FLOUR
E SE F -RAISING
eef
-
The West AUSTRAUAN
RECORD
SATURDAY, JANUARY
I am the lire upon the hearth, I am the light of the good sun. I am the heat that warms the earth. Which else were colder than a stone.
At me the children warm their hands,; I am their light of love alive. Without me cold the hearthstone stands, Nor could the Precious childred thrive, I am the twist that holds together The children in its sacred ring, Their knot of love, from whose doge tether No lost child goes a -wandering.
I am the house from floor to roof, I deck the walls, the board I spread
;
I spin the curtains warp and woof, their And shake the down to be bed.
I am their wall against all danger, Their door against the wind and snow. Thou Whom a woman laid in manger. Take me not till the children grow
-Katharine Tynan Hinkson.
Thoughts Here at Home God's truth is mighty, and it has an imperious' way of leaping over the miles and bounds wherewith men seek to hedee it in. a.e, deliberate by Pocrite has ever et succeeded even in the way side booths of public life. There must be of sincerity somee herea spark J ohn oliver Hobbes. The virtue of silence under trial is the one of the rarest virtues and most difficult to acquire, therefore it is most pleasing to God and most conducive to the strewth and beauty of
Christian character.
to As a matter of fact 'we ought make a new beginning each morning,
ought to base this fresh start on the net results of yesterday. Yesterday's failures should be our danger signals and yesterday's successes our guide -posts. We
19E2
5 34
HAY STREET.
Nest door to Celtic Club.
'Mid P,easures and Palaces though we may roam, Be it ever so humble, there's no place liloe home
I am the Pillars of the house ;. The keystone of the arch am I. Take me away and roof and wall Would fall to ruin utterly.
:27,
The Catholic Art and Book Depot,
In and Around the .- Home The Mother
Rises Above all Others.
Opposite
King Edward
Hostel.
Miss M. J. McDERMOTT, Proprietress
Tine Power of Personality After reading what has already beep published in " The Formation of Character," it will be sufficient to confine our Present study to a few leading ideas. At birth and for some time after, a child is absolutely characterless in the sense of being But there lies devoid of Principles. in it a certain substratum, of temperament, or a disposition to develop on certain lines rather than others and these lines may be either virtuous or vicious, and will generally be a misture of the two. Donn to the first awakening of rational consciousness-which occurs much ear tier than we are apt to imagine-the child is a bundle of incoherent potentialities ; and the earliest shaping. of character will depend entirely on tirst impressions. Now, the visit impressions of a child are always the salient characteristics of those imConfronted mediately around him. with parents who are ideal in character and conduct, all the goad capabilities of the child will be drawn out from the potential to the actual as They will crop up by magnetism. to the surface and present themselves there just like images in, a mirror. The child will receive its initial start, and will " take after its ;
father"-or mother-or both-emit-l-
ing as the one or the other erentes the quickest impression on t':e need. Living example on the one hand, instinctive imitation on the other, wall entirebe the order of the day It is asly but for the most part. tonishing to realise the immense power for good or evil which lies not merely in what we do, but in what we are. This is true on the surface throughout the whole of life, but is specially true of this Period of first impressions, whqi the mind of Vie child is as yet almost in a snhconsciors state-the influence being all the more subtle and far-reaching on that account. For this impressionism is not merely a matter of outside action. It is the first stereotyof ping of the latent dispositions the soul. And it is exactly these latent dispositions 'which lay the first foundation of character, and determine-at least in radical tendencythe whole line of the future course of life. This first point is a little difficult,
not
(Late Mrs. A. M. RYAN). Our Christmas Goods are just unpacked. l'rayer Books in great varlet-:. Statuary, Rosary Beads, Scapulars, and all Church goods. Special lines in religious Christmas Cards. and Holy During December all prayer -books, Rosaries, Christmas Cards Post Free.
after all most of us are quite unaware of the impression we give to others, and especially the insPression which a child would be likely to receive from us in its awakening consciousness. To Place the matter on a broader basis we must pass to the second point, namely, that the type of character ultimately built up in the child will not be determined solely by such first impressions, but by the accumulated influences of home -life extending, over the whole period of training. If any harm. has come from earls- impressions, parents will not be long in reaTheir faults ping the consequences. will soon become reflected in their children, and efforts will have to be made to undo by precept and discipline the injury done by bad examFor a parent with a sweet ple. temper of his own to cultivate a be sweet temper in his child will comparatively easy ; for then every outbreak of passion will seem so strangely in contrast with the general tranquility of the household that the child will see for itself that something is wrong. But if a child whipped for showing is ternParents who are con Per by showing temper themstoutly selves he will certainly think it " hard lines " and his only motive for self-restraint will be the whipor ping, and not the unseemliness At most viciousness of the fault. the child will learn to understand that " there are some naughty things which I must not do, hut which the grown-up people may do"-which is not good training either for the present or for the future. The moral lesson to parents therefore, is, that event- fault of their to the detriment of own accounts their offspring, just as every virtue " Quails counts for their benefit. rector domus, tales ii qui habitant in ea." The heredity, of example counts in the bodily order-so fraught with consequence is the character of the Parents on the character of the progeny. because
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Let us }target Let us forget the things that vexed and tried us, The worrying things that (wised our souls to fret The hopes that, cherished long, were still denied us. Let us forget. ;
Let us forget the little slights that Pained us, The greater
wrongs that rankle sometimes yet :, The Pride with which some lofty one disdained us, Let us forget. Let us forget our brother's fault and failing, The ielding of temptation that be-
set, That he, perchance, though grief unavailing, Cannot forget.
be
But blessings manifold past all deserving, Kind words and helpful deeds, countless throng, The fault o'ercome, the rectitude unswerving, Let us remember long. Whatever things were good and true, and gracious, Whate'er of right has triumphed over wrong, What love of God or man has rend. ered precious, Let us remember long. M. M.
Easy Things Parents often say : " I want my children to have an easier time than 'I had." The wish is well -meant ; frequently it is most unwise. Sometimes the struggle may be so severe as to injure, cripple, or even blast a man's life. Usually it is not the that struggle, but the lack of it cripples. Very. often, perhaps, usually, the hard things we complain of and from which we wish to save our children are the cause of what success we have attained. To them what Rower of initiative, what mastery- of self and events are ours to them we owe what streneta of character we possess. It is the hard things of life which we have conquered, or bravely fought against, even if we have not conquered, which have chiefly developed what originality and individuality- we have. To save children from any blight that may have been on our lives is wise, is kindness. To shield from all hard knoc'7s, to make all things easy, is for to do about the worst thing This is to do what is called them. " to injure by kindness misnomer applied to what has the outward form of kindness, but which lacks the substance. It is In reality, cruelty. It is to blight life 'by the curse of easy things. we owe ;
E. (LateARUNDEL BECHTEL R.
&
CO.)
Wholesale and Retail Saddle and harness Manufacturer
Contractor to the W.A. and Commonwealth Governments
Factory, Head Office and Warehouse
179, 181 and 183 Murray Street, Perth
There is a moral attached to autumnal scenes leaves falling like our years, flowers fading like hours, clouds fleeting by like illusions, light diminishing like our intelligence, and the sun, growing colder like our alfections.-Chateaubriand. :