ond; so our earthly life is a very important
part of our existence, for it is here that the foundation is laid for
either happiness or misery in the future. It is here that we decide our
destiny, and our efforts to know and obey God's laws in our bodies as well
as in our souls will not only bring blessings to us in this life, but
never-ending happiness throughout eternity."

22. A QUESTION.--How can a father chew and smoke tobacco, drink and swear,
use vulgar language, tell obscene stories, and raise a family of pure,
clean-minded children? LET THE ECHO ANSWER.

* * * * *

{396}

The Inhumanities of Parents.

[Illustration: AN OLD ADAGE: "HE WHO LOVES CHILDREN WILL DO YOU NO HARM."]

1. Not long ago a Presbyterian minister in Western New York whipped his
three-year-old boy to death for refusing to say his prayers. The little
fingers were broken; the tender flesh was bruised and actually mangled;
strong men wept when they looked on the lifeless body. Think of a strong
man from one hundred and fifty to two hundred pounds in weight, pouncing
upon a little child, like a Tiger upon a Lamb, and with his strong arm
inflicting physical blows on the delicate tissues of a child's body. See
its frail and trembling flesh quiver and its tender nervous organization
shaking with terror and fear.

2. How often is this the case in the punishment of children all over this
broad land! Death is not often the immediate consequence of this brutality
as in the above stated case, but the punishment is often as unjust, and the
physical constitution of children is often ruined and the mind by fright
seriously injured.

3. Everyone knows the sudden sense of pain, and sometimes dizziness and
nausea follow, as the results of an accidental hitting of the ankle, knee
or elbow against a hard substance, and involuntary tears are brought to the
eyes; but what is such a pain as this compared with the pains of a dozen or
more quick blows on the body of a little helpless child from the strong arm
of a parent in a passion? Add to this overwhelming terror of fright, the
strangulating effects of sighing and shrieking, and you have a complete
picture of child-torture.

4. Who has not often seen a child receive, within an hour or two of the
first whipping, a second one, for some small ebullition of nervous
irritability, which was simply inevitable from its spent and worn
condition?

5. Would not all mankind cry out a