Dangers of the Young
371
no exercise of the mind or muscles, and then excuse their indolent
daughters because they are weakly. What has made them weakly?
In many cases it has been the wrong course of the parents. A proper
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amount of exercise about the house would improve both mind and
body. But children are deprived of this through false ideas, until they
are averse to work. It is disagreeable and does not accord with their
ideas of gentility. It is thought to be unladylike and even coarse to
wash dishes, iron, or stand over the washtub. This is the fashionable
instruction which is given children in this unfortunate age.
God’s people should be governed by higher principles than
worldlings, who seek to gauge all their course of action according
to fashion. God-fearing parents should train their children for a life
of usefulness. They should not permit their principles of government
to be tainted with the extravagant notions prevailing in this age, that
they must conform to the fashions and be governed by the opinions
of worldlings. They should not permit their children to choose their
own associates. Teach them that it is your duty to choose for them.
Prepare them to bear burdens while young. If your children have been
unaccustomed to labor, they will soon become weary. They will com-
plain of side ache, pain in the shoulders, and tired limbs; and you will
be in danger, through sympathy, of doing the work yourselves, rather
than have them suffer a little. Let the burden upon the children be very
light at first, and then increase it a little every day, until they can do a
proper amount of labor without becoming so weary. Inactivity is the
greatest cause of side ache and shoulder ache among children.
There is a class of young ladies in this age who are merely useless
creatures, only good to breathe, eat, wear, chat, and talk nonsense,
while they hold in their fingers a bit of embroidery or crochet. But few
of the youth show real sound judgment and good common sense. They
lead a butterfly life with no special object in view. When this class of
worldly associates get together, about all you can hear is a few silly
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remarks about dress, or some frivolous matter, and then they laugh at
their own remarks which they consider very bright. This is frequently
done in the presence of older persons, who can but feel saddened at
such lack of reverence for their years. These youth seem to have lost
all sense of modesty and good manners. Yet the manner in which they
have been instructed leads them to think it the height of gentility.