The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1904-04-09
CHARACTER BETTER THAN HONEY IN
HKRITANCE.

Fond parents hope to lay up stores
of riches for their children, providing
for them against sorrow and misfor-
tune, and incidentally preventing
them from undergoing the hard duties
to acquire wealth which they proba-
bly, had to suffer. Usually the man
who is self-made, and has had hard
time in his boyhood days in making
his way toward success, is tie most
determined OF all not to let his chill
dren pass through the same expert
ence. The inheritance brings ease
and comfort, but it may be question
ed if in the end it is the best for the
children. True success is far more
desirable in life than inherited for
tune. Too often the latter ruins early
in life ones appreciation of the beauty
and JOY of living. Our appreciation
of joys must be the outcome of edu-
cation and experience, and if they are
thrust upon us early in life we must
fail to measure their full depths.
It is impossible for every man and
woman to lay up an inheritance of
money for children. There would
not be sufficient wealth to go around,
and, if it were possible, the next gen
Grafton would be an idle and lazy one,
or rather there would be so many in
heriting wealth that none would be
left to do the work of the world.
Manifestly it is impossible for more
than very small percentage of our
population to inherit more than a
sound body and a good, healthy mind.
If all received that from their parents
there would be no need for poor
houses, prisons and almshouses. 1t
is the neglect of these, while striving
to make wealth, that has been the
curse which pareHts have handed
down from one generation to another.
There should be no worry about
the future. If one is doing his or her
duty to the best of known abilities,
any worry about what the future may
hold forth for those who are to come
after is both fruitless and stultifying.
But there is good reason for anxiety
and anguish if children are failing to
receive their rightful dues in bodily
and mental health. They deserve
and demand all the power of selfreli-
ance and endurance which parents
can bestow upon them. The child is
never so happy as when he is training
for a race or contest, and a man is
never better pleased with life than
when he is employing all of his pow
ers and gifts in an honest competition
with the world to succeed. The en-
joyment which comes from the effort
to succeed is an inheritance to those
who know what hard work is, and it
cannot be given to one who has never
felt the spur of necessity.
The man and woman who appreci-
ate life at its full worth know we'll
tl...s -l.r.-t-.:.-i-4-.
spring may be the means OF running
their prospects in life. They realize
that in this world work and duty are
the two watchwords which must for
ever be kept in view. The child who
grows up without knowing the value
of either must fail to grasp the full
significance of life's mystery. twill
only be half a life that they will ex-
perience, and in the end existence will
have proved a failure.
Health of body is first of all the
greatest inheritance that can be left
to those we love. No one can find
full happiness without it, and if one
is afflicted with i'll health through no
cause of ones parents it is misfor-
tune that must be endured. Next to
the gift of good health is the educa-
ton and discipline which will teach
one how to care for it. Every child
should be brought up with a sensible,
intelligent knowledge of the needs
and necessities of the human machine
placed in his keeping.-A. S. Atkin- !
son, M. D.