The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1905-03-17

markeuW Neither in the morning
noon nor night could they be foun,
shrinking from their unceasing labor
for FEEDING, clothing and educating
tier children. Now, man. do you th.nl
1t is possible, after Il quarter Of a cen
fury of the hardest kind of work ha
gone for the support and development
of the children. that the parents coult
ever be independent Of them? Oh, no
Your father practically said: 'If m!
children turn against me, then will my
life be a failure indeed If my boy!
turn out badly and my girls do not d.
what they ought to d. then will earth
ly life hold but little joy either for me
or their mother" My friends, YOU
fathers and mothers worked too hare
for their children for you to disappoint
them in the results Of their lifes work
No matter what you do or say. vol
cannot make them forget you or cease
to live for you. Even the sinful plot OF
Hebrew prince to steal from Il father
his throne could not make David dc
auCht but cling to Absalom while he
was alive and sorrow for the hayward
boy after he was dead.
Eut another reason why the burden
of sinful child is hard for the parent
to bear-,no sooner Goes q boy or a girl
begin to SO astrly than true father
and mother agonize on account of the
sting.ngS Of bitter self reproach.
Mark you this, Maynard 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 let my boy 60 this or that
or the other thing? Did l set my
daughter the wrong example? Did
pray earnestly enough for my children
when they were in my own nursery"
/ Oh. the sadness; OH the sorrow; oh,
the bitter, bitter pangI of mercilegs
self denunciation which comes to the
parents when their boys and girls turn
oyt badly! "a foolish son is the heavi-
ness of his mother" Aye, heavy in
Coed is lie not only on account of the
boys sins, but also on account OF those
of his parents.
Let me illustrate my thought by q
very common incident in life. There
cones a quick ring at the bell. The
summons calls me to 60 to your home.
There l find your wife dying. I bring
to you all the gospel comfort can.
say: "AIr So-and-so, Gods will be
done. The Lord gave and the Lord
taketh away; Blessed be the name of
the Lord" You say nothing. You
keep your lips closely sealed. The
more l call the less find that YOU are
comforted At last, some day when
we are alone, l say, "A1r So-and-so,
what il the matter" "Well," you an
swer. 81 d. not know what to think.
You say it is Gods will that my wife
died. l know it is not Gods will. l
know my negligence killed her For
months and months my wife cougAed
badly. She had two or three hard
spells of sickness. The doctors told
ne she ought to 60 south, bit some
how l could not bring myself up to the
resolve to let her go. The journey
would cost a lot of money. Besides
that, needed her by my side. could
have saved her if l had sent her south
in time. Oh. why did | not let her So?
Why did l not let her go? That is the
rcmorse the true mother ana the IA
Their have when their boys and girls
50 astray. och, why did | not do off
ferently when my children were by
my side? Why did l not pray more
and live better than | Gid?'
Trusted Too Much.
But, my friends, though your parents
made many mistakes in your bringing
up tell me were not most of their or
rors made en- account of the gcntleness
rather than the meanness Of their
hearts? Even in their weaknesses /
would you not have had them just as
they were? Let me sec; you started TO
60 astray first because they trusted you
too much They never thought that
you would or could do wrong When
you came home from college they were
so proud to see you. They had kept
sending check after check. My, how
hard it was to get that money! But it
was for their boy And, oh, the awful
awakening they had when they found
the money they sent that hard earned
money, was being spent for sin! Don't
you remember how their hands trcm-
bled when they were placed upon your
shoulder and their lips quivercd when
they kissed you for the first time after
that shock? Don't you remember how
their tcars-not your tears, but theirs
were left upon your cheek when they
kissed YOU, proligal, returning home?
Dent you remember how angry your
father became when your employer
FIR insinuated that you had eubec-
zleI some of his money? Old as nc
was, his cliMcheI fist was ready to
knock that employer down. But after
the unlcniablc proofs were presented
Chat did lie do? Did lie allow YOU to
be sent to Jail, as you ought to have
been? 1t did no good to pay up tlat
deficit or embezzlement. Since then
you have been cheating every one else
you could. No, he did not let You 60 to
jail. He took every dollar that he had
saved Up to care for your mother and
himself in their old age. He turned
1t all in and signed notes for a thou
sand dollars more to save you from
v0rr int punishment He ought not
to have done 1t, but now in his old age
ere You still going TO sn ana have him
decorated Ey rcnorse because he has
been too Kind to you?
BUt is it to be wondered at that par
ents. on account Of their great love for
their children, err many times over by
being lcnicnt? For years | never had
for fathers ANA mothers who,
rs l expressed it, were willing to pay