The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1908-06-03
RESPONSIBILITY OF THE HOME.
A Lecture by Rev. j. Klein.


ture Is the home. the family.
Recorded history shows conclusive
ly that at all times the home was q
fortification Of safety against the on
slaughts Of wild and untamed human
passions. q factor making for the
conservation OF mans higher and
nobler instincts.
But for the stability Of the home,
neither society nor state could have
withstood successfully the effects OF
the mighty upheavals that mark the
path of man through the halls OF
time.
This explains the glorificatiOn of
the home In song. In proverb and
prophecy.
Its influence Tor order and safety
for goodness and moral cleanliness,
runs like a golden thread through
every upward movement mankind has
taken.
Like the springs Of river, the
home branches out. and with its
large and small tributaries covers
all human activities.
1t throws its life-giving beams upon
common industry and upon the
political planet and upon charc-
ter and happiness.
The fresides warmth stimulates
growth and shapes the meaning of
the lives Of untold millions.
All those who toll for the better
ment of man and who aim to make
this vale a summer abode for man to
dwell in know full we'll that in every
reformatory movement but little will
be accomplished without the. aid
and cooperation of the home.
When public morality is losing in
virility, so that the eternal distinc.
ton between "thou shalt"Sand "thou
shalt not" is becoming obscured by
arguments solely based upon self-in-
terest, when reverence for the high
ideals Of life is. no longer considered
essential to human happiness and de-
cent living then look we'll to the
home for the cause Of such moral
destruction.
AS the life man leads is but rev.
elation Of his inner self, so is the
larger world. with its hopes and trials,
Its victories and defeats. It's virtues
and vices, but a reflex of the culture
Of the homes.
The paramount influence Of the
home upon the affairs of men makes
1t duty incumbent upon all to pro-
mote domestic peace and we'll being.
The conscientious fulfillment Of
that duty on the part of everyone
would usher in an era Of universal
peace and good will. the dream and
goal Of all moral and religious preach
ment.
The members Of the family are
bound together by an organic tie;
their relations are not mechanica, !
but moral. Parents and children.
husband and wife. brothers and sis
ters. are. by the higher moral law.
under mutual obligations to each
other.
He who violates that human obli.
cation undermines human society In
It's efforts toward higher culture.
The chief responsibility fLr the spir-
It that IL to dominate the home must
rest upon the parents. who are the
builders.
:. 1t will largely depend upon them
whether the home shall be sweet and
pure. an abiding influence for the
clean and good lives Of those who 60
forth from under the root tree.
Children are the gifts Of God, a
heritage received from His hands"
Like all heavenly gifts. they must
be dealt with under the sense of re-
SbOsSsOAAey W ShS 1ANcT.
This makes 1t obligatory upon the
parents to train and discipline the
child. that he may walk in "the ways
Of Righteousness" when he grows
older. He must prepare the child to
live worthy and progressive life,
to carry forward the best traditions of
the human race.
The dudful parent will watch
zealously the unfolding Of the child
nature and subject the child to a
continuous we'll reasoned-out system
Of mental and moral discipline.
To the careful observer there
seems to be lack Of something vital
In the training children generally re-
ceive In their homes, when one can
point to the great number Of men
and women about whom their friends