have mo call
for care" then God pity your selfish and |
| narrow soul.
| TO us as parents there should come one
unuuenchabc desire OF the heart--to answer |
the call Of God on the last great day with |
this. Here am and the children Thou
diast give me-"
| We must DO more than pray for them.
| We must indeed pray for Them
a. moro than that. Our exam
pie before them must be sound and right
quaint fellow once said with much OF
truth ''If you would train up child In
the way he should go you must 20 that way
sometimes yourself" | can remember q
sad hour In my experience when my con-
vlction Of all religious truth was clouded
over and seemed clean gone forever In
that hour with darkness all about me and
disaster yawning beneath me the one
anchor which held. at which the fierce
waves of doubt tugged but tugged In vain.
was the bright Christian faith aud godly
life of those two of whom God gave me the
rnspeakable privilege to be born and bred |
Beloved, If we would develop the con- /
science of our children and win them 10
Christian life we must impress them with |
the genuineness of our own faith and the
goodness of our own life. They will follow
our example much oitener than our teach | ,
ing--if the two arc not agreed Many Z, =
rogue has become such because his father ,
or mother did not always scrupulously
adhere TO what Is honest. Many a murderer
mas stained his hands and darkened his v
soul with the blood Of his fellows because Z
he heard at home and in his youth the law \
belittled and the value of human life X
discounted Many reprobate who has y
Drought his mothers gray hairs In sorrow II
10 the grave has reeled homeward after v
me dsordercd steps Of his drunken father n
Many fippant. foolish girl who has made q
OF life lrolc and ended IT in shrek
has but emphasized the vain and hollow
NE IN which her mother bred her-ths
only difference between them possibly b,- u
ing that one had the courage of her Vices. 81
on the power OF examples, OF parental A
example! How do YOU mean to train your h
chiliren In the way they should 70? BY q
gong that way Yourself? Then. In ~
Heavens name do IT, Don't play at doing y,
IL. Your children VIII find that out and /,
ehher regard you ms making believe or o
regard the thing you teach them MS a SUI N
prostitution, or IA couventionality [ know Il
SEINE Christian people who are praying u
people, IN almost every instance they were n
trained that way J know some who wor- :"
shlp God IN the sanctuary. In almost every
Instance ,hey We're trained that way. DO
your eniidren attend Sunday schoclg Why? Ia
Ate your children ever found In the PRAYER =,
meeiingg DO you know why they are mt ? u
Are you found In it, That vacancy speaks q
IN trumpet tones. oh, the responsibility of IL
example, VI ~
u we send our bows and girls out to q
School from homes where thev have hoan -
taught to respect truth 10 venerete nse 70
10 love God and to worship In HIS HOLY n,
by procept and oxnmple or
~ wore ana deed, they viii he less mn Ia
90 eNehange their childhood Innocence for er
NV Anowleuse, more apt In losing in w
hoocnce To gain virtue There win h. ,
pet,er soil in which to plant spiritual
eco, stronger moral sense TO stand tbe -,
,ualh OF temptation. Thay Will be more
'pt 10 return 10 YOU strong In mind md ~
norais' pure m heart and sweet in tome OF
'nn oe 70 you Joy and pride to the end II
i,ray Tor the boys aud girls in the scboo, IN
' ,u COLLEGES that with an their lenrnin, ~, ~
hey may learn to love God supremacy n a u
Nolsh,n HIM, to love their fellows and 81!
erve them TO love and hold fast 10 What lee
~, nurr and lovely aud of good report
To this deyout end let ~, is,a,,o,' IN.
,,o,.,, VIM. Hayne Leayell. n,
houston, February 10, 1895 ~,