Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1900-04-26
for heaven, is the anxiety for every. intel
ligent parent,


they are wicked. You soc them in the Sub
bath-school class. They are SO sunshlny
and bright you would think they we're al
ways 30, but the mother looking over at
them remembers what an awful time she
had to get them ready. Time passes on.
comes In from the street from pugilistic
encounter bearing on his appearance the
marks Of defeat, or the daughter practices
some little deception in the household.
ing and fretting and finding fault, but this
must be stopped So in many IA house,
hold there is the sign of sin, the sign OF the
truthiulness Of what the Bible says when
it declares, ''They go astray as soon as
they be born, speaking lies"
Some 60 to work and try Ito correct all
this, and the boy is picked at and picked
at and picked at. That always IL ruinous.
There IL more help in one good thunder,
storm than In five days OF cold drizzle
Better the old fashioned style Of chastise-
ment, II that be necessary, than the fret.
ting and the scolding which have de
strOyed so many.
There Is also a cause OF great solicitude
sometimes because our young people are
surrounded by so many temptations. a
castle may not be taken by a straigbtfor.
ward siege, but suppose there be inside the
castle an enemy, and in the night he
shoves 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 m al here who
Is not aware of the fact that the young
Ipeople OF this day have tremendous temp.
tations2
oh, how many traps set for the youngi
Styles OF temptation just suited to them.
Do you suppose that II man who went clear
to the depths OF dissipation went down In
fashionable hotel. Marble floor. No un-
clean pictures behind tho counter. No
drunken hiccough while they drink, but
the click OF cut glass to the elegant senti-
ment. You ask that young man now to 90
into some low restaurant and get a 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 30
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 FIJI up the
glasses.
The clock strikes twelve-the tolling of
the funeral bell OF a soul. The breath of
eternal woe flushes 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 M morning, and now they
lord comes around and says "Wake up,
wake up! Time to shut up!'' "What!"
says the young man. "Time to shut up?"
Push them all out into the night mir. Now
they are going home. Going home! 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
dissipations in the burroom of Il Fifth ave-
nue. hotel and completed his damnation in
the lowest grogshop.
Sometimes sin does not halt in that way.
Sometimes sin even comes to the drawing
room. There are leprous hearts some
times admitted in the highest circles OF
society. He is 80 elegant, he is so bewitch-
ing In his manner lie is so refined, he is 30
educated, no one suspects the sinful de-
sign, but after n while the talons of death
come forth. What 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, a
shadow thicker than one woven OF mid
night and hurricane. The agony of that
parent makes him say, "Oh, wish had
buried my children when they were smallF'
Loss of property? No. Death in the
family? No. Madness? No. Some vii
lain, kid Hloved aud 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 loud "Ha,
hal''
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
could be presented, 1t would freeze your
blood in solid cake at your heart. Our
great cities are full of temptations, and to
vast muititudes of parents these tempta-
tions become matter OF great solicitude.
Begin early with your children. You
stand on the banks or river and you try
now for 100 miles. You cannot change 1t.
But Just 20 to the source OF that river, go
to where the water just drips down on the
rock. Then with your knife make a chan
nei this way and channel that way. and
it will take 1t. 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 late! 1t is too late! 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 line, q distinct
line between innocent hilarity on the one
hand and vicious hilarity on the other. Do
not think your children are going to ruin
because they make racket. All healthy
children make racket. But do not laugh
ut your child's sin because it Is smart. II
you do, you will cry after awhile because
it is malicious. Remember 1t 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 II he staid out? No. His sons
would have said, II am not going into the
boat; there's something wrong; father
won't go In; il father stays out, I'll stay
out"
Arc all your children safe? know it is a
stupendous question to ask, but must
ask it. Are ali 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 the children safer" When
the elements are melting with fervent heat
md God shall burn the world up and the
cry OF "Firel Fre!'' shall resound amid
the mountains and the valleys. will your
children be safe?
Iwonder II the subject strikes q chord in
the heart of any man who had Christian
parentage, but has not lived as he oughtp
God brought you here this morning to
have your memory revived. Did you have
Christian ancestry? "Ob, yes!'' says one
man. 'If there ever was a good woman,