Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1906-05-04


and girls beginning to climb. Along
the dizzy precipices they go. Over the
dangerous rocks, higher and higher.
Ike Alpine hunters, they mount or bal
ance. They are climbing up the noun
tains or original research. They are
climbing up the mountains or thought.
They are starting out for the noun
tains OF fame. Then all that the par
ents can do is to sit IN the valleys and
see their boys and girls disappear
among the cloudlands as they pray:
20 God. guide my children: o God.
reach out thy strong arm and bridge
that dangerous crevasser' This time
of starting, for the cloudlands, for pio-
neering among unseen worlds, general
ly comes to the boys and the girls
when they are about to pass the
twelfth golden milestone. Looking into
the past, we know this was our own
personal experience. Thus is II with
the first coming OF Gods visions to our
children.
Boys Who Heard the Call.
Not only do these visions come to the
child of twelve. but they come In a
rational way. When God gives to the
young boy vision he Is not pictur-
Ing for him future life which. is i'm
possible to be realized. God Is giving
to him the same kind OF vision that
he gave TO the boy Jacob, and to the
boy Joseph. and to the boy Samuel, and
TO the boy David, and to the boy Christ
These ancient boys as well as the
modern boys OF twelve may not fully
realize what their futures are to be,
but something within them says, 20
child. thou art to- be this or that or the
other thing on account OF thy mental
and physical and spiritual powers -
These boy children of twelve feel the
inward as well as the outward caIIiugs
OF the future, as the great painter Ben
jamin West when a little child used to
make paint brushes from the hairs of
his eats tail. and as the boy Demos
themes felt the slumbering fires OF elo-
quence burning within him when he
suffered SO badly that in order to ar
ticulate at all distinctly he used to put
pebbles In his mouth, and as David
Brainerd heard the divine call to give
his life to foreign missions long be-
fore he was out OF the short trousers
OF the schoolroom.
Not only do these youths and maid
ems feel the rational call of their fu-
ture life work, but the parents and the
guardians and the teachers may see
the trend OF their minds and hearts IL
they only watch the actions of these
children closely aud intelligently. The
other day l was very much interested
in reading n letter which John Adams.
the young schoolteacher OF Worcester,
Mass. wrote of his old college friends.
The second president of the United
States was then young pedagogue.
This Is the letter: II sometimes consid-
er myself In my great chair ut school
as some dictator over n commonwealth.
In this little state can discover all
great geniuses and all of the surprising
actions and revolutions or the great
world In miniature. 1 have several re-
nowned generals. only three feet high.
and several politicians In petticoats. /
have others who are catching and dis
secting flies with as ardent curiosity
as any virt1oso OF the Royal society.
Their Investigations are sincere, ear
nest and based ON the ambitions OF fu-
ture greatness. Some rattle and thun-
der out n II c. ETC.. with as much fire
and impetuosity MS Alexander fought
Some OF them often sit down and cry
when outspelled MS heartily as. Caesar
cried at Alexander's sepulcher when in
formed that the Macedonian hero had
conquered the world before his age.
In short. my little school, like the great
world. Is made up of kings. politicians,
div!nes. IL. DIS. fops. buffoons, I'D
dlers. sycophants. fools. coxconbs,
chimney sweepers and every other
character known Ia history or seen In
the world" In other words. Just as
John Adams. the teacher, could fore
see the future OF his scholars by their
actions and predictions Mt school. SO
the child himself. by the inward work
ings OF his mind and soul. can feel and
SEQ, though 1t may be dimly, what God
wants him to do.
Visions OF Youth.
oh. the visions or youth How Inn
portant they are for the development
Of the child. In the book of Proverbs
we read, Where there Is no vision the
people perish" That means when the
people have no ideals lowering before
them. where the sculptor cannot see a
more perfect statue in dim outline
standing beside the stone he has chises-
ed. and the musician cannot hear n
sweeter song than that which he has
composed. and the reformer cannot sec
a mere perfect Utopia than that In
which he lives. then the development
Of those people Is retrogradinG iustead
OF advancing. inyoluting instead of ev-
ciuting. But, my friends. IL It is es-
sential for the developed man to have
perfect visions ever before him, how
much more important Is it for the I'M
developed child to have visions before
1imi These visions, when they come
from God. are not like the unaccount.-
able mirages OF the desert or like air
castles buiided In the sandy wastes.
Iney are rational visions builded by
the angel OF hope saying to the child:
Boy. girl. with thy physical and men,
tai and spiritual nature God bids thee
10 reach out to accomplish these things
which thou now seest, Look up, look
out. look on" Frances Hodgson Bur-
nett looking into the dim past and
writing the history Of her girlhood
days In that fascinating book called
The One I Knew Best of All" Is not
seeing more realistic character than
10 some children when they look into
tne dim future and by reason of their
physical and mental and spiritual tend
encies picture themselves as some
day being lawyers or doctors or min
lsters or merchants or bankers or in
ventors or musicians or statesmen or