Connecticut western news., 1900-03-29

| hearth, a shadow thicker than one woven of midnight and hurricane. The agony of that parent makes him say, "Oh, 1 wish 1 had buried my children when they were sma1l!' Loss of prop erty? No. Death in the family? No. | Madness? No. Some villain, kid glov- ed and diamonded, lifted that cup of domestic bliss until the sunlight struck it. and all the rainbows played around the rim and then dashed it into desola- | tion and woe until the harpies of darkness clapped their hands and all the voices of the pit uttered loud "Ha, har'
 | Morals and Manners.
 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. If the statistic could be presented. it would freeze your blood in solid cake at your heart. Our great cities are full of temptations, and to vast multitudes of parents these temptations become matter of great solicitude.
 But now for the alleviations. First of all, you save yourself great deal of trouble, oh, 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 intidel," said Tom Paine. A vessel puts out to sea, and after it has been five days out there comes q cyclone. The vessel springs leak. The helm will not work. What is the matter? It is not sea- worthy. It never was seaworthy. Can you mend it now? It is too late. Down she goes with 250 passengers into a watery grave. What was the time to fix that vessel? What was the time to prepare 1t for the storm? In the drydock. An, my friends, do not wait until your children get out into the world beyond the Narrows and out on the great voyage of life! It is too 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.
 Just look at the character of your children now and get an intimation of what they are going to be. You can tell by the way that boy divides the ap- pie what his proclivity is and what his | Slu w III De dul w Hdl SlNle Ol ulSClDllut you ought to bring upon him. You see how he divides that apple? He takes nine-tenths of it for himself and he gives one tenth to his sister. Well, let that go, and all his life he will want the best part of everything, and he will be grinding and grasping to the day of his death.
 People hurl their scorn at the life of ] Lord Byron. Lord Byron was not half so much to blame as his mother. The historian tells us that when her child was limping across the floor with his unsound foot, instead of acting like any other mother, she said, Get out of my way, you lame bratr' Do not denounce Lord Byron half as much as you denounce his mother. All the scenes in Venice, all the scenes in Greece, all the scenes of outrage where ever he went, an echo of that bad mothers heart and that bad mothers life.
 Two young men came to a door of wickedness. The one entered; the oth CT turned back. Why? Difference of resolution, you say. No; the one had Christian influence, the other had no pious training. The one man went on his evil way. He entered and went on. No early voice accosted him, but the other heard voice, whose tones may have died from the ear 20 years before, saying: Don't go there! Don't go there" I think it was almost the 1 first time l ever made religious ad dress. It was in Dr. Bethune's church. Brooklyn; it was an anniversary of the Young Mems Christian association. I came in from my village home, and I | remember nothing of that anniversary except that one of the speakers that night said: Many years ago two young men stood at the door of the Park the ater, New York. They were discussing whether they had better go in or not. There was an immoral play to be en- acted that night. One of them said, I will not go in The other said: Don't be afraid. Let us go in. Who caresY The one who entered went on from sin to sin, the terminus of his life delirium | tremens, with which he died in hospi- tai. The other man turned back, came to Christ as his Saviour, entered the gospel ministry, and he stands before Sou tobiSht' " idi NdS IL llidl SlOpptu me at the door of the Park theater, New York, so many years ago? It was a pressure of a hand on my shoulder the pressure of my mothers hand"
 Begin Early.
 Begin early with your children. You stand on the banks of river and you try to change it's course. It has been rolling now for 100 miles. You cannot change it. But just go to the source of that river, go to where the water just drips down on the rock. Then with your knife make channel this way and a channel that way, and it will take it. Come out and stand on the banks of your childs life when it is 30 or 40 years of age, or even 20, and try to change the course of that life. It is too late! It is to late! Go far ther up at the source of life and near est to the mothers heart, where the, characte- starts, and try to take it in the right direction. But, oh, my friend, be careful to make a line, a 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 a 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 1t 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 fam fly to go into the ark if he staid out? No. His sons would have said, "I am not going into the boat; there's some t. ing wrong; father won't go in; if fai her stays out, I'll stay out"