Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1906-03-30

OF your college life. Everything re-
specting you Is doubtless interesting
to me. but your domestic arrange
mcnts the least Of anything, as these
make no part OF the man or the char
acter any further than he learns hu-
mility from his dependence on such tri-
fles as convenient accommodations for
his happiness. You, 1 trust, will rise
superior to these little things, for,
though small indeed, they consume
much time that might he appropriated
to better purpose and far nobler pur-
suits. What most excites my solicit
tude is your moral Improvement md
your progress in virtue" Do you Won
der a mother who would be so indiffer-
ent to the physical welfare OF her boys
should lay most of her children In pre-
mature graves? 4
ne Intelligent.
AS Intelligent parents you have no
right TO blind your eyes to the physical
necessities of your offspring. Is 1t
well with the child? Is 1t well with
the food he eats and the clothing he
wears and the room IN which he sleeps?
Is it well with him IN the exercise he
takes and In the games he plays? Are
you developing good health In the nurs-
cry and In the playground pRemem-.
Der. the body is the temple OF the Holy
Spirit. Are you building sh~ rizbr.
kind OF physical cathedrals? Slf your
children are not strong physically, what
IS tAe reasonf Are you to blame? Are
You like Ralph Waldo Emerson's moth
er. who thought so much OF his brain
that she forgot that a brain without q
stomach Is just rs useless as a st.
Marks campanlle with walls tottering
on account of the loosened cement
which should hold its stones together.
"Is it well with the child?'
But our home greeting should not
stop here. If I enter your domestic
circle and as n pastor become one of
your family 1 practically come into
your children's mental existence. see
the boys and the girls sitting around
the library room, with their books In
their hands. i ask: "How are the chill
dren getting on ut SCHOOL, Do they
like their teachers? Is their work salts
factory ''Oh, finely" you may an
swer me. "They are intensely inter-
ested in their work. They are laying
the foundations Of their education Sc
curely." But another parent may an
swer: "Well. to tell the truth, 1 do not
know much about how they are getting
along. The simple fact is am so busy
at the store or in my social engage
ments that have not time to look into
their studies.'
What l say, can 1t be that you have
no interest In your children's mental
growthf Can II be that you have more
interest in the overseer of your ranch
or In the foreman OF your factory or
In the coachman of your horses than
you have in the schoolteachers who,
are placing the stamp of their intel
lectuality upon your boys mind? As
you look into the past you fully realize
that ali you are in mental way, Is
due to the training you received from
certain school or college teachers new
In glory. And can it be that you have
no interest in and no supervision of
those later teachers who are molding
your children's future lives? II the
colt is once broken in the wrong way
1t will never amount to much. Thus
the owner OF n stock farm carefully
watches every movement of his train
ers. Can it be that Kentucky horse
man Is more careful Of training his
thoroughbred colts than you are OF the
mental development of your own flesh
and blood? Is Ii well with the child?
In this age of rapid advancement and
OF the specialization OF talent no child
has any chance for success in life un-
less he is developed Alright for life's
struggle. There Is story told that
many years ago a fallen obelisk was
about to be raised In Rome. The risk
was very great for IL this obelisk was
partly raised and should be allowed to
fall it might be shattered Into thou
sand pieces. The greatest architect OF
his time, Domenico Fontana, prepared
special machinery for the work. The
momentous day arrived. The great
pulleys were put into their places. The
heavy ropes were placed around the
backbone OF the. fallen monster High
er and higher the mass OF stone was
lifted; higher and higher 1t rose. Al
most 1t was lifted to the perpendicular,
when the cable refused TO bulge an
other Inch. Then 1t was that a sailor
cried out at the top OF his lungs, WET
the ropesi" Promptly Fontana grasp
ed. the mechanical truth. The ropes
were soaked, On account Of the wet.
ting these ropes contracted. EAsnsI
slowly. but surely. the -obeiisk was
orawn higher until II sstooa straigh<
upon its own foundations. Al. the
voting Of the ropes did Il! And when
the great obelisks Of the future. tho
great pyramids. the:H great arches OF the
bridges, are TO be built our children
must know exactly how to do the work.
else they will be pushed aside as USE
less and others will take their places
Ihey must not only be like Domenico
Fontana, but they must be like Do
menico Fontana plus the intelligence
pr the sailor boy who suggested wet |
ing the ropes How~is your boy get |
ing along in school and In his mental |
development? Is 1t well with the
child?
Are They Drfftfnxf
but L have another home greeting. |
How are your boys and girls morally? |
w nat is the character Of your children?
are they like great, magnificent ship |
winch has been launched and is fitted |
up with superb machinery, with fits
furnaces full Of coal, with its proyi-
sions In the storeroom. with passengers
crowding the cabins, with sailors at
their posts and with captain upon the
deck and with wheelman a-hoyd
OF the wheel, with compass and chart
ana yet with no rudder for the steering
gear 10 move? Are your children NOR
ally drifting upon the sea of life? |
Are your children growing nm WITH.