Imatges de pàgina
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"O SAVE ME FOR THY MERCIES' SAKE!"

ERCY alone can meet my case;
For mercy, Lord, I cry.
Jesus, Redeemer! show Thy
face

In mercy, or I die.

Save me, for none beside can save.

At Thy command I tread,
With failing step, life's stormy wave;
The wave goes o'er my head.

I perish, and my doom were just ;,
But wilt Thou leave me ?-No:
I hold Thee fast, my Hope, my Trust,.
I will not let Thee go.
Still sure to me Thy promise stands,.
And ever must abide :
Behold it written on Thy hands,
And graven in Thy side.

To this, this only will I cleave;
Thy word is all my plea:
That word is truth, and I believe :-
Have mercy, Lord! on me.

A MOTHER'S RULE.

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BEDIENCE is absolutely essential to proper family government; without this all other efforts will be in vain. You may pray with and for your children; you may strive to instruct them in religious truth; you may be unwearied in your efforts to make them happy and to gain their affection; but if they are habituated to disobedience, your instructions will be lost, and your toil in vain. And by obedience, I do not mean languid and dilatory yielding to repeated threats, but prompt and cheerful acquiescence in parental commands. Neither is it enough that a child should yield to your arguments and persuasions; it is essential that he should submit to your authority.

I will suppose a case in illustration of this last remark. Your little daughter is sick, you go to her with the medicine which has been prescribed for her, and the following dialogue ensues:"Here, my daughter, is some medicine for you."

"I don't want to take it, mamma."

"Yes, my dear; do take it, for it will make you feel better." "No it won't, mother; I don't want it."

"Yes it will, my child. The doctor says it will."

66 Well, I don't like it, and I don't want it."

The mother continues her persuasions, and the child persists in its refusal; after a long and wearisome conflict the mother is compelled either to throw the medicine away, or to resort to compulsion, and force down the unpalatable drug. Thus, instead of appealing to her own supreme authority, she is appealing to the reason of the child, and under these circumstances the child, of course, refuses to submit.

A mother, not long since, under similar circumstances, not

being able to persuade her child to take the medicine, and not having sufficient resolution to compel it, threw the medicine away. When the physician next called, she was ashamed to acknowledge her want of government, and therefore did not tell him that the medicine had not been given. The physician, finding the child worse, left another prescription, supposing the previous one had been properly administered. But the child had no idea of being convinced of the propriety of taking the nauseous dose, and the renewed efforts of the mother were unavailing; again the fond and foolish, but cruel parent threw the medicine away, and the fever was left to rage unchecked in its veins. Again the physician called, and was surprised to find the inefficacy of his prescriptions, and that the poor little sufferer was at the verge of death. The mother, when informed that her child must die, was in an agony, and confessed what she had done; but it was too late-the child died. And think you that mother gazed upon its pale corpse with any common emotions of anguish? Think you the idea never entered her mind that she was the destroyer of her child? Physicians will tell you that many children have thus been lost; unaccustomed to obedience when well, they are still more averse to it when sick. The efforts which are made to induce a stubborn child to take medicine often produce such an excitement as entirely to counteract the effect of the prescription, and thus is a mother often called to weep over the grave of her child, simply because she has not taught that child to obey.

It is certainly the duty of parents to convince their children of the reasonableness and propriety of their requirements; this should be done to instruct them, and to make them acquainted with moral obligation; but there should always be authority sufficient to enforce prompt obedience, whether the child can see the reason of the requirement or not. Indeed it is impossible to govern a child by mere argument; many cases must occur in which it will be incapable of seeing the reasonableness of the command, and often its wishes will be so strongly opposed to duty, that all efforts to convince will be in vain. The first thing, therefore, to be aimed at, is to bring your child under perfect subjection; teach him that he must obey you, sometimes give him your reasons, again withhold them, but let him perfectly understand that he is to do as he is bid. Accustom him to immediate and cheerful acquiescence in your will; this is obedience, and this is absolutely essential to good family government.

We come now to the inquiry, how is this habit of obedience to be established? This is not so difficult a matter as many imagine. It is not greatness of talent or profound learning which is requisite to teach a child obedience; the principles by which we are to be guided are very simple and very plain.

Never give a command which you do not intend should be obeyed. There is no more effectual way of teaching a child dis

obedience than by giving commands which you have no intention of enforcing. A child is thus habituated to disregard his mother, and, in a short time, the habit becomes so strong, and the child's contempt for the mother so confirmed, that entreaties and threats are alike unheeded.

"Mary, let that book alone!" says a mother to her little daughter, who is trying to pull the Bible from the table.

Mary stops for a moment, and then takes hold of the book again. Soon after the mother looks up again, and sees that Mary is still playing with the Bible: "Did not you hear me tell you to let that book alone?" she exclaims. "Why don't you obey?"

Mary takes away her hand for a moment, but is soon again at her forbidden amusement. By-and-by down comes the Bible upon the floor. Up jumps the mother hastily, giving the child a passionate blow, and exclaims, "There, then; obey me next time! The child screams, and the mother picks up the Bible, saying, "I wonder why my children do not obey me better."

This is not a very interesting family scene, but every one of my readers will admit that it is not an uncommon one; and is it strange that a child thus managed should be disobedient? No. She is actually led on by her mother to insubordination; she is actually taught to pay no heed to her directions; even the improper punishment, which sometimes follows transgression, is not inflicted on account of her disobedience, but for the accidental consequences. In the case above described, had the Bible not fallen, the disobedience of the child would have passed unpunished. Let it be an immutable principle in family government that your word is law.

And is there any difficulty in enforcing obedience to any definite command? Take the case of the child playing with the Bible. A mild and judicious mother says, distinctly and decidedly, to her child," My dear, that is the Bible, and you must not play with it." The child hesitates for a moment, but, yielding to the strong temptation, is soon playing with the forbidden book. The mother immediately rises, takes the child, and carries her into her chamber. She sits down and says calmly, "Mary, I told you not to touch the Bible, and you have disobeyed me. I am very sorry, for now I must punish you."

Mary begins to cry and to promise not to do so again.

"But, Mary," says the mother," you have disobeyed me, and you must be punished."

Mary continues to cry, but the mother seriously and calmly punishes her. She inflicts real pain-pain that will be remembered. She then says," Mary, it makes mother very unhappy to have to punish you; she loves her little daughter, and wishes to have her a good girl."

She then, perhaps, leaves her to herself for a few minutes. A little solitude will deepen the impression made.

In five or ten minutes she returns, takes Mary in her lap, and says, "My dear, are you sorry that you disobeyed mother?" Almost any child would say, "Yes."

"Will you be careful and not disobey me again?"

"Yes, mother."

"Well, Mary," says her mother, "I will forgive you; but God is displeased you have disobeyed Him as well as me. Do you wish me to ask God to forgive you?"

"Yes, mother," answers the child.

The mother then kneels with her daughter, and offers a simple prayer for forgiveness and the return of peace and happiness. She then leads her out, humbled and subdued. At night, just before she goes to sleep, she mildly and affectionately reminds her of her disobedience, and advises her to ask God's forgiveness again. Mary, in childlike simplicity, acknowledges to God what she has done, and asks Him to forgive her and take care of her during the night. When this child awakes in the morning, will not her young affections be more strongly fixed upon her mother, in consequence of the discipline of the preceding day? As she is playing about the room, will she be likely to forget the lesson she has been taught, and again reach out her hand to a forbidden object? Such an act of discipline tends to establish a general principle in the mind of a child, which will be of permanent operation, extending its influence to every command, and promoting the general authority of the mother and the subjection of the child.

I know that some mothers say that they have no time to pay so much attention to their children. But the fact is, that not one third of the time is required to take care of an orderly family which is necessary to take care of a disorderly one. To be faithful in the government of your family is the only way to save time. Can you afford to be distracted and harassed by continued disobedience? Can you spare the time to have your attention called away every moment from the business in which you are engaged by the mischievousness of your wilful children?

Look at the parent surrounded by a family of children who are in the habit of doing as they please. She is very busy, I will suppose, in making some article of dress, which it is important should be immediately finished. Every moment she is compelled to raise her eyes from her work to see what the children are about. Samuel is climbing upon the table. Jane is pulling out the drawers. John is galloping about the room upon the poker. The mother, almost deafened with noise, wonders what makes her children so much more troublesome than other people's.

"Jane, let those drawers alone!" she exclaims. Jane runs away for a moment, chases Charles round the room, and returns to her mischief.

"Charles, put up the poker!" Charles pays no heed to the direction.

The mother, soon seeing how he is wearing the carpet and bruising the furniture, gets up, gives Charles a shake, and places the poker in its proper situation; but by the time she is fairly seated, and at her work again, Charles is astride the shovel and riding at full speed.

Now this mother will tell you that she has not time to bring her children into subjection; whereas, had she been faithful with each individual child, she would have saved herself a vast amount of time and toil.

We will suppose the case of another mother, who has the same work to perform. She has taught her children prompt and implicit obedience. She gives three of them, perhaps, some blocks in one corner of the room, and tells them that they may play at "build houses," but that they must not make much noise, and must not interrupt her, for she wishes to finish some work. The other three she places in another corner of the room, with their slates, and tells them that they may play at "make pictures." The children, accustomed to such orderly arrangements, employ themselves, very quietly and happily, for perhaps three-quarters of an hour. The mother goes on uninterrupted in her work. Occasionally she raises her eyes, and says an encouraging word to her children, now noticing the little architects in the corner, and now glancing her eye at the drawings upon the slates; thus showing the children that she sympathises with them, and takes an interest in their enjoyments. The children are pleased and happy, the mother is undisturbed.

She does not let them continue their amusements till they are weary of them. But after they have played perhaps three-quarters of an hour, she says,―

"Come, children, you have played long enough; you may take up all your little blocks, and put them away in the drawer."

"Oh, mother," says Maria," do let me play a little while longer, for I have got my house almost done!"

"Well, you may finish it," says the judiciously kind mother; "but tell me as soon as it is done."

In a few minutes Maria says, "There, ma; see what a large house I have built!" The mother looks at it and adds a pleasant word of encouragement, and then tells them to put all their blocks in the proper place. She tells the children with the slates to hang up their slates and to put away their pencils, so that the next day, when slates and blocks are wanted, no time may be lost in searching for them.

Now, which mother has the more time! and which mother has the happier time? and which mother will find the more comfort in the subsequent character and affection of her children?

Every mother has power to obtain prompt obedience, if she commence with her children when they are young. They are then entirely in her hands. All their enjoyments are at her disposal.

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