The Washington herald., 1907-01-07
NEGLECT OF YOUNG
Theme of Sermon by the
Rev. J. B. Clayton.
MONEY WORSHIP LEADS NOW
Obeject of Society, He Declares,
Should Not BE Mere multiplication
ment-Present Day Movement Is
in the Right Direction.

| OELEICuiSius OF lut S4uei he6Ae-t Va
the young" was tie theme Of a sermon
delivered by the Rev. J. B. Clayton, at
the Brookland Baptist Church, at yester-
day mornings services. The discourse
was founded on the text. The daughter
/ of my people is become cruel, like the
Ostriches In the wilderness. Lamenta-
/ tions, iv:3.
/ DR.. Clayton termed ostrichism the most
damaging ism that ever found lodgment
in the church or society, the home or the
market place. He said in part: The
ostrich. most valuable of all birds, be
cause of its plumage, most feet Of all
birds, because of its stride, most majestic
Of all birds, because of its size, is yet the
most unmotherly of all birds. because Of
its cowardly neglect and abandonment Of
its young in the desert. in the face of
danger. This characteristic is used in the
Bible TO condemn the neglects of the
physical, mental, moral, and religious care
of childhood.
"Christianized society has learned better
than to abandon childhood to the perils Of
poverty, vice, disease, and death
Child Must Come First.
Next 20 making money. the worlds
chief concern now is for the welfare OF
the child. Some better day viii come,
through Christian influences, when the
child viii come first, and Dives Will care
more for his son than for his bursting
barns, and Midas Will love his daughter
more than his gold
a child has a right 10 be born of the
best possible parentage. The great object
Of human society is not the mere mutipli-
cation of the race. but the Improvement
of the race There is more danger Of so
called race suicide in neglecting chill
dren after they are born than in the de-
crease in an established birth rate Chill
dren have a right TO sober. industrious.
solicitous parentage Childhood, iu
neither birth nor culture, should be left
to the haphazards OF chance. The new
motherhood is coming; 1t viii not love
more-it could not; but ii viii love more
wisely. Added TO maternal devotion. as
old as the race, II viii acquire and utilize
the garnered wisdom Of the ages in hy-
giene, biology, and psychology.
Humanity does not need more stOrks
and il has even yet too many ostriches.
but II does need more eagles. that shall
fly out of the mud and miasmas 5f ig-
noTance and vice, and nest their young on
the mountain tops.
"Christianized society has established
institutions for neglected children. Or
phanages, founding asyIums. Florence
Crittenton homes open their doors for
the forsaken, abandoned, parentless child.
Harder for Women.
It is a hard thing to be a second hand
mother; but it is harder on the woman
than the child. All honor to those good
men and women. who. at the cost Of
time. money, and labor. erect such in
stitutions and open such homes as the
neglected child may have to-day.
And Chrisuanized society has done its
best 10 remove The TepTOaCh Of OstriChism
by limiting the amount Of public Opp0r-
tunities for children TO become vicious;
the compulsory education laws. laws pro-
hibiting the sale Of tobacco and liquors
to minors, laws against child labor. the
establishment Of juvenile republics and
courts, and the legal establishment Of
the age Of consent have been tremen-
dous advances in Christian sociology and
religion for the protection Of childhood.
The right Of a child to play has re-
ceived a tardy but a splendid recogni-
ton in the establishment of public play
grounds. The misanthropic idea that play
IS a waste of time and sin would soon
be annihilated If grOwn-ups themselves
would play more and worry less Chill
dTen viii run the city streets; let them
run to corner lots. where good men and
women Will help them play, and help
them make their play an eternal benefit.
"ChTistianized society has also made
it possible for a child to grow a soul
Americas greatest institutions are the
fruits Of the Gospel of Christ; a free
body, a free mind and a free vote There
are still ten thousand times ten thousand
children who have wrongs to be righted.
and 10 that Christ-like work of
ministry to little children every man and
woman is called of God"