Milford chronicle. [volume] (Milford, Del.) 1878-1974, 1902-12-05

the text Proverbs xxx, II, The eye
that mocketh mt his father and despis-
eth to obey his mother the ravens of /
the valley shall pick it out and the
young eagles shall eat it"
Horrible is the Solomonic word pic
ture. The gibbet. the stenchful corpse,
khe skeleton 2rouudlng through the
torn and notifying flesh, the feathered
COMMANDERS banqueting upon the car
rion, the changing, rusty chains holding
aloft the putrafying mass - these are
the theme of my text. 1t is warning
TO all boys and girls as well as to all
grown men ami women, that filial CON
tempt is never justifiable in Gods sight.
40 matter what our parents may do or
say, we must always respect and honor
them, because they are our father and
mother. If We ever allow ourselves to
hespise them, then we shall incur the
anger of God, who by one of the Ten
Commandments explicitly enjoined that
parents be hOIored by their offspring.
And with that command public opinion
is fully in accord. The son who dis
honors his parents is despised in his
aife, and his very memory is gibbeted
by public contumely after his death.
He is held up TO public scOrn and deri-
sion, as were the ancient robbers and
state criminals whose heads used to be
stuck upon long poles and for weeks
exposed to public view from the top Of
the arch Of Lordon Temple Bar until at
East all the flesh disappeared and moth
ing remained but the bleached skulls.
But though God denounces children
who despise their parents, no matter
how heinous the parental sins and
shortcomings may be, yet as l begin to
study my text In its connection with
other passages of Scripture the more
find that many Of the most common
dNal sins can he traced back to pRren-
tab sins. Some years ago. upon the
Holstein ranch in California, three lit
lie orioles were taken from nest and
confined within birdcage. No sooner
was this done than the mother bird APP
peared and tried to liberate her young.
Failing in this, she few away and
brought to her tncarcerated babies a
sprig of the deadly larkspur. In a few
minutes those three fiedgelings with
foamlng mouths lay dead in the bot
tom of the cage. If the mother bird
could not free her young, then she pre-
Rerred to kill them. How often, alas
have human parents seen their off
spring in a captivity to sin to which
death would have been preferable, and
II IL ho &
that this captivity is the result of the
moral poison they have themselves ad
hinistered. BY thoughtless mistakes
and eulpable negligence they may have
INSPIRED their children with n contemp
for themselves which has been the be
ginning of an evil life, ending in spir
Etlal death.
] shall try this morning to enumerat
some of the shortcomings and sins int
which neglectful and selfish and sintu
parents have fallen in their dealing
with their children. l would enumel
ate those parental sins because the in
spired author who penned the word
of my text is also the Solomon VIII
wrote that If coIlsecrated, gOdly parent
would train up q child in the way b
should go, wher he is grown that ms
tured child would not only be loyal t
his earthly parents, but also to h
Heavenly Father.
Parental Partially.
All parents. in the first place, shoul
show their children that they have I
parental favorites They should prov
that all the children as individuals hay
an equal share of a fathers and
mothers love. They should convin'
their boys and girls alike that no OF
child occupies larger area in the pare
tai heart cells than every other child, +
vhen a child begins to feel that the
ther or mother does not care for him
much as the rest Of the children tn
child Immediately begins to despise tn
parental partially. Love feeds on 10y
And yet there are thousands upon tho
sands Of homes in America in viii
you would not have to visit more tn
two or three days before you cou
while there, tell which was the favor
son or daughter, That child will p
lhaps be better dressed. as old JAG
aroused the Jealousy of his other CT
AHGn UN DufAllS iOt Ills AtlNOLAAC Ivy
ssph, coat OF many cOlors. That CHI
will have a better room in the hoI
than the other children. He viii hG
more spending money; he will be
slowed to do what the other children
not allowed to do. On the other ha
the child which is not the parental
YOFite will often be showed into
background or sent away to the CO
try, as Jesse sent his youngest son,
sid, Of to tend the sheep. 1t is ei
enough for parents to say that Il
have no favoriteiS but the words Of
Zip do not always correspond with
facts Of the life At nearly every
neral Of a little child which 1 have
tsnded in my pastoral work l h
hOaFG q statement like this made
ths side Of the white casket: cit is
bad the little onG was taken. She
haF fathers OK mothers favorite."
before God today declare that no
.snt has a right to have favorite c
mo favorite unless that child
bagn idiot or All invalid OF one
should be cared for and guarded
more carefully because Of his or
l1alplessness. Tie fraternal hatred
u