The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1900-05-03
DUTIES OF PARENTS.
Dr. Talmage's Advice on the Bring
ing Up of Children.
The Dangers and Temptations Which
Surround the YOung-Necessity
of Wise Training-RespOn-
sibility OF Mothers.
copyright, 1900. by Louis Klopsch.l
WoShirOton

copyright. 1900. by Louis Klopsch.l
Washington,
This discourse of DIR. Talmage will
Interest young men, while it is full of
advice and encouragement to parents
who are trying to bring up their chill
dren Alright; text, Proverbs, 10, 1: "a
wise son maketh q glad father; but
foolish son is the heaviness of his
mother"
In this graphic way Solomon sets
forth the idea that the good or evil be-
havior of children blesses or blights
the parental heart. I know there are
persons who seem to have no especial
interest in the welfare of their chill
dren. The father says: 'My boy must
take the risks took in life. # he turns
out well, all right; if he turns out ill,
he will have to bear the consequences.
He has the same chance that had. He
must take care of himself" A shep-
herd might just as well thrust lamb
into den of lions and say: Little
lamb, take care of yourself"
Nearly all the brute creation are
kind enough to look after their young.
I was going through woods, and I
heard shrill cry in nest. climbed
up to the birds nest, and found that
the old bird had left the brood to
starve. But that is very rare occur
renee. Generally bird will pick your
eyes out rather than surrender her
young to your keeping or your touch.
A lion will rend you if you come too
near the whelps; even the barnyard
fowl, with its clumsy foot and heavy
wing will come at you if you approach
its young too nearly, and God certain
ly intended to have fathers and moth
ers as kind as the brutes.
Christ comes through all our house
holds to-day, and He says: "You take
care of the bodies of your children and
the minds of your children. What are
you doing for their immortal souls?" /
read of ship that foundered. A life
boat was launched. Many of the pas
sengers were in the water. A mother,
with one hand beating the waves and
the other hand holding her little child
out toward the lifeboat, cried out:
''Save my child!" And that impas-
stoned cry is the one that finds an echo
in every parental heart in this land to-
day. "Save my child!" That man out
there says: 81 have fought my own
way through life. I have got along
tolerably well. The world has buf-
feted me, and have had many hard
struggle. It doesn't make much differ
ence what hapepns to me, but save my
child" You see, I have a subject of
stupendous import, and I am going, as
God may help me, to show the cause of
parental solicitude and then the allevi-
ations of that solicitude.
The first cause of parental solicitude,
I think, arises from the imperfection
of parents on their own part. We all
somehow want our children to avoid
our faults. We hope that if we have
any excellencies they will copy them,
but the probability is they will copy
our faults and omit our excellencies.
Children are very apt to be echoes of
the parental life. Some one meets
lad in the back street, finds him smok-
ing. and says: "Why, am astounded
at you. What would your father say
if he knew this? Where did you get
that cigar?'' "Oh, picked it up on the
street" "What would your father say
and your mother say if they knew
this?" "Oh," he replies, that's noth-
ing. My father smokes" There is not
one of us to-day who would like to have
our children copy all our example. And
that is the cause of solicitude on the
part Of all of us. We have so many
faults we do not want them copied and
stereotyped in the lives and characters
of those who come after us.
Then solicitude arises from our con-
scious insufficiency and unwisdom of
discipline. Out of 20 parents there
may be one parent who understands
how thoroughly and skillfully to dis
cipline; perhaps not more than one out
of 20. We, nearly all of us, err on one
side or on the other. Here is father
who says: II am going to bring up
my children right. My sons shall know
nothing but religion, shall see nothing
but religion, and hear nothing but re-
ligion." They are routed out at six
o'clock in the morning to recite the
Ten Commandments. They are wax
ened up from the sofa on Sunday night
to recite the Westminster catechism.
Their bedroom walls are covered with
religious pictures and quotations of
Scripture, and when the boy looks for
the day of the month he looks for it in
a religious almanac. II minister
comes to the house, he is requested to
take the boy aside and tell him what a
great sinner he is, 1t is religion morn
ing, noon and night.
Now the father and mother are wait
ing for the son to come home at night.
It is IL o'clock, it is half-past II o'clock,
1t is one o'clock. The son comes through
the hallway. The father says: 'My
son, what does al this mean? / gave
you avery opportunity. ! gave you all
the money you wanted, and here in my
old days ! ind that you have become