The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1900-03-30

of parents these temptations become
a matter of great sOlicitude.
But now for the alleviatiOns.' First
of all, you save yourself great deal OF
trouble, o parent, if you can early
watch the children and educate them
for God and Heaven. THE first five
years Of my life made me an infdel,"
said Tom Paine. \ vessel puts out tc
sea, and after it has been five days out
there comes a cyclone. The vessel
springs q leak. The helm will not work
What is the matter? Is it not sea.
WORTHY? Can you mend it now? II is
too late. Down she goes with $50 pas
sengers into a watery grave. What was
the time TO fix that vessel? What was
the time to prepare it for the storm!
In the drydock. All, my friends, dc
not wait until your children get out into
the world. beyond the Narrows and out
on the great voyage of life. 1t is toe
late then to mend their morals and
their manners. The drydOck of the
Christian home is the place. Correct
the sin now, correct the evil now.
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 it. But just go to the
source of that river. 90 to where the
water just drips down on the rock
Then with your knife make a channej
this way and a channel that way. and
it viii take it. Come out and stand
on the banks of your child's life when
it was so or 40 years of age, or even
20. and try to change the course OF
that life. 1t is too late! 1t is toc
late, Go farther up at the source OF
life and nearest to the mothers heart
where the character starts. and try tc
take it in the right direction. But.
oh. my friend, be careful to make
line. Il distinct line. between innocent
hilarity on the one hand and vicious
proclivity on the other. Do not think
your children are going to ruin be-
cause they make racket. All healthy
children make a racket. But do not
laugh at your child's sin because it is
smart. If YOU do. you will cry after
awhile because it is malicious. Re.
member 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 if 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. If IA
+hnz- 70 e+o Ao off
Ger may stand in a castle and look off
upon an army fighting. but he csn-
not be much of an officer, he cannot
excite much enthusiasm on the part
of his troops standing in a castle or
on a hilltop looking off upon the fight
1t is a Garibaldi or a Napoleon l. who
leaps into the stirrups and dashes
ahead. And you stand outside. the
Christian life and tell your children
to go in. They viii not go. But you
dash on ahead, you enter the king
dom of God, and they themselves will
become good soldiers of Jesus Christ.
Lead if you would have them follow.
Have a family altar. Do not with
long prayers wear out your children's
knees. Do not have the prayer a re-
pUlsiOn. If you have a piano or an
organ or a melodeon in the house.
have it open while you are having
prayers. If you say: 81 cannot con-
struct prayer; I am slow of speech
and never could construct a prayer"
then take Matthew Henry's prayers.
or take the Episcopal church prayer
book. There is nothing better than
that. Put it down on the chair,
gather your children about you and
commend them to God. You say it
Will not amount to anything. 1t will,
long after you are under the soil.
That son will remember father and
mother at morning and evening
prayers, and it will be mighty help
to him. And above all. in private
commend your children to God. Say:
Here, Lord, L anal my imperfec
tiOns OF discipline and government
here are these immortals-ma them
thine forever. The angel that re-
deemeth US from all evil, bless the
lads"
Are your children safe? l know it
is stupeudous question to ask, but
l must ask it. Are all your children
safe? \ mother when the house was
on fire got out the household goods,
many articles of beautiful furniture,
but forgot to ask until too late: Are
the children safe?" When the ele-
ments are melting with fervent heat
and God shall burn the world up and
the cry of Fire. fire." shall resound
amid the mountains and the valleys,
will your children be safe?
l wonder if the subject strikes a
chord in the heart of any man who
had Christian parentage. but has not
lived as he ought? God brought you
here this morning to have your mem
ory revived. Did you have a Christian
ancestry? "Oh, yes" says one man.
IF there ever was a good woman, my
mother was good" How she watched
you when you were sick! Others
wearied. If she got weary, she never
theless was wakeful. and the medi-
cine was given at the right time, and
when the pillow was hot she turned
it. And, oh. then when you began to
go astray what a grief it was to her
heart!
All the scene comes back. You re-
member 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 Honorable"
this or Honorable that. 1t is just
the first name your first name, she
calls you by this morning. She bids
you to a better life. She says: "For-
get not all the counsel I gave you,
my wandering boy. Turn into paths