Page090

Page090

90 " THE PRACTICAL CHRISTIAN.


of the fallen stute of our first parents." They


certainly are born out of Paradise, they are


mortal, they are sickly, they are far from an


orderly and quiet state of'passion, Long be­fore


they know right from wrong, the storms


of distempered passion manifest themselves.


Cryings, vexations, and death distinguish the


infantile lot. And if actual dissolution is es­caped,


even through the longest life, the - debt


is finally exacted. Meantime, of all such as


thus arrive at maturity, we may adopt the


language of the poet:


• As man, perhaps, the moment of his breath,


Receives the lurking principle of death,


The young disease, that must subdue at length,


Grows with his grolVth; and strengthens IV itb , his


strength. "


\ Vhat human nature actually is from infan­cy


to age is matter of well known fact, how­ever


we may account for it. And•. npw is not


human nature at larg e in the same general


condition in which Allam and Eve were after


heir exclusion from Paradise? This is all


. ery evident, The only question is- had


heir transgression any effect on the state of


heir posterity? Ifnot, how shall we account '


;) r the state in which all mankind have ever


since heen ? They have never since been in


the primeval state of their first parents, but ill


their fullen stnte. How is this? Have they


fallen by actual sins of their own. Grant that


th liy have all sinned- this does not relieve the


. difficulty. The whole race in sinless infancy


lave been. in this state. ) f actual sin was ne­cessary


in each individual to plunge him into


the mire of death, how is it that infants perish


by natural denth at all ages? This will not


lo. There is something hereditary in the


case. But we arc ready to revolt. at the idea that


nny evil con6equences rest IIpon mllnldnd on


accollnt of w\; at Adam a~ tl Eve did thous · ·


muls ofyellrs ago. Let us, however, consiller


he mnller n little. It is ' trllc enough thnt


mankind arc condemned and punished ollly


for their own actllnl tr~ nsgression. Yet it is


one of the plninest facts ill nature, that the ef ·


fects ofsill are often ' experienced in the form


of snffering hy the posterity of tho'se wh~


" buse their nature. Our bodies.. and. minds ' ItO


6 0liflffifn: Tely connected, tbat they generally


5uffertogether. Blltwherever we see disol · ·


der and suffering, we may know thut !> ome ·


hody has been vioialingthe laws hy which our


natul'e is govel'lled. If the offen, lel; wel'e of


the third or the fourth generation hack, there


hns certainly been an offence. Is any thing


more comlllon than hereditary insanity, he­reditary


con sumption, drunkennel'l', or covet­ousness,


or sllJpidity, 01' ill- temper? Howof­ten


do we sny, " it mns iuthe blood of the fam ·


ily- his father or grandfather was jllst so." ­And


when we see a poor child agoni7. ing in


fits, and know thllt the disease has come down


from another generation, do we think ofbla­ming


the Almighty? No. We see that


causes operate according to certain Jaws and


produce cel · t~ in natural. consequences- thllt


this is the nature of things- and that it behoves


us to take warning not bc the authors ofsllch


~ ufferings to " uf . own posterity. AII this is


plain and familiar to our understandings. ­Why


then should we revolt I; lt the doctrine,


hat human llature at large is suhject to moml


and physical disorder, to a certain' extent, on


account of what was done by our first parents?


' Ve must remember that w hen they sinned we


were all in their loins- that the whole of !- Iu ·


man natme was comprised in . them- that it


siuned in them, and that it received sentence


of death in them. They were full of disease


IImi death when the stream of posterjty began


to flow out. Oould the ' stream he purer than


the founta! n? Could immortality spring o~ t


of mortality, incorrqption out ofr. orrnption, or


ife Qut of death? There was no al tefl! ative


either Adam and Eve must have been pre­vented


fi'om ! propagating theil' own nature­or


that nature in their posterity Il) USt liear their


mage- must remain subject to all the evils of


its fallen state- until the · time comFl when the


. words of promise shall he vel · ified. and,! lll who


n Adam die, in Christ be made alive. FOI'


ny part I am quite content to have been horn


n and to bear for a tim~ the image of the


earthly man, if by any lIJeans I mny be u Iti ·


nately clothed upon with the image of the


second Adam. Let Ul! not stagger at such


views of the divine dealings. After all th ey


are reasonable, and certliinly they are Scriptu-ral,


St. Paul clearly teaches this .~ ctri n e in


those glorious passages of his epistles where


he contrusts Christ with Adaln, and the bless­ing


s ofredemption with the curses of the fall:


Hence he says- IlBy one man sin entered into


the world, and death hy sin; and so death


passed upon all men, for that 1111 huve sinned.


For until the law sin was in the world : but


sin is not imputed where there is no law. ­Nevertheless,


. death reigned from-. Adum to


Moses, even over them that had not sinned


after the similitude of Adam's transgression,


who is the figure of him thnt wns to .... come. ­But


not 8S the offence, so also is tile free gift:


for if through the offence ofone many be dead,


much more the grace of God and the gift by


grace, which is by one lllan: Jesll~ Christ, hath


abounded unto many. By one man's offence


deaih reigued by one. " By the - Offe n c~' of


one judgment came upon all men ( ot: oudem­untion


j even so by the righteousness of one


the fi'e ~ gift came upon nll men unto justifica­tion


of lire. By the disobedience of one man


many. were made sinners ; so by thc obedience


of'oneshull many be made righteous," & c. 5th


Rom. . Again. " 1" 01' since by man carne death,


hy man came also the resurrection nfnle dead:


for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall


1111 be mnde alive. And as we IUII'e borne the


image of the earthy, we shall also hear tlie


image of the heavenly." 1 Cor. 15th C. The


positions then, taken in this article of my lilith,


appeur, thus far at least, to he couclusivcly


established .


THE PRACTICAL CHRISTIAN


Mendon, April 1, 1841.


CORRECT IO N OF CHILDREN.


" I have felt a stroug desire to COIl\' el'Se with


you more on the governmcnt of childr~ n on


the Non- Resistant plan,- how certain nets of


disolJedience, and \' ftrious other wrong aclB of


children should be treatelI. \ Vhether it would


be consistent with your principles to deprive


them of privileges th ey have III~ en accustomed


to enjoy, cut tbem off fi'om the society of the


family for a few hours, or what your method


. nf. J. J.: g~,. ,. ..,........:.:..~


Thus writes an es. tirJlllhle female' fricnd, a


widowed mother, with children yet in the


dawn of life- a fi'iend whose pleasant ' ac­llullirnance


we recently lIIade in o'lle of the an.


cient towns of the Commonwealth. \ Ve wish


it were in our power to afford ' her full satisfac.


tiou on . the subject of inquiry. She has signi ·


fied thnt an answer through the r. olnmns of


the Christian wonld be ugreeable to hei · ; and


we have chosen that medium.


Dear Fl'iend - For the snke of othcrs who


are eljually interested with yourself~ allow Ille


to mllke my reply somewhat hroader than


yonI' particular enquiries might demond. ­This


is a suhject ofgreat importance, and fnll


of prnr. tical difficulties• . 1 have been II Bi~ ner


in the treatment of my chilrlren, ancl. tJlOugh


somewhllt reformed under the influence . of mv


present principles, am yet sarlly defici~ nt' i; l


right feeling and action. I thinll I lIIulerstand


how parents fully christianized should , govem


theil' children. BIIt pal'tial christianization­much


light and little love-~ reates 1I hard


struggle between theory and praetice• . " Ve


cannot put new \ vine into old bottles; ornew


. cloth upon an old g/ n'ment, withont a I'IIpture


somewhere. We have mnde so many mis­takes,


hoth radical allll iucillental, in th~ gen­el'l\


tion and tbe educatiou of our childreJ!.- in


other words, hal'e violated so r: nuny '~) h~ Bica I


and moral la",: s- that ' when we comb ih the


knowledge of the truth, we find tbe very


. fonndations of nature out of course, alHI many


apparent necessities for continuinl; to use time ·


worn wrongs as the most convenient correct ·


ives of evils in our offspring- evils of . Ivbich


we are scarcely less the parents, thlln of the


children themselves. Thus Ihe whipping,


slapping, cuffing, shaking and pinching Of an


ill. hegotten, ill. bred, iII. managed . c hilll, is of ·


ten a speedy and most effectual meuns of~ iJb ·


duing his will into ooedience to that of ' the


parent. It is a. very convenient and · rOlily


method ofe nforcing the parent's connnandl. ­F


orce und fear a(: tljuickly. Bnt wh at is •.' Cry


convenient to the parent, may not in the end


be benpeial to the child. •


I am generally met here with the autholity


of Solomon, in ' favor of castigation , anrl j'e:


minded that he say~- ov- uHe. thut ~ l'arath


his rod, hateth his son: but he that loveth him


chasteneth him betimes," " Foolishness is


bound in the henrt of a child ; but the rod of


correction shall drive it far from him." ­"


Wilhhold not correction from the ~ hild: for


if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not


die. Thou shalt beat him with the roll, aml


shait deliver his soul from hell." " The rod


and reproof give wisdom; but a child left to


himself briugeth his mother to shame."


I ussent to the spirit of these sayings. Due


restraint and timely correction of children are


a part of every parent's iudispensnhle duty. ­The


substance of the thing signified- the great


radical truth declared- the princip'le involved


- these are plain, undeniable and worthy of


all acceptation. But I cannot 50 worship the


LETTER as to believe the literal ROD an indis­pensable


instrument of correction through all


lime. It might hnve been so under the Mosn ·


ic dispensation, with the light then enjoyed­e


ven as an oath was of preventing falsehood


and insnring truth; hut the Christian dispen­sation


exacts a nicer correction, and the more


scrupulous utterance of'trurh, without the old


instruments 0\ 1( 1 forms , It does not destroy,


but more perfectly fllitiis the Law nnd the


Prophets, whil e yet it disuses many" of their


outward appliances. 1\ IIIY not this be as true


in'the gov ernment of children as in other tie­partments


of' morality? The great multitude


of nominal Christiuns have not yet seen and ,


embraced this truth- as they have not other


I! r~ at and glorious truths of their Religion.-:


They lire familiar with the name of Christ, hut


remain comparatively' strangers 10 his spirit. ­The


real Christ has not yet appeared unto


them Uwithout . sin unto salvation." In this


- stnte, it is by no III euns strange that 50 mnny


of us remain " children of the bonrl- wornnu" of


the old Jerusalem, instead of oIVnillg for our


Mother Ihe J erusulcm above, which is free,


nnd giveth fi'eedom to all her adopted ones.


There are chililren spoilell with whipping:


anll there are others spoiled without whipping.


Those that UJ: e much whipped lire nearly ul ·


ways ~ poilcd. Those thnt arl) well brought up


with little whipping do not owe it so lIIuch til


rl.....- rtnt;'" us- nrme- sreart. lJ f11J> t1lr olin J! errerrrrgmm


management of their purenls. Those who a...~


spuiled without whipping, would in ,, 1I proha


bility have been spoile< 1 loilll ever 50 mnch


whipping, if uncler the charge of Ihe same pa ·


rents. Thcse are lily delihernte coilVictiolis,


produced by the last twenty years of ohserva ·


tionllnd ex[ ieri ence. I lTIlly he rleceived, hu t


I will not hel'itate to IlVOW that I believe the


infliction ofblows uUd bl'uises upon th~ hodies


of chilclren, ( however con'veuient mau, Y times


to parent, teachel', or master,) is no part oflhe


tme Christian discipline. In saying t his, let


me not he unrlerstood 10 discufll o~ diminish


parental restraint, reproof lind correction . . 1


wou Id ha I'e it far more . thoroug h amI effect' ­ive


than is common. They who Ilepend on


the rod generally. neglect the thousand other


means hy which it is th eir dilly to train their


children in the way they should go. \ Vheri


true Illen and women renounce the I'Od- cease


to mnke the fear of one human heing the con­trolliilg


Illotive . o f anolhcr ' s conrl', ct""': they 110


50 under a sense"' of duty to n13ke use of those


restrain ing and corrective influeuces which, if


faithfully and patiently employell, sllper~ ede


nil occasion fOI' I he I'Od. \ Vhoever . I. ispenses


entirely with the I'od unconscientiously, or


without a hearty purpose of mind to malle


use of' till! munifqld christian ' memls · lJr" re­straintund


tliscipline, ha~ no right 10 expect


success, The merit lInti ad vlllllal; e of tl. e


christian methllll do not lie in the · mere disuse


of physiclIl violence, but in the udoptilln of


better means. If thiJ betlcr means al'e neg ·


lecled, the worse means mllY oe better than


none. That is, 10 spellk pillinly, a cbild had


hetter be severely whipped H few times, an. d


thereby forced into Illtbits of obedience even


to un authority partly ril( ht aud pnrOy wrong,


than to go wholly unrestrained and neglected.


BIIt we lire in pursuit of the more excellent


way. This mn)'. he less convenient to selfish


paren ts for th e time hein~; it may require ten


fold more thought, consideration, self · examin­atio~,


self, sllr. rifice, patience aud perseverance;


than ordinllrily . accompanies the rod: hut


christian pllrents will endure it nil for the sake


of the results. These will he the unspeakable


g() od of theil' children, and of hUlllanity at


' Iurge, both in time und eternity .


What then arc some ofthe general rules hy


which cllri'stian parents should be governed


in the training of their children? The light


which I have received, and the errors I have


committed snggest thefollowing.


1. Seek wisdom, grace . lInd strength of


, Go. 1 eonrlnuully.


2. Consider your children as spiritual im­mortnl


beings placed under your tuition.


3. Milke their go'od f~ r time and eternity


( not yonr own ease and convenience) your


grand object,


4. AWIIKcn, cultivate nn~ i perfect in ihem


. the great idea of RIGHT.


5. Keep this idea always uppermost in 1111


your requirements.


G. Preserve in yourselves n right spirit


and eveu temper.


7. Endeavor to appear III ways the flame


exemplary moral persons in word IUIlI deed.


8. Consider well what ) ' 01/ require, and


then iuvariahl); insist on obedience,


9. Never flatter, lie, deceive, scold, fret or


whine.


10. Notice su ch limits only ns cannot be


safely overlooked, uud with these make thor­ough


work'; " pare neither time nor puins till


they lire corrected.


] 1. Rebuke only in undertones or whisp­ers,


and administer all your reproofs confiden­tially


to each ch il; 1 alone; noise, pllh: icily and


exposure harden;


12. Teach your children in dun season the


true knowledge of God, mun, nuture, them­selves


and ull things.


.13. ' fake an interest in all : heir amuse­mcnrs,


studies, devotions, III; rsuits. lIllll · affilirs;


und len. l them 10 make you their chief confid­nuts


through life.


14. Dissuade and detach them from nil


false a,' 1I1 viciolls plclIsllrcs,


15. Train Ihem to think, feel, " pellk and


111,1 ' fill' Ihemselves liS lIu5wernhitl to God rllther


tlinu nlall- tll ohey the inward 11I'IY, 1I1ll1 he


tme tu th eir light- to sacrifice 1111 enrthl)' guod,


rath er thuu tl" tlth, virllle alld conseienr, e- to be


perlect in holiness alltl chllrily.


A lilithfillllllh crence io these rules coulll


~ y- j" il~ 10 em'l/ re 10 parents tli e"' pos.. eftS­iUII


of treasures in the moral chal'lIr. ter of their


children inconJl'mrahly prel'iolls and g lor iolls.


The pr OCCllS ofs. pch an educatillll wOlllrl en­1I0hle


111111 hll'ss ' both parent llnel I: hild. They


. sower and rCllper wOllld fl: joice log- elher in n


comlllon han'est ofterllpol'lllunri cternal gOOll.


Ofall these rilles I find myself Iwone to


come Ilhort; hut I feel their I'ectiturle nnd ne­cessity,


and Rm resoh'ed to follow thcm more


assiduously hereuflel' thun in time pa~ t. All


to the purticulllr question~ propounded hy my


respected friend I answer: malle mere out­ward


good mid evil ol'lly secondury a~ d o{, ca­sionalmotivcs.


. Let nothing like revenge, or


vindictive Jlunisillnent el'en seem to charRctcl"


ize any part of your discipline• . Muke your


children fcel as mneh as possible the inward


smal'l of remorse und self- reproach fol' their


lmnsgressions. Sometimes it will he neoo58l1.


ry : md proper to separate them for a seuson


from th e liunily and thcir' won ted aSl'lIcilltell,


or to Clll off their cherisherl enjoyments. But


this should he done for such evident good rea­sons,


with such unaffected regret, IInrl such


firm modernlibn of " I', irit, Ihllt ' the , offendel'


cau scarcely Rvoid feeling a d ~ epFlr distress of


eou~ l: ience withill' ltllUl~ of prh'ation without. It


would pmhably have the hest effect in all such


cuseS' for the pal'ent to slJlire solit'i. le and pl'i­vation


with the offender, This wonld pre-,


sel'Ve unbroken thfl chain of symputhy, con­vince


the child of the pm'cnt'll disinterested


love ' of right, and ofthe heinons natnre of the


offence j whilst at the same time it afforded


opporlunity for wholesome admonition, IIl1ft


awullened the generous purpose never ag'ain


to involve one so kind, faiIhfuland affection­lite


in such troubles. There are few ' c h ildren


who would not soon come to drellli such cbas­tisements


for more than external stripes; and


this dreall would be a purifying fire within


their souls. May the infinite Fllther give Uff


wisdom in all things; . and the glory shall he


u' 1Il0 his holy name forever. Farewell.


A. B.


A CORRESPOND.~ CE '. .


Between OliverJohnson and Geo. F. White•.


This is a nellt pamphlet of' 48 pages, . just pub­lished


in New York, by 1\ fr. Johnson,. to W! IOI))


the Christian is donbtless indebtel1 for the copy

Page 90 of Volume 1 from The Practical Christian 1840-1841

Ballou, Adin

1840