MORAL TRAINING by Eliza H. Morton

Seventh-Day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · March 11, 1880

FromThe Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 55, No. 11

MORAL TRAINING.

By Eliza H. Morton

BY ELIZA H. MORTON.

THE fact that children have a moral as well as an intellectual nature is too often overlooked by educators. The improvement of the memory and the development of the perceptive and reasoning powers too often overshadow the higher and nobler work of heart-culture. The influence of first impressions in childhood cannot be estimated. The sensitive souls of youth are keenly alive to whatever examples surround them. It is natural for children to imitate the words and ways of those older than themselves, and the teacher is to the child an “oracle of wisdom.” His example and influence tell upon the whole afterlife of his pupils, and whoever occupies this responsible position should be a person of great moral worth, a person whose soul overflows with love to God and genuine love for the children.

Parents can bestow upon their children no nobler legacy than careful moral training. The choice of teachers for the young is a matter that requires thought and study, and Seventh-day Adventists especially should give the subject attention. Believing in the soon-coming of Christ, and knowing that infidelity in every form is woven into human lives, introduced into text-books, and brought prominently before the young, how can parents neglect to use every means in their power to counteract the blighting influences of Satan? A few dollars spent in placing a child where good influences will be brought to bear upon him, may save a soul from death.

Battle Creek College, Mich.