The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-09-13
Talks to Parents
ON THE
Training of Children
BY VIM. j. sHEARER, A. M, PHI. D.

street in New York, a young artist saw
a beautiful child, in which his trained
eye perceived more perfection than he
had ever seen before in any human be-
ing. He could not pass it by. He gazed
and gazedi The more he studied the
little boy, the more angelic his perfec-
ton seemed. Il must paint that child'S
picture he exclaimed. II will never
see such a child again." He painted it;
and, 1t is said, drew from it the in
spiration which made him famous; for
it filled him with the highest and
noblest of thoughts.
Because of his love for it, he refused
fabulous offers. Those who had chill
dren of their own loved them better be-
cause of the sight of it. Those who
had no children longed for them, as
they gaZed upon the canvas. Those
who had lost their little ones seemed
lifted nearer heaven as they stood be-
fore it. The artist said: IF I can find
a human being sufficiently hideous, 1
will paint it to show the contrast"
Many years passed before his search
was rewarded. Finally, in a foreign
country he found a hideous man, the
personification of all that was vile and
Infamous He lay upon the prison
floor, clad in rags, with haggard face
and bloodShot eyes, cursing God and
man, while he waited for the summons
to the gallows to pay the penalty of
one of his foul murders. The artist re-
ceived permission to paint the picture.
The contrast was something terrible in
its completeness. Imagine, if you can,
the dreadful shock to the artist when he
discovered that he had painted two
pictures of the same person. The an
gelic child, because of the improper
training received from his parents, had
developed into the inhuman fiend.
The Child Blessing or Curse.
All parents are familiar with suffi-
cient facts to convince them that, while
the greatest blessing vouchsafed to a
loving parent is a good child, the very
severest curse Is a bad one. In the
one case an unspeakable delight in
their youth; a source of conHant joy
in their prime; the object of pS ofound-
est pride; and, if necessary, a sure
support in their declining years. On
the other hand "a source of constant
trouble End Irritation during the morn
ing of their existence; of heart break
ing misery in the noontime of their
life. and the cause of bringing their
prematurely gray hairs to an untimely
grave.
How often the broken hearted par
ents have asked the Almighty why the
loved one was not taken in the inno-
cence OF It's cnllQnOOQ! HOW nara II
has been to understand why the par
ents were permitted to live and suffer
untold agony as they saw their once
innocent and still dearly loved boy or
girl swept past them in the rapids of
sin and whirled to everlasting destruc-
ton! .4.,..4
The Happiness of Parents.
What is there of pleasure in life for
the loving parent whose precious child
has gone astray? Surely no success in
business or along any other line can
ever recompense for such a loss!
Though this is the case, how few of
us parents have given careful consid-
GRAFTON to methods of management in
order that we might save these chill
dren, who are dearer to us than life
itself! Is it not fact that those of us
who have sought for and failed to find
any practical suggestion have become
discouraged and, not knowing what
else to do, have continued to stumble
along as best we could, hoping that
the end would be that for which we
prayed?
The chiIdren's Place in Society.
For thousands of years children ex-
listed merely by sufferance. They had
no rights. They had no place. Much
was said of their duties to others. No