Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1900-04-26
DIR. TALMAGES SERMON.
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE by THE NOTED
DIVINE.

|
Subject: The Home Life-It Points Out
| the Duty of Parents and Adinonishes
the Children-Don't Stun the Young
/; People With Religion.
lCopyright lsoO.l
WASHINGTON, d. C.-This discourse Of
| Or. Talmage will interest young men, while
1t is full OF advice and encouragement to
| parents who are trying TO bring up their
| children alright; text, Proverbs x, 1, "a
wise son marketh II glad father, but n fool
| lsh 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. l know there are persons who seem
TO have no especial interest In the welfare
I OF their children. The father says: my
boy must take the risks took In life. II
he turns out we'll, all right. II he turns
out Ill, he will have to bear the conse-
quences. He has the same chance that
had. He must take care Of himself" A
shepherd might just AS we'll thrust u lamb
into Il den OF lions and say, Little lamb,
take care OF yourself"
Nearly all the brute creation are kind
enough to look after their young. ] was
| going through woods, and l heard a
birds nest, and ! found that the old
bird had left the brood to starve. But that
is II very rare occurrence. Generally a bird
will pick your eyes out rather than surren-
der her young to your keeping or your
touch. lion will rend you II you come
too near the whelps. Even the barnyard
fowl, with its clumsy foot and heavy wing,
will come ut you IL you approach its young
too nearly, and God certainly intended to
have fathers and mothers as kind ms 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
th cir immortal soulsp" l read OF II ship
that foundered. A llfe-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 lifeboat, cried out, "Save
my chidp' And that impassioned cry is
the one that finds an echo in every paren-
tal heart in this land to-day. Save my
chtidI' That man out there says: II have
! fought my own way through life, have got
! along tolerably we'll, the world has bn ffeted
me- and have h d many hard struggle.
! 1t don't make much difference what hap
pens to me, but save my childP' You see
have subject of stupendous import, and
| am going, as God may help me, to show
| the cause OF parental solicitude and then
! the allevlations Of that sollcitude.
I The first cause OF parental solicitude, l
I
! parents on their own part. We all some
how want our children to avoid our faults.
/ We hope TINT IL we have any excellences
they will copy them. But the probability
! is they will copy our faults and omit our
! excellepces. Children are very apt to be
| echoes OF the parental life. Some one
! meets u lad In the back street, finds him
smoking and says: "Why, am ustonished
at you'll What would your father say II he
knew this? Where did you get that cigarr"
! "Oh, picked 1t up on the street." what
! would your father say and your mother say
| II they knew thisa" "Oh, he replies, that s
! nothing. My father smokes!" There is
not one Of US to-day who would like to
have our children copy all our examples.
! And that is the cause OF the solicitude on
the part Of all Of us. We have SO many
( 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
insufflciency and unwisdom of discipline.
I Out Of twenty parents there may be one
parent who understands how thoroughly
/ and skillfully to discipline; perhaps not
pore thnn one out Of twenty. We, nearly
all OF US, err on one side or OH the other.
! Here is father who says, II am going TO
bring up my children right; my sons shall
know nothing but religion; shall see moth
i. ing but religion, and hear nothing but re-
/ lgion.' They are routed out at O'Clock
/ in the morning to recite the Fen 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
4 and quotations OF Scripture, aud when the
I boy looks for the day or the month he
looks for 1t In II religious almanac. II q
/ minister comes to the house. no is re-
, quested to take the boy aside md 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 the return OF the son at night. 1t
! is 8 o'clock, it is 10 o'lock, 1t Is IL O'Clock,
II is 10 O'Clock, 1t Is half-past ~ O'Clock
! and George comes In and hastens upstairs
! lest he be accosted. His father says,
| George, where have you been?' He says.
81 have been out" Yes, he has been out,
and he has been down. and he has started
on the broadroad to ruin for this life and
ruin for the life to come, and the father
says to his wife, Mother, the Ten Com
mandments are a failure; no use OF West
minister Catechism; l have done my very
/ best for that boy; just see how he has
turned out" All, my friend, you stuffed
that boy with religion; you had no sym.
| pathey with innocent hilarities; you had
no common senee. man at midlife said
to me, Il haven't uch desire for religion;
/ my father was ms good man as ever lived,
but he jammed religion down my throat
when l was boy until l got disgusted
with it, and / haven't wanted any of it
since.' That father erred on one side.
Then the discipline is IN entire failure
in many households because the father
pulls one way and the mother pulls the
other way. The father says, "My son, /
told you II l ever found you guilty of false
hood again would chastise you, and ! am
/ going to keep my PROMISE The mother
says: Don't! Let him Off this time"
father says, 81 have seen go many that
mako 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 SOD, are tickets to
he 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 good time. Go itl'' Give
a boy plenty OF money and nsk him not
what he does with it, and you pay his way
straight to perdition. But nfter 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 n messenger from
the bank over the way calls In and says TO