just left the room possessed, he replied, 'Yes; he is an old servant of God; it is His usual dealing in grace as in providence: The hand of the diligent maketh rich. Oh! live near to God; make much of family prayer; be punctual in the time for it; do not let it be a form; pray always for a blessing on it. Read the Bible; read it much; do not let little portions satisfy you. Oh, that I had read more!'' The preceding remarks not having been designed, in the least degree, as a treatise on education, the reader will observe that the cardinal virtue, obedience, has been everywhere implied rather than expressed. How to win that obedience from the gentle, how to require it of the dull and irregular, and to enforce it upon the obstinate, would be topics worthy of a very copious discussion. It may briefly be noticed that when children are brought to the point of obeying, without parleying, and without needing to be spoken to twice, the happiness of such children is not a little secured; the wisdom, firmness, and kindness of the parent or teacher are honourably attested; while the blessing cannot be too gratefully acknowledged in thanksgivings to HIM who thus answers prayer, and crowns persevering endeavours.-W. Jowett, M.A. THE FAMILY A DIVINE ORDINANCE. NSTEAD of the human species being consigned to solitary separation on the one hand, or being congregated into large promiscuous companies or herds on the other hand, we find them allotted along the surface of this wide world into little communities, living under the same roof, and connected by a thousand gentle offices which they discharge one toward another, and to which they are prompted by interesting ties of feeling and affection. The system is in admirable adaptation to our state and nature. We come into the world, not like the young of some animals, able to act for ourselves, but in utter helplessness, and we find that God has provided for us kind parents who delight to minister to our infirmities, and who feel as if the infant's smile was a sufficient reward for all their toilsome days and waking nights. The heart responding to heart, the reciprocal tenderness expressed in a thousand practical ways, are fitted beyond anything man can devise or conceive, to draw forth the feelings and train the affections of the infant and juvenile mind. The memory, guided by the heart, here comes to the aid of the judgment, and renders all lengthened argument unnecessary; for, as far as our memory goes, it calls up scenes of unwearied watchfulness and melting love, and tells us that no nature could be so bountiful, and none could be so pleasant, as that which takes place under the dews of a mother's kindness and the shelter of a father's counsels. Wild theorists have laboured to overthrow this system, but God in His providence has inscribed folly on all their mad and profane attempts to disturb His arrangements; and it has been found that, after producing not a little temporary misery, these parties have been obliged to abandon their schemes as prejudicial or impracticable. In ancient Sparta, Lycurgus substituted public education for family training, and the experiment terminated in rendering a whole nation cold-hearted and selfish. Socialism, under some of its forms, has proposed to exchange a household for a promiscuous life; but as might have been anticipated, the change, when carried into effect, has led to caprice and cruelty, and opened the floodgates to every form of vice.-Dr. McCosh. RIGHTS OF CHILDREN. and by HE first right of every child is to be well born; defrauded of his rights at the outset, and his life can hardly fail of being a pitiful protest against broken laws. Good health, good habits, sound mentality, and reverent love, should form the basis of every new life that is invoked. The mother who gives herself up to morbid fancies, who considers her health an excuse for petulance and non-exercise of self-control, proves herself unworthy of the holy office of mother, and ought not to be surprised if she reap at a later day the bitter harvest of her unwise sowing. Second in importance to none, as a means of securing the happiness and best good of childhood and youth, is the right to be taught obedience. It is easy to submit to what we know is inevitable, and to the little child the requirement of the parent should be law without appeal. The tender, immature being, shut in by the unknown, where every relation is a mystery and every advance an experiment, has a right to find itself everywhere sustained and directed by the parent. It should not be tempted to resistance by laws that are imperfectly enforced, nor subjected to the injurious friction of discussion by having a long list of reasons given for every requirement. The habit of obedience to the parents may be formed before the child is two years old, and this is a necessary precedent of obedience to law, the next stage of a true develop ment. The child has a right to employment and the free use of its faculties. "What shall I do ?" is the plaintive wail of many a little one imprisoned in rooms where everything is too nice to be played with, and among grown-up people who cannot endure noise. "Sit down and keep quiet," is too often the impatient answer—an answer which I never hear without an indignant men tal protest. I admonish you, father, mother, guardian, into whose hands God has committed the sacred trust of a child's life, be careful how you betray it! Beware how you hinder a soul's development by a selfish seeking of your own convenience! Absolute reliance on the love of the parents, faith in their wisdom that forbids doubt, are indispensable conditions of a healthy and happy development. They constitute the fertile soil and genial atmosphere in which all beautiful human affections bud and blossom. "Father does what is right," "Mother knows better than I," are the instinctive utterances of a child whose life and education have been rightly begun. That these utterances are not oftener heard is a severe commentary upon our methods, a sad indication how much the rights of children have been neglected. The child has a right to ask questions and to be fairly answered; not to be snubbed as if he were guilty of an impertinence, nor ignored as though his desire for information were of no consequence, nor misled as if it did not signify whether true or false impressions were made upon his mind. He has a right to be taught everything which he desires to learn, and to be made certain, when any asked-for information is withheld, that it is only deferred till he is older and better prepared to receive it. Answering a child's question is sowing the seeds of its future character. The slight impression of to-day may have become a rule of life twenty years hence. A youth in crossing the fields dropped cherry-stones from his mouth, and in old age retraced his steps by the trees laden with luscious fruit. But many a parent whose heart is lacerated by a child's ingratitude might say, "The thorns I bleed withal are of the tree I planted." To answer rightly a child's questions would give scope for the wisdom of all the ancients; and to illustrate needed precept by example would require the exercise of every Christian virtue. HIS year will prove a happy one If gladdened by Thy smile, A HAPPY NEW YEAR. G Jesus, my Saviour! that alone My heart with bliss can fill: If, quickened by Thy grace, I press towards those that are before For Thou canst make all grace abound, And with Thy mercy fence me round, TIMOTHY. (FOR THE YOUNG.) "From a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus."-2 Tim. iii. 15. OW happy was young Timothy, The seeds of early piety Fast grew those seeds, for God above Had well prepared the ground; And the fair fruits of faith and love In all his life were found. He from a child the Scriptures knew— Which so adorned his youth. He found a Saviour there, whose name Did hope and peace afford; But more than this we need; Then we, like Timothy, shall find Thy word shall guide our youthful And cheer our latest age. LIFT UP THE LATCH, AND ENTER IN. WAS dark, and I with inward fear [near Stood like a culprit weeping But I would rather not comply I need a better heart before J. B. I could be welcome at the door: "Not now," I said, " 'twill do again, within "Lift up the latch, and enter in." DR. E. H. NEVIN. A GOOD PROTECTOR.-Mrs. Ann Wilkinson was returning from Newcastle, in her cart, late at night, and was met at Walbottle Deane, the most lonely part of the road, by a man who seized hold of the horse's head. She gave no utterance of alarm; and the man, somewhat taken aback, said, “Are you not frightened ?" "Oh no," she replied, "I am not frightened. I have a good Protector." He dropped the bridle and moved off. Whether it struck him who her protector was, or not, cannot be known; but the incident proves her presence of mind and her faith in God. |