Here is the place to begin. Parents too
often omit this duty, until alas, it is too late.
We have now seen that the parent has no right to destroy the domestic
happiness of a child by uniting him forcibly in wedlock to one for whom he
has no true affection. On the other hand, the child should pay due
deference to the parent's moral suasion, and seek, if possible, to follow
his counsels. "A child," says Paley, "who respects his parent's judgment,
and is, as he ought to be, tender of their happiness, owes, at least, so
much deference to their will, as to try fairly and faithfully, in one case,
whether time and absence will not cool an affection which they disapprove.
After a sincere but ineffectual endeavor by the child, to accommodate his
inclination to his parent's pleasure, he ought not to suffer in his
parent's affections, or in his fortunes. The parent, when he has
reasonable proof of this, should acquiesce; at all events, the child is
then at liberty to provide, for his own happiness."
SECTION II.
FALSE TESTS IN THE SELECTION OF A COMPANION FOR LIFE.
Before we advert to some of those biblical principles upon which parents
and children should proceed in the marriage choice, we shall take a
negative view of the subject, and mention some of those false principles
and considerations which have in the present day gained a fearful
ascendancy over the better judgment of many professed Christians.
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