Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1900-04-04
NO. II.


had to get them ready. Time passes on.
They get considerably older, and the son
comes In from the street from puxiiistic
encounter bearing on his appearance the
marks OF defeat, or the daughter practices
some little deception In the household.
The mother says, "I can't always be scold-
ing and fretting and finding fault, but this
must be stopped" So in many house,
hold there is the sign OF sin, the sign OF the
truthfulness of what the Bible says when
it declares, "They, go astray as soon as
they be born, speaking lies.
Some go to work and try ITO correct all
this, and the boy is picked at and picked
at and picked at. That always Is ruinous.
There is more help in one good thunder
storm than in five days or cold drizzle.
Better the old fashioned style of chasttse-
ment, IL that be necessary. than the fret
ting and the scolding which have de-
stroyed so many.
There is also a cause OF great solcltule
sometimes because our young people are
surrounded by so many temptations.
castle may not be taken by straightfor-
war,i siege, but suppose there be inside the
crstle an enemc.--an1 IL the -4lAM- ne
s..oves back the bolt and swings open the
door. Our young folks have foes without.
and they have foes within. Who does not
understand 1t? Who Is the man here who
Is not aware OF the fact that the young
people OF this day have tremendous temp
tations?
Oh, how many traps set for the young!
Styles OF temptation just suited to them.
Do you suppose that u man who went clear
to the depths OF dissipation went down in
one great plunge? On, no! At first 1t was
a fashionable hotel. Marble floor. No un-
clean pictures behind the counter. No
drunken hiccough while they drink, bus
the click OF cut glass to the elegant senti-
ment. You ask that young man now to go
into some low restaurant and get n drink,
and he would say, "Do you mean to insult
me?'' But the fashionable and the elegant
hotel Is not always close by, and now the
young man Is on the down grade. Farther
and farther down until he has about struck
the bottom of the depths OF ruin. Now he
Is In the low restaurant. The cards so
greasy you can hardly tell who has the
best hand. Gambling for drinks. Shuttle
away, shuttle away. The landlord stands
in his short sleeves, with his hands on his
hips, waiting for an order to fill up the
glasses.
The clock strikes twelve-the tolling of
the funeral bell of soul. The breath oil
eternal woe fiushes In that young mans
cheeks In the jets OF the gaslight the
fiery tongue of the worm that never dies.
Two o'clock in the morning, and now they
are sound asleep in their chairs. Land
lord comes around and says "Wake up.
wake up! Time to shut up!' "What!'
says the young man. Thine to shut upp'
Push them all out into the night air. Now
they are going home. Going homei Let
the wife crouch In the corner and the chill.
dren hide under the bed. What was the
history Of that young man? He began his
designations In the barroom OF Fifth ave-
nue. hotel and completed his damnation In
the lowest groRshop.
Sometimes sin does not halt In that way.
Sometimes sin even comes to the drawing
rocm There are leprous hearts some-
times admitted in the highest circles OF
society. He is so elegant, he is so bewitch-
ing in his manner, he is so refined, he Is so
educated, no one suspects the sinful de-
sign, but after a while the talons OF death
come forth. Utst Is the matter with that
house? The front windows have not been
open for six months or year. A shadow
has come down on that domestic hearth,
shadow thicker than one woven of mid
parent makes him say, "Oh, wish had
buried my children when they were smallv
Loss of property? No. Death in the
family? No. Madness? No. Some vii
lain, kid gloved and diamonded. lifted
that cup OF domestic bliss until the sun
light struck 1t, and all the rainbows
played around the rim and then dashed 1t
into desolation and woe, until the harpies
of darkness clapped their hands and all
the voices Of the pit uttered a loud 'Ha,
hai''
The statistic has never been made up in
these great cities of how many have been
destroyed and how many beautiful homes
have been overthrown. II the statistic
blood in a solid cake at your heart. Our
great cities are full Of temptations, and to
vast multitudes OF parents these tempta-
| tions become matter of great solicitude.
Begin early with your children. YOU
stand on the banks OF a river and you try
to change its course. 1t has been rolling
now for 100 miles. You cannot change 1t.
But just go to the source OF that river, 60
to where the water just drips down on the
rock. Then with your knife make a chan
| = nI,n Nl.as
1t will take it. Come out and stand on the
banks OF your child's life when 1t is thirty
or forty years Of age, or even twenty, and
try to change the course Of that life.
1t Is too latei 1t IL too latei Go far
ther up at the source Of life and near
est to the mothers heart, where the
character starts, and try to take 1t In
the right direction. But, oh, my friend,
be careful to make a line, n distinct
line between innocent hilarity on the one
hand and vicious hilarity Oh the other. Do
not think your children are going to ruin
because they make a racket. All healthy
children make a racket. But do not laugh
ut your childs sin because 1t is smart. II
you do, you will cry after awhile because
it is malicious. Remember it is what you
do more than what you say that Is going
to affect your children. Do you suppose
Noah would have got his family to go into
the ark IL he staid out? No. His sons
would have said, 81 am not going into the
boat; there's something wrong; father
won't go in; IL father stays out, I'll stay
OUT
Are all your children safe? know it is a
stupendous question to ask, but / must
| ask 1t. Are all your children safe? A
mother, when the house was on fire. got
out the household goods, many articles Of
beautiful furniture, but forgot to ask till
| too late, "Are tine children safe?" When
the elements are melting with fervent heat
and God shall burn the world up and the
cry OF "Firel Firei" shall resound amid
! the mountains and the valleys, will your
children be safe?
Iwonder If the subject strikes chord in
the heart OF any man who had Christian
parentage, but has not lived rs he ought?
God brought you here this morning to
have your memory revived. Did you have
| a Christian ancestry? "Oh, yesl" says one
man. ''If there ever was good woman,
my mother was good" How she watched
you when you were sickl Others wearied.
II she got weary, she nevertheless was
wakeful, and the medicine was given mt the
right time, and when the pillow was hot
she turned 1t. And, oh, then, when you
began to go astray, what grief it was to
her hearti
All the scene comes back. You remem-
Der the chairs, you remember the table,
you remember the doorsill where you
played, you remember the tones OF her
voice. She seems calling you now, not by
the formal title with which we address you.
saying, "Mr." this or "Mr." that, or Hon
orable' this or 'Honorabis" that. 1t Is
just the first name, your first name, she
calls you by this morning. She bids you to II
better life. She says: Forget not all the
counsel 1 gave you, my wandering boy.
Turn into paths OF Righteousness. l an
waiting for you at the gate" Oh, yes, God
brought you here this morning to have
that memory revived, and l shout upward
the tidings. Angels of God send forward
the news Ring! Ringi The dead is alive
again. and the lost is found!
"A law in Mexico compels Mormon
who is about to take a second wife