The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1903-07-09
SHINING AGAINST CHILDREN
BY Rev. Theodore l..

SlNNlNU hUA1NSI CHILDREN
BY Rev. Theodore l.. CuyIer. n
One of the most needed and one Of
the most useful Of modern benevolant
organizations is the Society for tha
Prevention of Cruelty to Children. JtS
object is to protect the victims of par.
entail brutalities or Of cruel neglect
Its sphere Of action is chiefly among
the degraded classes. But there il
many a well-fed child in a well-fur.
niShed home that is suffering badlv
from bad management or parental 10.
norance or false views of parenta,
duty. An immense number of fatbars
and mothers need to have the solemn
caution which Reuben gave to his
churlish brothers: do not sin against
the child.' There is no trust in this
world more tremendous than the trust
of parentage, and none which MANY
persons seem to treat more lightly
Food, clothing, shelter and Schooling
they provide, but they utterly ignore
the fact that the Crea tor has intrusted
to them the most susceptible and re.
ceptive creature on earth when he com.
mits to their charge a young immor.
tai. parent stamps character, and
shapes destiny for this world-often
for the next. In geological museums
you may see some slabs which show
the prints of birds feet or of leaves
which were made in the stone when II
was once only liquid pumice. In
like manner we can detect the finger.
marks and footprints Of parental in.
f1uence upon the charac ter of children
when grown to manhood and woman.
hood. And they are not very orna.
mental, either.
Children are initiative creatures, and
we all know how tendencies to good
or evil character spring from parental
influence. and the chief element in
modern heredity Is the force of exam.
pie. There is a monotonous uniform.
ity In the history Of certain Jewish
kings. Each one Of them walked in
the ways of his father who caused
Israel TO SIM" That word ways Is
y
path and the son walked in it. Just
as true is this now as in those olden
times. The most difficult cases to re-
form in inebriate asylums are the vic
tins of hereditary drunkenness. Often
when see young man bringing dis
grace on himself l think that youth
was as much sinned against as sin
ming" He is walking in the path in
which his parents placed him. Thorn
bushes never yield. grapes, and figs do
not grow from thistles. The word
''iniquity" signifies something twisted,
and the ugly twist Is too often given
by fathers or mothers hand. The
wrong which the child does is the nat
ural sequence Of the wrong done to
him by her, by an evil example. BY
and by comes the retribution when the
child once sinned against wrings the
parental heart with agony. When you
sin against your child you may be pref
ty sure that your sin will find you
out"
What a piece Of open soil to SOW
teachings in is young mind! WORDS
uttered by parents sprout. A sneer
against the Bible spoken at the table
or by the Preside lodges in a boys
memory and helps to make him scep-
tic. A great deal of the foolish anu
cavilling criticism of sermons, in Whlcn
parents willfully or carelessly indulge
kills the influence of Gods message
This may amount to sin against lne
Holy Spirit, who inspired the message
and who may be silently working Oh
the mind Of some child in that family
Many a father studies his account
books and many a mother studies hei
magazines or receipt books or her vi''
iting lists more than either study lno
peculiarities of her own children. ina
boy is scolded into sullenness; lha'
other one Is ridiculed until he gets deS'
perate; harsh treatment often narueno
the heart, and then Pharisaism pra!'
that God will soften 1t! There Is
steady decline in the percentage OF con'
versions reported in the annual slau0
tics Of several denominations. ho"
much Of this is to be attributed 10
decline in home religion God OH.
knoweth. The family undernes w.
commonwealth and church. All tnv
preaching power of the pulpit W"
avail but little as long as parents nv
SHINING against their own Children
-. 80 TN ,,,;ccion Of t1S