Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1902-12-05

parental sins. I would not for an IN
stant either say or write Que word
which would wound the feelings OF
thousands and tens OF thousands OF
young women who have consecrated
their lives TO the noble calling Of nurse
girls work. Some OF the mlghtiest
men or the ages have testified TINT
they would never have been what they
were but for the self sacrificing love of
their nurses, who not only rocked them
TO sleep when they Were tired. but also
started their little feet ia the paths OF
rectitude and piety. The Earl OF
Shaftesbury declared that the greatest
inspiration for n true religious life was
inStilled into him by the faithfulness
OF his Christian nurse. The mighty
potentate, the late Alexander III. the
car OF all the RuSsias. honored the
falthfulness and the devoted love of
bis nurse Surrounded by the grand
dukes of Russia for three long miles
he followed afoot after the hearse
which carried the mortal remains of
that dear friend through a binding
snowstorm out TO the Royal mauso-
leum of St Petersburg. And as the
dying French soldier, writing under
the surgeons knife, cried out. Doctor,
cut a little deeper, and you Will see
pictured upon my heart the face OF the
mighty emperor" so. many OF us, If
we cut down into the hearts OF the
faithful servants who have watched
find our own faces, because the hearts
of these faithful servitors beat with
love for us.
But though many OF our household
servants may be to us and to our chill
dren as the Earl OF Shaftesbury's
Christian nurse was TO him. yet no true
father or mother can afford TO delegate
the physical, moral and religious train
ing OF their children TO servants. no
matter how faithful and true those
servants may be. No woman can take
the place of true mother by the side
OF the crib. No man can do for the
boys what consecrated father is able
to 90 when he Is faithful TO the trust
which God has given TO him.
oh. man. studying the debit and
credit sides of your ledgers. counting
up your hundreds of thousands of dol
lars and carefully watching the mani
fold details of q vast mercantile enter
prise. which taxes your physical and
mental energies TO the utmost. you
may think you have no time to ez
anime into the details OF how your
thirteen-year-old son spends his weekly
allowance. But you ought to take that
time. On account OF that parental neg
lect you may live to regret the day
that you were born and also the day
that your son was born. Oh, woman,
you may think this Is the age for the
emancipation of your sisters. In pride
you may listen TO weekday lectures on
woman's rights and Shakespeare and
sculpture and art. You may consider
1t q great social opportunity TO be able
to join card party one afternoon and
go to tea the next afternoon and be
the equal and the associate OF the So
cial queens of our most prominent
cities. But no social nor worldly hon
or ought TO be great enough or impor-
tant enough to entice you away from
your nursery, so that you must dele
gate the care of your children to
In Gods sight n simple mIsdemeanor,
1t is sin-o burning sin-which may
not only destroy the spiritual life of
the child. but impair also the eternal
happiness OF the father and mother.
1t is sharp two edged sword which,
with one stroke down and another
stroke up. can destroy not only the
rose, but the bush which gave II birth.
Lack OF Discipline.
Lack of nursery discipline can some
times be classed among parental sins.
or, rather. mistakes. We would not
like to call the actions of a too In
dulgent parent by such harsh word
MS sin. Yet Solomon. who wrote the
words Of my text. gave the parental
mistakes or overindulgence even
harder definition than that OF sin. He
said, 'He that spareth bis rod hateth
his son, but he that loveth him, chas-
teneth him betimes." In other words,
we have right to make by this
quotation the simple deduction that IL
\ father will not make a child learn
to obey him, then he is very apt to let
child learn to despise him.
/ used to be very harsh In my con-
demnation OF parents who were over
indulgent and would not compel obedi-
ence upon the part OF their children.
But the older I grew the more lenient
l became In my criticism OF this evil. I
have found out that the invariable
reason why most parents are over
lenient with their children is because
they have n family plot In which they
have buried some OF their little ones. 1t
Is on account OF the little pale faces OF
the dead that they shrink from causing
tears to flow over the rosy cheeks of
The living. 1T Is all well enough for
you, Mr.. Talmage. to say that ought
10 be stricter with my children" once
said member OF my church, "but I
have already buried two OF my babies,
and / am living In constant fear that I
may have to bury my other two. They
are all that have LETT"
But, fathers and mothers, though
you may have buried two OF your chill
iren, remember that you are not Just
% the living unless you teach them the
avs Of filial obedience. A disobedient
ton invariably means a willful. way
ward. selfish. petulant, unbalanced and
iod defying man. An undutiful daugh-
er generally means a quick tempered.
sinful, ungovernable woman, who will |
despise and trample upon all |
)ure hove. II was because Queen |
Agrippina laughed at her little, willful |
10Y. Nero. who doubled up his tiny |
lists and struck at her. that she was
compelled to live to see the day when |
he queen mother would have to bare |
Ter flesh for the fatal stroke OF the |
oval hirelings who came to do the |
Kidding of a murderous son. Some
lines the unkindest act that a parent |
on da IN O. ,hiId Ia A.. .zi.no 4 A.. L..