THE MARRIAGE RING

Part VIII

"How many fail in the establishing of a Home, who start in the ardor of youth! and why? Because their imagination alone is engaged on the subject: they have no definite ideas what a "HOME" means, nor the way in which it is to be established. A Home is not to be found in the very regions of imagination, but in the sober realities of PIETY, CHASTE LOVE, PRUDENCE, and WELL-FORMED CONNECTIONS, This prize is within the reach of all who will take the path that leads to it... and the well-being of states is dependent on the well-being of families of which all states are composed.

"The constitution of the Home is of Divine Institution.... In some respects it resembles the civil government of a state; in others, the ecclesiastical rule of a church; and it is there the church and state may be said to meet.... When directed as it should be, every family has a sacred character, inasmuch as the head of it acts the part of both the prophet and priest of the household, by instructing them in the knowledge and leading them in the worship of God: while at the same time he discharges the duties of a king by supporting a system of order, subordination and discipline....

"The Home is intended to promote the welfare of the national community to which it belongs, and of which it is a part.... Well-instructed, well-ordered and Well-governed families are the springs, which from their retirements, send forth tributary streams that make up, by their confluence, the majestic flow of national greatness and prosperity: nor can any state be prosperous where family order and subordination are generally neglected; nor otherwise prosperous, whatever be its political forms, where these generally are maintained.

"It is certainly under the wise instruction and the impartial sceptre of a father, and within the little family circle, that the son becomes a good citizen; it is by the fireside, and upon the family hearth, that loyalty and patriotism, and every public virtue grows; as it is in disordered families that turbulent rebels and tyrannical oppressors, are trained up to be their neighbors torment, or their country scourge. It is there that the thorn an the briar, or the myrtle and the fir tree, are reared, which are in future time to be the ornament and defence, or the deformity and misery, of the land.

"The family is constituted, and ought, therefore to be conducted, with the prospect of the rising generation following that which precedes it, not only to the grave, but to eternity."

--John Angell James

ENCYCLOPEDIAS AND EDUCATION

At the dawn of the French Revolution, a great literary work was being published. Among its contributors were Voltaire, and Rousseau, with Diderot and D’Alembert the editors. It was to be a description of the entire circle of human knowledge and was called, "The Encyclopedia." The dominant idea which pervaded it was the utter subversion of religion.

Recently I went to the library to see what modern educators would say about Christopher Columbus. Since experience has taught me Britannica is most factual, I went to the "Macropedia."

After scanning about 10 pages of "micro" print in an article by a Harvard professor, I was amazed at the deliberate exclusion of the pious character of Columbus. For instance, the writer failed to mention that --

1. Columbus believed his name "Christopher", or "Christ-Bearer" was prophetic of the purpose of his life; that is, that he was to bear the name of Christ where he went.

2. The writer was strangely silent about the Vesper services Columbus conducted aboard ship, offering prayers and preaching the Word of God himself;

3. That he lead his men in reciting the Apostle’s Creed; and

4. That, in preparation for his fourth voyage, he asked for clergy to help him "in the name of the Lord Jesus to spread His name and Gospel everywhere." He asked that he might personally choose these men.

Instead, this professor sought to represent Columbus as a gold-seeker and failed to mention his agreement to a modest 10% of the returns.

Instead, the article went on to make Columbus a glory-seeker, but how can this be justified seeing that when he lighted from his ship on an island in the New World, he knelt and prayed, and called it "San Salvador", or "Holy Saviour."

5. The article passed over the fact Columbus wrote a book entitled Book of Prophecies. The reason for such "neglect" may lie in the fact that in his book, Columbus states, "I am a most unworthy sinner, but I have cried out to the Lord for grace and mercy, and they have covered me completely."

August Kling, who has thoroughly researched the life of Christopher Columbus, declares, "Columbus’ use of the Bible is one of the best documented facts of his remarkable career, but it is one of the least known to the general public."

This deliberate deletion of Christian thoughts and philosophy in present day education makes a "LIE" of learning. I for one, do not want my children to be DECEITFULLY EDUCATED. And, can I expect my children to remain uninjured in an atmosphere of Humanism, and Materialism; where Morality is mocked, and where the Lord of Hosts is evaded --or does it make any difference either way?

JULY

in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.