Milford chronicle., 1905-03-17

mother and father-what are they talk
ing so earnestly about? Father" say
the mother, cannot you meet the mort
gage on the farm unless we cut dow
our expenses? Then 1 will have to le
the hired girl go, and l will do my owl
cooking and washing" "Well," sale
your father, I'VE must not economic
ut the children's expense. must make
more money. We must raise the chill
dren right. They must be educated"
Cannot Forget Them.
Why did your mothers hair grow
white at thirty-fye years of age and
your fathers face begin to be 'croW
marked" Neither in the morning,
noon nor night could they be found
shrinking from their unceasing labOrs
for feeding. clothing and educating
their children. Now, man, do you think
it is possible, after a quarter Of a cen
| tury of the hardest kind of work has
| gone for the support and development
of the children. that the parents could
ever be Independent of them? Oh, no.
Your father practically said: "If my
children turn against me, then will my
| life be a failure indeed. If my boys
turn out badly and my girls do not do
what they ought to do, then will earth
ly life hold but little joy either for me
or their mother" My friends, your
fathers and mothers worked too hard
for their children for you to disappoint
them in the results Of their life's work
No matter what you do or say, you
cannot make them forget you or cease
to live for you. Even the sinful plot Of
a Hebrew prince to steal from father
his throne could not make David do
aught but cling to Absalom while he
was alive and sorrow for the wayward
boy after he was dead.
But another reason why the burden
Of sinful child is hard for the parent
to bear-nO sooner does boy or girl
begin to go astray than a true father
and mother agOniZe on account of the
stingings of a bitter self reprOach
Mark you this, wayward children-yOur
parents do not blame you entirely for
your sins. They are blaming them
selves. They are looking away back |
over the scenes Of the past. They are ]
saying to their own hearts: did / do |
right when l let my boy do this or that /
or the other thing? Did l set my /
daughter the wrong example? Did I |
pray earnestly enough for my children |
when they were in my own nursery?"
Oh, the sadness; oh. the sorrow; oh,
the bitter, bitter pangs Of a merciless
self denunciatiOn which comes to the
parents when their boys and girls turn
out badly! "A foolish son is the heavi-
ness of his mother" Aye. heavy in
deed is he not only on account of the
boys sins, but also on account of those
Of his parents.
Let me illustrate my thought by a
very common incident in life. There
comes a quick ring at the bell. The
calls me to go to your home.
There find your wife dying. bring
to you all the gospel comfort I can.
say: "AIr SO-a:d-so, Gods will be
lone. The Lord gave, and the Lord
-aketh away; blessed be the name of
he Lord" You say nothing. You
Keep your lips closely sealed. The
more call the less find that you are
,omforted At last, some day when
We are alone, I say, "N1r. So-and-so.
what is the matter? "Well," you an
'wer, Il do not know what to think.
Tou say it is Gods will that my wife
lied. l know it is not Gods will.
NOW my negligence killed her. For
months and months my wife cOughed
BADLY. She had two or three hard I
pells of sickness. The doctors told
ne she ought to go south, but some
low I could not bring myself up to the
esOlve to let her go. The journey
would cost a lot of money. Besides ;
hat. I needed her by my side. I could I
ave saved her if | had sent her south {
n time. Oh, why did l not let her go? {
Why did not let her goa" That is the {
emorse the true mother and the IA
her have when their boys and girls !
% astray. "Oh, why did not do diff t
erently when my children were by S
1y side? Why did l not pray more I
nd live better than l did?" J
Trusted Too Much.
But, my friends, though your parents 1
lade many mistakes in your bringing q
-, tell me were not most of their er
ors made on account of the gentleness I
ather than the meanness of their G
carts? Even in their weaknesses l
rould you not have had them just as S
hey were? Let me see; you started to
o astray first because they trusted you ]
DO much. They never thought that
on would or could do wrong. When {
on came home from college they were
0 proud to see you. They had kept |
ending check after check. My, how !
ard it was to get that money! But it
-as for their boy. And, oh, the awful
they had when they found
he money they sent, that hard earned i.
honey, was being spent for sin! Don't
on remember how their hands trem- :.
led when they were placed upon your
boulder and their lips quivered when :,
icy kissed you for the first time after
lat shock? Don't you remember how '
Al.