Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1904-12-28

Psalms IS.
There are three forms of human So
ciety, first, the family; second. civil
third, religious. The leading idea of
the home is affectionate self-denlal,
consisting in the observance of the re-
ciprocal relations that pertain to the
family.
The fundamental principle of the
state is justice between man and man.
The family rests on love and obedi-
ence. Phidias so wrought his name
into the shield of the statue of Miner
va at Athens that the name could not
be removed without destroying the
shield, so let every father and mother
carve their own love and obedience
into the nature OF their children, so
that no condition in life can possibly
erase them. The government Of the
family is executed by both force and
moral suasion. The state is executed
by moral force, AMI not moral suaslon.
The government of the church is exc
cuted by moral suasion and not force,
so the germs of both civil and religious
government are planted in the family.
The state recognizes the family and
enjoins its Obligations The church rec
ognizes both family and state. The
family Is the oldest institution on
earth, and is as divine as Christianity
itself Plato, in his vast communism,
loses sight of the family, but Aristotle
says it is the basis of political society.
The relations Of the household are the
germs Of the different forms Of gov
eminent. National tyranny grew out
of parental tyranny.
So we see that the well ordered fam
lily is the home of patriotism, it is the
acorn of the national oak, with thou
sand summers murmuring in its leaves.
Hence we look more to the ethical cul-
ture of our American homes as our ma
tional defenses than to our borders.
guarded by mounted and mailed clad
warriors, and fenced with Il thousand
parks of artillery and men of war. Viz
gil says the nations stability lies in
reverence for fathers and children
brought up in disobedience and dis
order will become habitual violators Of
the laws of both men and gods. Hence
weakness in the parental government
produces weakness and disorder in
both church and state. Cicero says
the state rests on justice, which it
learned in the home. SO all teachers
of the youth are not only developing
the intellect but are shaping, not ere
ating For conscience in the hand of
education is just what the rude block
of marble is under the strokes of the
chisel and mallet of the sculptor, for
God made the N Grble, but the sculptor
gives it form and expression; God
gives ever man conscience. Educa-
ton create. nothing. not even intellect;
it expands, giving force and precision.
You may tunnel the AlleghanieS
span the st. Lawrence, analyze ike
Liebig, pl,ilosophize like Faraday, sing
like Homer, paint like Apelles, carve
like Phidias, unloese the seals like
Euclid. and bear great audiences upon
the mighty tides of your eloquence like
Demosthenes, but if you have not this
moral Development then you ere as
sounding brass or tinkling cymbal.
The q .iect of home should be such
that it would not stain the tongue of
an angel. If you would be pure in
speech, refined in manner, elegant in
bearing, standing in society with lofty
mlen, and upward eye, these graces
must become the wool and warp of
your home life. Quite early is a good
character formed on the hills of do
nestle harmony and felicity. Give me
a child from to II years of age,
and l will tell you what its character
will be at DO.
The mother of Moses delivered him
up to the princess of Egypt when he
was u years old. He was schooled in
all philosophy of the Egyptians, but
the fringe, glitter and glare of the
royal court could not neutralize the i'm
pressions made by his poor, pious.
downtrodden Hebrew mother before
he Crossed the threshold of his twelfth
summer.
Many of the most poisonous weeds
in human society have grown up out
of the damp and neglected soil of
home Some one has said that the
sluices of the grOg shop are being fed
from the wine glasses of fashionable
parlors. Society has too many props
and stimulants to test the status and
qualities of any man. But under the
roof and at his own fireside there APP
pears what he really is. Hence the
poet Goethe, whose name Is as i'm
mortal as that of Germany itself, says
Won never know a man until you live
with him. Many n wife could testify
to the truth of this. Society is the
stage, home is behind the curtains,
where they throw off their masks and
appear in their own character.
1t is said marriage is a lottery; this
is true only when cOurtshlp is cheat.
Many a good wife has found after
having been led to the marriage altar
that her husband had not the charac-
ter he assumed; Is therefore not the
man she believed she was marrying.
If she ever loves him she must yet
learn to love him IN all probability
their lives will be miserable, certainly
his ought to be.
There are a great many more stay
ing places In this world than homes.
MY residence" my mansion my
palace" though surrounded with spa
ciOus drives, elegant walks, and begirt
with a sea of flowers, filed with the
most Darfppt and costly works Of art