The Pacific commercial advertiser., 1900-12-15

should realize that they nave some
thinS to do in making the life of their
own homes besides providing food and
c-otning AID paying taxes and bllis-
1 4radiuonaly. the mother goes up d.
.iight to kneel down by the child ana
oner prayer with him. 1t is a gocd
tradition if it is not too exclusively the
mothers privilege; but really L hav"
.lever been able TO see why sometimes
the father should not kneel down oy
the bed of the child and lead it's foot
steps up to the throne and heart Oh
God.
What, then. do the father and lhutn-
.r owe to the child? l think you "lii
Igree with me when L say tnat the
:irst thing is a welcome. The chilo does
LOT come into the world OF It's own VIII.
ii comes because invited; and therefore
it should be born of free will and into
welcoming arms. HOW strange seems
the cruelty of that Pharaoh OF Whom
va. lead in the Book of EXCdus, VINO
made a law that the children should be
killed. and the kindred cruelty OF that
tierod who, fourteen centuries a.taT,
gave the decree for the Staying of all
the male children in Bethlehem! What
a horrible paganism, this massacre OF
+, he Infants in times gone by! Gone Dy
IT | may trust what the physicians tel
ne. Herod and Pharaoh are still living,
.ot only as men but even as women
Babes are murdered before they are
BORN. The subject SO revoits the soul
of any true man that he hesitates 10
speak, and his eyes turn instinctively
away from the horrible tragedy to
which even nineteenth century Chris
tian culture has not put an end. Inc
child is still sometimes received In
America by people who call themselves
Christians, as those other children were
received by Pharaoh and Herod i'll the
81 of mol Y -
for her children because they are not,
but rejoicing because she is freed FROM
the burden of them. In the United
States the figures show that the Amer
lean who has been the longest IS loS-,
ing ground, and the new conner from
all over the world is taking his place
Men who are willing to die for their
country are not willing to live for II,
and good women, who would work their
fingers to the bone to defend the land,
are not willing to give sons and daugh-
ters to people. The old-time home that
was a fountain of virtue was full OF
children. Oh il s crime when
soul is invited out of the Infinite into
a home where there is no welcome ana
where il is not wanted, and where its
coming is considered a misfortune. Tne
first great duty that devolves on the
father and mother in regard to the
child is. there shall be a loving. tender
welcome awaiting it
Then the father and mother owe ii TO
The child to see that it is Well-Dorn. III
they know that they have physical de-
fects of any kind which science teaches
may be transmitted, If there is talnt
OF insanity in their blood, if they have
reason to suppose that either on ac-
count of their fault, or the fault of their
ancestors they may transmit some NOR
al weakness to their osffspring, they
have no right to marry, ana assume
the responsibility of calling immortal
beings out of the unknown ana placing
them, disabled and crippled al. the very
outset, in the midst of this great world
of competition which we call life. 1t is
an awful thing to have to say, as one
of the characters in one of Ibsen's great
plays says, that his diseased spine is the
price he is paying for his father i'm
| visited not long ago a great philan-
thropic institution for the rescue OF
children, and l made note OF some OF
the faces that looked to me most de-
praved | then looked over the DOCK
where the history of each child was re-
corded, and found abundant explana-
ton of the depraved faces l had no.
ticed Father in penal serVitude;
Mother an abandoned woman; ana
the superintendent in charge said 10
me, Nothing comes out so clearly as
heredity in relation 70 these children
Ii is the right of every child to be we'll
born.
Then as the child grows it is the duty
of the father and mother to see that,
as fat as in them lies, that the home is
"A happy one. 1 do not believe anything
in the life of the child is quite so i'm
portant as this; a man may grow old;
and. as he grows OLD, he may come Ia
contact with the world in such way
that he may lose faith in almost eN-
erything-in business, in Industrial
conditions, in man; he may come to
think that the universe is out of joint
he may lose faith in God. But If
away back in the halls of memory
there is a picture OF a happy home, II
his father was just and kind, and die
the best he knew, and if, above all, ne
can remember the tender. cherishinG
brooding love of mother, there is some
thing still to which you can appeal
There is something still which can b,
saved. The father and mother 'shou.J
do what they can to make the home
life of their children bright and full g
sunshine. To them the home should b
the most desirable. the most attractive
the happiest place on earth. 1t shoGlC
be the charmed center around which
| all their thoughts and hopes and plans
revolve. Let us remember that ou
/ children will be children only once, arr
/ that the richest heritage we can Civ,
them is happy childhood with tende
| memories of father and mother Thi
! Will brighten the coming days whel
| they shall have gone out from the shel
tering home; it will be a safeguard il
times of temptation and a consciou
help amid the stern realities of lif-
The busiest father should find a few
moments every day to romp with hi
children. The man who is too dignifie
TO play with his baby or carry his l.t
tie ones "pick-back," or help them il
their sports, not only lacks one of IN
finest elements of true manhood-h
fails in one of his duties to his chill
dren. No father can afford to let hi
children grow up without weaving him
self into the golden memories of thai
youth. Then, again, the home Shout
be training school, a place for growth
1t will be place for the parents them
serves to grow--to grow into beauty q
character to grow in refinement, :
knowledge, in strength, in patience. i
gentleness. and in all the other grace
and virtues. 1t will be a place for t.,
children TO grow-to grow into physica
vlgor and health, to be trained in a
that shall make them true and nobl
men and women. Shelley has said tha
any home is lacking which has not
In sw,--