The Penn's Grove record., 1900-03-30
DR.. TALMAGEs SERMON.
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE BY THE NOTED
DIVINE.
subjects The Home Lffe-It Points Ont
the Duty OF Parents and A~dmonishes
the Children-Don't Stun the Young
People With Religion,

III AllO@AU INV ONV
the Duty OF Parents and Admonishes
the C-hildren-Don't stun the Young
People With Religion.
[Copyright 1901
WASHINGTON, d. C.-This discourse OF
1t Is full OF advice and encouragement to
parents who IRE trying 10 bring up their
children arfght; text, Proverbs T., l, "a
wise son mRrketl a glad father, but O fool
ish son is the heaviness OF his mother"
In this graphic way Solomon sets forth
the Idea that the good or evil behavior of
children blesses or blights the parental
heart. I know there are persons who seem
to ave no especial interest in the welfare
OF their children. The father says: "My
boy must take the risks / took In life. II
he turns out well, all right. II he turns
out Ill, he will have to bear the conse-
quences. He has the same chance that 1
al. he must take care OF himself" A
shepherd might just as we'll thrust a lamb
Into a 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 a woods, and / heard a
shrill cry in u nest. 7 climbed up to the
birds nest, and I found that the old
bird had left the brood to starve. But that
Is a very rare occurrence. Generally q bird
will pick your eyes out rather than surren-
der her young to your keeping or your
touch. Alton will rend you If you come
too near the whelps. Even the 5arnyard
fowl. with Its clumsy foot and heavy wing,
will come at you II you approach its young
too nearly, and God certainly intended to
have fathers and mothers as kind as the
brutes.
Christ comes through all our households
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 souls9" / read of a ship
that foundered. A life-boat was launched.
Many OF the passengers were in the waters.
A mother, with one hand beating the wave
and the other hand holding her little child
out toward the lifebbat, cried out, "Save
my childI' And that impassioned cry Is
the one that finds an echo in every paren-
tai heart In this and to-day. "Save my
childr" That man opt there says: II have
fought my own way through life, I have got
along %tolerably well, the world has buffeted
me, and / have b d many a hard struggle.
It don't make much difference what hap
pens to me, but save my child!' You see
I have a subject ofsdppendous import. and
l am going. as God may help me-, to show
the cause OF parentaE solicitude n then
the allevlations of THAT solicitude.
The first cause of parental s%ollcitude, I
think, arises from Ithe imperfectlon Of
parents on their owA part. We all some
how want our children to avoid our faults.
We hope that II we have any excellences
they will copy them. But the probability
is they Will copy our faults and omit our
excellences. Children are very apt to be
choes of the parental life. Some one
meets a lad in the back street, finds him
smoking and says: fWhy. am astonished
knew this? Where did you get that cigar?'
"Oh, ! picked 1t up on the street." s'What
would your father say and your mother say
II they knew this?" ooh, , he replies, athat's
nothing. My father smokesl'' There is
not n OF US to-day who would like To
have our children copy oil! our examples.
And that Is the cause Of the solicitude on
faults we do not want them copied and
stereotyped In the lives and characters OF
those who come after US.
The solicitude arises from our conscious
insuf1ciency and unwisdom OF discipline.
Out OF twenty ppn< there may be one
parent who 1i1s a4os how thoroughly
and skillfullysO iscipllne; perhaps not
more than one D. I twenty. We, nearly
all OF MS, err on Oh vside or on he other.
Here is a father who says, II am going to
bring up my children right; NY sons shall
know nothing but religion; shall see MOTH
Ing but religion, and hear nothing but re-
ligion." They are routed out at 6 o'clock
in the morning to recite the Ten Com
mandments. They are awakened 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 a
minister comes to the house, he is re-
quested to take the boy aside and tell him
what a great sinner he is. 1t is religion
morning, noon and night.
Time passes on, and the parents are wait
Ing for tho return OF the son at night. It
Is 8 O'Clock, it is 10 o'lock, it is IL O'Clock,
It is IL O'Clock. it is half-past IL o'clock.
Then they hear a rafting OF the night kew.
and George comes in and has.ens upstairs
lest he be accosted. His father says,
George, where have you been?" He says.
Il have been out" Yes, he has been out,
and he has been down. and he has started
on the broadroad to ruin for this lifo and
ruin for the life to come. and the father
avs to his wife, Mother, the Ten Com
mandments are u failure; no use of West
minister Catecbism; I have done my very
best for that boy; just see how he has
turned out" All, my friend, you stuffed
that boy with religions. you had no sym
pathey with innocent hilarities; you had
no common sense. A man at midIire said
to me, II haven't mu eh desire for religion;
my father was as good n man as ever lived,
but be jammed religion down my throat
when | was q boy until | got disguised
with 1t, and ! haven't wanted my of 1t
since That father erred on one side.
Then the discipline is an entire failure
In many households because the father
pulls one way and the mother pulls the
other way. The father says. .My son. 1
told you II l ever found you gailty OF false
hood again / would chastise you, and 1 am
going to keep my promise" The mother
says: "Don't! Let him off this time"
A father says, 81 have seen SO MANY that
make mistake by too great severity In the
rearing OF their children. Now, / will let
my boy do as he pleases. He shall have
full swing. Here, my son, are tickets to
the theatre and opera. Ifyou want to play
cards, do SO; II you don't want to play
cards. you need not to play them. Go
when you want and come back when you
want to. Have a good time. Go It'll" Give
a boy plenty OF money and ask him not
what he does with it, and you pay his way
straight to perdition. But after awhile
the lad thinks he ought to have a still
larger supply. He has been treated, and
he must treat. He must have wine sup
pers. There are larger and larger ex-
penses.
After awhile one day a messenger from
the bank over the way calls il and says 70
the father OF the household Of which 1 am
speaking, 1.-THE officers of the bank would
like to have You step over a minute" The
father steps over, and the bank officer
says, us that your check?' NO." he
an Il. in that way? / never put a curl to
the " in that Way. That is not my
writing. That is npt my signature. That
IS a counterfeit. ISend for the police"
"StopI" says the tank officer. s'Your son
wrote that"
Now the father and mother are waiting
for the son to ccme home Mt night. 1t is
IL O'Clock, It Is haIf-past IL O'Clock. 1t is /
O'Clock. The son comes through the hall
way. The father says: ssMy son. what
does oil this mean2 I gave you every OPP
p~ortunity. gave you ali the money YOU
wanted, and here IN my old days I find that
you have become qtpendthriit, a libertine
and o sot." The bn says: "Now, father,
what isthe use of your talking that way?
You told me to go pt. and I just took your
suggestion" Ahdso to strike the medium
between severity and too great leniency.
to strike the happy medium bet the
two ind train ouF children for God and
for heaven, is the, anxiety for every intel
lfgent parent.
But for the mosf part the children that
live sometimes get cross and pick up bad
words IN the street or are disposed to quar-
rel with brother pr sister and show that
they arc wicked. 3You soc them in the Sab
bath-school class$ They are SO sunshinv
and hrfOhf vou ,vhnld fh;ri. xI.-.-.--