Year: 1868

What Sends Young People TO th'


Devil. @&


"I have never had it in my heart t
blame my son for the result in his owl
breast. If, when he came home so sore
hearted, ! had only said to him, in kind
fatherly tones,


"'My con, will see about this;
hope there is no mistake on your part
at any rate, l will not allow you to b,
wrongfully treated, but will have jus
tics done, he would have been satisfied
and the soreness would have been taker
out of his heart. But / made a mistake
terrible mistake, which has been s
source of unhappiness ever since,


We afterwards spoke to the son who
is one of our most cherished friends, OF
the subject, and he said his father wa'
right. ss


II of course feel no ill-will toward,
my father" he said, 'FbHt in that bittel
hour something went out Of my hear
which / have never been able to ger
back, though / have sought it will
prayers and with tears" ...


Our doctrine on this point requires
neither proof nor illustration, except
what is furnished by ones own persona
experience. There is not human
being on earth, with a nature superior
to that of an oyster, but what kaoatS II
to be true-although tehre may be some
well-meaning persons who will fee
bound TO deny it in utterance even
while admitting it in thought. .


Very good people, who try TO wiz
and keep the confidence Of their chill,
dren, often fail to do so from Ignorance
of human nature, lack OF judgment
lack Of forbearance, lack of patience
and an excess of bigotry, intolerance
and tyranny. We have case thai
came within our experience which is
directly in point.


A friend of ours, learned but pious
and man of varied experience, having
q son sixteen years old, who gave him
much anxiety on account of a growing
disposition to set the religion of his
father at naught, asked us WHAT should
do with the boy. We gave him oul
opinion on the subject. 1t struck him
so favorably that he resolved to begir
to put it in practice at once, and invited
us home to tea with him, that we NIGH
be present at the initial effort. Aftel
tea the father and son went to work ir
little ten by fifteen garden in the
of the house, while we sat on the back
porch. As the father raked among
his strawberry plants he began to oper
on the son, who was wedding floweI
bed. The old gentleman began very
well, and went on wellfor short time
until the son remarked,


"But you see, father, I don't believt
the Bible as yo't do and I'm beginning
to feel as though l shan't believe any
thing much longer, and when you quot,
the Bible to me as authority, somehow
it makes me disbelieve it all the more.


"Shut up your impudent mouth, sir
or I'll take this rake to you!" roared The
father. "How dare you tell me that yol
don't believe the Bible I'll not lister
to such talk, sir!!"


Thus ended the first lesson, and W,
felt satisfied that if that boy were no
sent to the devil it would not be III,
fault of bis good old Christian father
But, happily the second lesson never wa
tried We advised the father to senC
the boy to boarding school, and letbin
take his chance with his teachers, be
lieving that he could not very well b.
worse off at school than he would be a
home. He went to boarding school
and happening to fall into the hands 0
a sympathetic and philosophical, as wei
as Christian teacher, be is doing finely


Is it not pitiful that man Of educa
ton, and a Christian with more thar
forty years of religious experience
should not have arrived at anything
more sensible in such a crisis than a
threatened assault upon his son with {
rakef that, at a moment when the
eternal welfare Of his boys soul NIGH
be trembling in the balance, instead O
behaving like g Christian gentleman
and parental guide, be. should play
the part Of an ungodly ruffian and pa.
ternal bhllyi


In contrast with the foregoing We
will place the conduct of another father
whose son, a fine boy of thirteen, who
is dear to our own heart, had already
arrived at that stage of doubt which
rational beings are almost certain a
some time to reach. sa u


Observing that the boy was becoming
remiSs in his evening and morninl
and evening prayers the father spok'
to bim on the subject one evening JUS