The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1908-06-03

|
and yet it is this very moral and re-
| ligious nature of the child that Is to
supply him with the motive and the
regulative power, being, in fact, the
governor and legitimate master Of the
whole machine.
| A man may be as brilliant, as clev-
er, as strong. as broad AS you please,
and with all this, if he is not good,
his life will have been lived in vain.
On the great Journey of life one
thing Is needful. Money is not need
full, power and liberty are not needful,
but what is needful is character-a
thoroughly cultivated will
! The foundation Of all the nobler
morality is moral inspiration, from
within. and the feeder of this foun-
tain is God.
| The Bible does. therefore, bid the
parent to teach his child the knowl-
edge Of God.
Thou shalt teach them divine
commands) diligently unto thy chill
dren, and shalt speak of them when
thou sittest in thy house, when thou
walkest by the way"
In another passage we read eff
the children are taught Of the Lord,
then great will be the peace of the
children"
Parents are so dazzled by the
splendor Of wealth, that to accumu-
late wealth all energy must be bent.
To be successful in doing so they
opine that their children need a
maximum Of mentality and a mini
| mum Of morality.
Let us confess that the hunger for
riches is one Of the most injurious ap-
petites that gnaws at the modern
heartstrings.
The grave in which We are buried
is not larger than the cradle in
which We are rocked. unless under
the grace Of God our natures are en-
larged and we live more for others
than for self.
No one will deny that worldly ad-
vancement Is legitimate aim, but
! 1t cannot be too often accentuated
that the sole test of success in life
Is Observation-Disclosures as 1t is trans
lated into good and unselfish action.
The foundation of the character in
the child must keep pace with the
child's intellectual awakening.
Since character can only be secure
ly rooted in a feeling Of dependence
upon God Of holiness, morality must
draw its life blood from the constant
and perpetual fount Of reliwion.
The child, endowed with an immor-
tai soul. has a right to a religious
| training.
1t is the parents sacred duty to
| satisfy the cravings Of the child's re-
ligious nature and lead him into paths
Of safety.
Our sages say: "He who denies his
child religious knowledge robs him Of
his Inheritance"
Experience. the best and costliest
teacher. has taught us that precept,
however good and wise, must be sup
piemented by the living example.
And nowhere does this find better
application than in the religious
training of children.
The old prophets proverb. 1.-THE
fathers have eaten sour grapes and
the children's teeth are set on edege,"
holds still good in these our days. The
actions of all men are. more or less
interrelated.
The more complex human society
the closer that relationship. The
nearer the one man stands to the
other the greater is the influence he
has upon him.
None stand nearer to one another
than parent and child. Here you
have physical and moral relations,
bound up in a subtle unity.
The atmosphere Of the home leaves
Its impress upon the growing con-
sciousness Of the child for good or i'll.
Gods law Of responsibility is grim
and stern; woe to him who does not
pay heed to 1t!
The home must remain the most
effective agency in molding charac-
ter.
Nothing can possibly take the
place OF home influence and training.
ing.
No school can ever attempt to do
the work that belongs primarily to
the home; all 1t can do Is to supple
ment the precept and example set
before the children In Tho homo hv